New "Enlightening" Home Remedy for Eczema Sufferers

It is tough enough for kids these days to deal with the everyday pressures of just being a kid. However, it is even harder being a kid that suffers from eczema. Eczema is a form of dermatitis, which is an inflammation of the skin (also called the epidermis). For those unfamiliar with eczema, this skin disorder causes the skin to itch, swell, turn red, and become dry. The results of which can be crusting, flaking, oozing, cracking, and even bleeding. Though eczema appears in people of all ages, it can be more aggressive in children, due to the itching that occurs as a result. In children, this itching can lead to broken skin, which can then lead to secondary infections.

Normal treatment of eczema involves the use of steroids and antibiotics, as well as cleansers and lotions for people with eczema, geared towards moisturizing the skin. These treatments of eczema have been a staple in eczema sufferers obtaining some amount of relief.

However, findings in a recent medical study determined that an item commonly found in the home could provide a treatment to ease the itching that many eczema patients endure. The common household item we are talking about is bleach, a bleach bath to be exact. The Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago conducted a study on 31 patients who suffered from eczema complicated by a bacterial staph infection, acquired because of scratching due to eczema skin irritations.

According to Marla Paul, with the Media Center of Northwestern University, the study included eczema sufferers as young as six months up to 17 years of age with moderate to acute eczema searching for a treatment for the skin disorder. Over a three-month period, all 31 of the patients took a 14-day course of treatment of oral antibiotics. They gave half of the patients seeking treatment a topical antibiotic ointment or a placebo (similar item with inert ingredients) to place into their nostrils for five consecutive days each month of the study.

They were to put ½ cup of bleach or a placebo into a typically filled tub of bath water and to soak in the water for five to ten minutes, twice a week as an external treatment. The study found that those that took the actual bleach baths saw a reduction in the intensity of their eczema symptoms that was five times better than that of the placebo group. In fact, the results were so impressive researchers concluded the study early so that the patients that were in the placebo group could be transitioned over to the bleach bath method. Even after the study ended, many of the patients saw a reduction in flare-ups that normally cause eczema sufferers such discomfort.

There may be some people concerned with the smell of the bleach in a bleach bath treatment. However, when comparing the amount of bleach added to the water, the ratio of bleach to water is very small. In a full tub of water, ½ cup of bleach was undetectable in the treatment. Remember, both groups thought they were bathing in bleach water.

For those that wish to try this home remedy to treat eczema, it is best to monitor children that will be in the bleach bath, as normal. Unfortunately, about 17% of school-aged children suffer from the different forms of eczema.

Source:

Marla Paul, Whiter Laundry and a Surprising New Treatment for Kids' Eczema, Northwestern University