April 5th, 2020

Eczema on your hands? Here's 11 things that can help

If you suffer from hand eczema, you’re not alone. Many people get eczema on their hands or feet at some point or another in their lives. It can be triggered by extreme seasonal changes and flare up more when it’s hot or cold out. Eczema can be uncomfortable and embarrassing, but if you find that you are eczema-prone, you can certainly do something about it.

Use A Powerful Ointment

Using a powerful ointment like the products from Lingon Health can really help you to get your eczema under control and feel better. Ointments and over-the-counter treatments are an excellent way to tame eczema symptoms and reduce the urge to scratch.

If your eczema is terrible, you can also lather ointment onto your hands and then put them into gloves for a few minutes. This can help the cream or ointment soak into your hands and really start to get to work. Wearing gloves with lotion in them at night is also a bright idea.

Use Aloe Vera

If you prefer a more natural route for hand eczema, you can use aloe vera. Aloe vera is a plant-based gel that most people associate with soothing sunburns, but it’s actually very helpful for taming eczema! Aloe vera is antimicrobial, heals wounds, boosts your immune system, and is antibacterial.  

You can use it in two ways; you can either buy fresh aloe leaves from the store and get the gel out yourself, or you can purchase aloe vera gel at the store. Sometimes aloe vera gel contains other things, so if you do the latter, make sure that it’s natural. Then, simply follow the same steps as you would for prepping your hands with ointment.

Aloe vera is sticky and will get on your clothes and in your hair. Unlike ointments, it will not melt into your skin over time.

Consider Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

If your eczema on your hands is extreme, you can also look into anti-inflammatory drugs. Generally, you can take these drugs over the counter, and unlike ointments or creams, many times, these drugs are taken orally. Although they have a less immediate effect, most anti-inflammatory drugs are potent in the long run.

Wear Gloves When Cleaning

Cleaning products can irritate healthy skin, and they wreak even worse damage on the skin that’s been affected by eczema. Wearing gloves while cleaning is a very effective way to help shield your skin from any additional irritants.

You definitely want to wear gloves when you’re handling harsh chemicals, but you should also do so whenever you’re handling liquids. Water can exacerbate the signs of eczema.

Don’t Use Super Hot Water

Although we all love to take hot showers, it’s best to make sure that the water is lukewarm at best. Hot showers can irritate the skin tremendously, especially if you’re one of those people who tends to spend a lot of time in the shower. Try to minimize the amount of time that you spend showering, and make sure that your water isn’t too hot.

Take Oatmeal Baths

If you have severe eczema on your hands or anywhere else on your body, you should consider taking an oatmeal bath. You can get prescription oatmeal baths at virtually any pharmacy or simply make your own.

Although it’s generally not a good idea to soak in water with eczema, oatmeal baths are an exception.

Still, make sure that the water isn’t too hot. A nice, long lukewarm oatmeal bath can help soothe your eczema and make your skin a lot less itchy.

Protect Your Hands From The Cold

One of the biggest causes of hand eczema is cold weather. Make sure that you protect your hands from the cold by wearing gloves when you go outside. This is even more important to do if you already have eczema.

Additionally, you will want to protect your hands from too-hot temperatures. Heat rash can quickly turn into eczema if you’re not careful.

There are plenty of over-the-counter powders that you can buy to stave off heat rash. Make sure that you use talcum powder during the summer months, especially on areas of your body like the crook of your arm or in-between your fingers.

Reduce Your Stress Levels

Stress is one of the most significant contributors to eczema, so if you can reduce your stress levels, please do. Find healthy ways to cope with your stress that don’t exacerbate your eczema. Sometimes, a poor diet is also the cause of eczema, so if you’re not getting enough nutrition, you might be doing yourself and your body a huge disservice.

Sometimes, having eczema on your hands can be a vicious circle. Having the rash in the first place sometimes makes it even more stressful, which just contributes to more outbreaks and problems down the road.

Consider Using A Humidifier

Occasionally, you can get eczema from low humidity. Dry air can undoubtedly lead to serious outbreaks, so consider getting a humidifier. Using a humidifier, especially at night, can really help you to reduce the amount of eczema on your hands and in other places on your body.

It’s essential to use a humidifier if you’re in a place with cooler or cold weather or if you’re in a location that tends to be very dry. Humidifiers are excellent ways to keep a lot of different health-related problems at bay and also provide a lot of additional health benefits.

Apply Coconut Oil

Coconut oil can help your skin heal and is a great way to add a lot of moisture back into your hands if you have eczema. It’s an excellent item to have around anyway since you can actually eat it as a superfood or use it for other beauty-related treatments like a hair mask.

Use coconut oil the same way that you use ointments or creams. You can leave it on your hands overnight in gloves or simply work it onto the eczema as a way to treat it topically. Also, coconut oil smells great, so there’s an added benefit!

Try Not To Scratch

The worst thing that you can do if you have eczema is scratch it. Scratching will only make the rash a lot worse and could even open you up to infections or scarring in extreme cases. As eczema is already quite unsightly, scratching is a very bad idea.

Use ointments and creams to avoid the urge to scratch. You can even take a deep breath and count backward from ten if it helps you to concentrate and avoid scratching yourself. Try out a few different methods and see what works best for you. Some people find that it helps to keep in mind that by scratching their eczema, they’re only prolonging the pain and discomfort of it.

If you have eczema on your hands, you’re far from alone. Many people get eczema at some point or another in their lives and have to deal with it. It’s a very common occurrence, especially during wintery or very hot weather.

If you follow the tips that we’ve outlined here, you should be able to tame your eczema effectively and help heal your hands. Eczema happens from time to time, but you certainly don’t have to just live with it!