Neem Oil??

[thesunflowergal]

So I have Eczema over most of my body, my hands are constainly cracked and painful. My arms, legs and torso have patches all over them and I also have lots of scaring. I have had this for most of my life and I am now at my wits end. I am sick of the whole thing, also taking antihistamins so that i can sleep. I am sick of peoples looks and coments; I have tried many things over the years to help but nothing seems too. So I am sat here at 3:17am looking for a solution.
Has anyone tried Neem oil? If so I would love your thoughts pleaase. Or has anyone any other ideas please??

Thanks Nikki x

[Green Aura]

It's great stuff but smells so awful you definitely would get looks! So I'd reserve it for bedtime (if OH doesn't object and something like sunflower oil with a drop or two of lavender in for the morning!

If your eczema is really bad at the moment try a paste made from 1 part blackstrap molasses, 1 part honey, 1 part sunflower oil (preferably organic if you're not using proper therapeutic grade stuff) and 1 part rosewater (make sure it's got no alcohol in it) or rose hydrolat, which is better. Add a few drops of lavender, mix it all up and put it in a jar. Smear a little on affected areas and cover with a scrap of clean cotton and a towel for half an hour every day. It'll clear it up a treat.

BTW, did you say what triggers it - haven't got time to re-read your original post. If you don't know it might be worth doing some sort of elimination diet. Cut out all the usual suspects - wheat, chocolate, tomatoes (actually all solanaceae so spuds and peppers too!) and dairy for a month - and then re-introduce them one at a time over a period of a few weeks. See if any of them trigger a flare up - then, well you know what to do (just pray it's not chocolate )

Edit: BTW I forgot to say - has it occurred to you that people look at you (if indeed they do and it's not just you being self-conscious) because you're gorgeous!

[Lilyfae]

I also have pretty bad eczema although it's a bit better in summer I still have flaky eyelids which make me look wrinkly!

I found upping my omega oils & evening primrose to about 2,000mgs each daily helped soothe from the inside, and upping my water intake helped massively, even carbonated water helps.
Also a natural moisturiser base with lavender & rose geranium helps feed, repair & balance your skin ( dream cream from lush is an easy quick solution I find, though dreamwash the soap alternative made me itchy)
In flare ups a cream containing at least 5% urea can help soften and soothe the reddened patches. Also strangely I find exfoliating (vv gentle mind) helps reduce the itching, I use a daily microdermabrasion powder that you mix yourself from Dermatologica on my face, neck and insides of elbows, wrists and I find it helps.

However I can tell you are in the stage I have about January each year when I look like I'm a victim of domestic abuse because the eczema patches are red raw ( my neck always looks like I've been partially strangled at this stage) and I know that creams etc don't work or make it worse & then you get stressed which makes it worse
If you don't mind medication (or like me submit when at wits end) ask your doctor for fusidic acid (brand name fucibet) it's a very very strong cream that I find is the only thing that works when I am desperate - it must be used sparingly but should reduce the maddening stage long enough to get the other methods enough time to kick in and start helping.

Good luck & I really sympathise with your plight as I know how debilitating it can be

[Glen Gilchrist]

1 part honey, 1 part sunflower oil (preferably organic if you're not using proper therapeutic grade stuff) and 1 part rosewater (make sure it's got no alcohol in it) or rose hydrolat, which is better.

<< this

As a sufferer myself - honey / light oil 50:50 soothes the most viscous flare up.

Glen

[Green Aura]

If you add the blackstrap molasses it contains B vitamins which help skin healing.

[Helsbells]

I have had a number of allergies in the past including eczema. I get it on my face, neck and chest and hands. At the moment I just have dry skin (especially on the eyelids lilyfae)
I have tried a number of remedies over the years including Chinese herbalism and homoeopathy. Homoeopathy helped I think, but the main things that helped it get better have been getting older, (it was a real problem in my teens, now I am 27) eliminating as many chemicals as possible from my skin routine, cutting out a lot of dairy and reducing stress.

I now use only pure shea butter on my skin which I buy from www.akamuti.co.uk, and sometimes wheat germ oil and jojoba oil. I don't wear make-up except for special occasions, I was with simple soap only when I really need to otherwise I just use water, I use neutrogena on my hands as it is the only things I have found that keeps them moisturised, and stops the eczema. I also don;t use air fresheners, use ecover laundry liquid and avoid using and kind of spray or aerosol both on my body and in the house.

I can totally empathise with you, when I was at school it was so horrible having people staring and asking what was wrong with my face.

I would really encourage you to try different things and find out what suits you, but really try to cut out the chemicals. And as others have said try cutting things out of the diet, cutting out milk and yogurt really helped me with my eczema and allergic rhinitus.

Hope this helps and hope you can find something that works for you.
xxx

[Silver Ether]

Well I shall give Green Aura a plug here ... as my boy has bad eczema ... it is usual under control but as he is all over the world sometimes he needs a little help and I had one of Green Auras creams for him and its really good ...

[Green Aura]

Thanks SE but I think two plugs is greedy so I've deleted one

[Silver Ether]

ooops It did go funny this end ...

[chickenchargrill]

I'd second the elimination diet. My friend gets it quite bad but finds Lush Dream Cream (have a look at the ingredients though, might be something you can make your own version of that helps) and sudocrem, and has replaced dairy from cows with goat's.

[thesunflowergal]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to me.

Some great ideas there thank you, I think I will give the Neem Oil a miss then if it smells so bad lol. My main triggers are stress and nuts, nuts are easy to avoid. Stress I can not avoid . But I have so many triggers that its hard to avoid them all, here are some of them. Raw meat/fish, most furrey pets, cleaning chemicals, rubber gloves. I can not thik what else.

Lilyfae - I have Fucibet but it no longer works for me, I think I have just used it too much .

Maggie - is that something that you could make for me please??

Thanks all I will let you know how I get on xxx to you all.

[Green Aura]

Maggie - is that something that you could make for me please??

It has sweet almond oil and almond wax in it - are you OK with oils, or allergic to all nut products?

[Lilyfae]

Lilyfae - I have Fucibet but it no longer works for me, I think I have just used it too much .

Bugger, that was me in January when my virus that turned into pneumonia started - sounds loopy but the only thing that worked on my purple-raw eyelids was the Blistex I bought for my super chapped lips (blue tube) after I got my tubes round the wrong way after a scratching fit at 4am!!

It's not fun at all, am dreading November myself, let me know how you get on, we might come up with solutions between us!

[southeast-isher]

Hemp oil is said by some to work for excema...