i get severe eczema flare ups, only on hands and feet. Sometimes i cant pick up items os even walk. I have tried many different remedies and no luck in controling it. Any one going through the same pain as me?

My daughter had it bad when she was younger. All kinds of skin specialists and tons of creams later nothing worked. Seen a infomercial on TV about Skin Zinc and ordered it. Cost $100 but in 2 weeks it was gone. Well worth it. She no longer has any problems, so I don't know how it would work on someone who has it for life.

i will have to look into it. Anyone know how dr.'s test to find out what a person maybe allergic to?

Well I know what you are going through just not on my hands or feet, I have it under my eyes and and in my eyebrows... sometimes on my shoulders. But it kills and it is constantly flared up everyday. But after reading about the skin zinc I think I'm gonna look into that too. Hope it works!!!

There is a skin test called the patch test where an allergist places small amount of various allergens in a grid on your back. Those areas that get red shows what you are allergic to.
I would be worried that you are allergic to natural rubber and latex. Remember socks have rubber as the elastic.
Remember eczema is inflammatory dry skin. After you shower dry off where you are still damp and place Vasoline over the inflamed areas. the vasoline will trap the moisture in your skin and will give you some relief until you can get tested.
For gloves try Nitrile. They are more expensive but do not have rubber.
What kind of work do you do?

my daughter went through the tests described above earlier this year.her pediatrician sent her to a allergy specialist.

it took maybe 30 minutes in the drs office for them to complete.

they found out she was allergic to dairy of all things....

your doc should be able to get you scheduled somewhere for the tests if he cant do the tests himself.

i had it to and all i did is go to the dermetoligist and he gave me some cream for it and it was gone in a week very effective.

Climb8000, I have been in quite a few different fields of work. use to work in restaraunts, hardware stores, gas stations, janitorial, and currently in oil spill response. and the salt water is just killing me! i am starting to get more flare ups each month now than ever.

My son had it severly when he was an infant. The first year of his life was miserable for him and myself as well. He would scratch and dig at his flare up til he would bleed. We resorted to covering his hands with socks during the night to keep him from scratching. So i know what you are going through. We tried everything under the sun and nothing worked. At my wits end we went to the dr. in which i had previously called the night before at 2:00 and informed her that since we couldn't sleep she wasn't goin to either. The next day at the appointment her assitant came in and come to find out her daughter had it as well. She suggested taking him off all milk products. We did so and in 5 days his skin was smooth and cleared up. It vitually vanished. Sorry for the long story but you may want to try this approach. It was a little difficult at first as nearly everything has milk in it but it wasn't long before we figured out what we could and couldn't get. He hasn't had a issue with it since and he is 4 now. Im sure your desperate for some relief so give it a try.

Andy,

Yes I too suffer with it. It comes and goes as that it common. Mine is associated with stress my feet seem to be the first to react and then they blister up. I thought I have poisen ivy on the soles of my feet the first time. Itched like crazy.

Soak in cool water...hot might feel better but it causes more of a reaction.

Medications need to help are steroids ! Both creams and oral. The doc had me on the 3,2,1 oral. It takes a few days for the first results but months for total clearing up, at least for me.

Good luck man.

Thanks for the info guys! And shore hunter thanks for that tid bit there. I just got to thinking bout it i havnt had much for dairy products in a while and my flare ups have almost completly gone away. Every once in a while i will get a flare up on my feet but figured out the cause of that recently. Have to keep the xtra tuffs off until i need them. Once again thanks!

This may not work on your type of eczema and im not recommending it per se, but i used to always have a flare up of winter eczema on my left hand every fall & winter. A few years ago i started taking the oil from a duck oil gland on their back just above the tail. This is a little oil tuft of feather coming out of a gland. Its what the rubon their feathers to waterproof and condition. I put it on about twice a week for a couple of weeks and ive never had it again. Ymmv

Hey Muddy...I wonder if perhaps after all the rats I have fleshed if that is what stoped mine from flaring up....I am not holding my breath but I am sure thankfull !!1

That may be. Nature's balm ;-).

Yes my hands are softer than ever. I used to wear gloves but often I now do not. When doing mink however the gloves are on.

I have had extremely bad eczema my whole life. See a good dermatologist. There are a lot of good medicines out there. I have to use strong steroids every day of my life to control it. You are going through an inflammation flare up. Get a perception for oral prednazone and some Triamcinolone acetonide ointment. I wear gloves to bed after applying ointment when have a bad flareup.

I use antihistamines to help keep irritation from fur handling down and alwaysmwere gloves.

Good luck, I feel you pain!

After not having one flare up this year I am wondering it was getting into rat trapping that did it ?

I wear gloves on all other animals except rats. Hands never softer and no flare up. Conincidance ???

I have a prescription cortisone cream I put on my arms and legs after each shower. Gluten products make mine worse, so I think a gluten free diet will cure me. Seems to work and when I cheat, I have to resort to the cream again for a few days. Eczema is an autoimmune disease, so something is telling our body to react this way. For me, it is gluten.