Herbal Treatment for Eczema

An herbal treatment for eczema that really works is what 15 million Americans would love to have. This is the amount of people who battle the eczema every year. For most it tends to be a mild case, forming on a few specific areas of the body, and generally looks like a bad heat rash.

However, there are a few (myself included) who can get eczema bad. In fact, I remember days when I refused to wear shorts because of the embarrassment I would endure if people saw the back of my knees... It looked like someone took a cheesegrater to my leg. And sometimes, it was too painful to sit in certain positions, because the dermatitis had become sore and infected like an open wound.

And sometimes, the cure is worse than the condition: The popular form of treatment for eczema (dermatitis) is with steroidal based creams. Hydrocortosone is the most commonly used, in both prescription and non-prescription form.

And although I had great success with hydrocortisone cream, the long term side effects of steroids on the body are all negative. Thinning skin and premature skin cell aging are just a few. All the typical problems related to steroids come with the creams.

So is there an effective, natural treatment for eczema?

First off, it is important to know, that as of 2008, there is no herbal or natural dermatitis treatment that has been PROVEN to work as well as steroids. However, there are some herbal remedies for eczema that have some prelimary studies that demonstrate effectivness. So here are the top few remedies and treatments for Eczema:

1. Licorice Gel:
There was a study conducted using a topical 1% licorice gel, and a topical 2% licorice gel to see whether it had any effect on healing and controlling eczema. The results were promising. The study was double blind, and placebo controlled. Not only did the people receiving the licorice gel have a statistically significant improvement of symptoms over the placebo, but the 2% group had a greater improvement than the 1% group. Further studies are needed, but this is promising so far

2. Probiotics:
A very promising study of over 1,200 infants was conducted using probiotics, which are "good" bacteria. These good bacteria live in our intestines and are believed to be responsible for our immune system function, suppressing growth of harmful bacteria, and improving our digestive tracts function. It is believed that infants who develop allergies and eczema don't have the right probiotics in their system when they are born.

So, 1,223 pregnant women who had a high risk factor for having a baby with eczema started taking a probiotic and a prebiotic (a compound that helps good bacteria grow) 2 - 4 weeks before they gave birth. Then the babies continued taking these supplements for 6 months.

Amazingly, these babies were much more resistant to developing eczema when compared to a placebo group. Obviously, more study is needed, but the first controlled, large study has shown some genuine success in reducing eczema in infants.

3. Evening Primrose Oil (EPO):
Evening Primrose Oil to treat eczema has come under fire recently. It has some evidence to support its effectiveness in treating eczema. However, some of the larger, more recent studies contradict this. The Mayo Clinic gives EPO a decent grade, saying that there is some real evidence as to its effectiveness as an eczema treatment. However, side effects are very few, allergic reactions are rare, so as long as you consult a doctor first, feel free to add this to an eczema dermatitis fighting regimine. And remember, it is taken orally to treat eczema, not topically.

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