Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

I don't suffer from it as such but do occasionally get the odd itchy patch that won't go but I found the first thing to do is to stop using shower gel and use a mild soap instead - something like Dove.

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

That sounds just awful--itching can be so intense---and awful if it keepos you awake. I think antihistamines ans antihistamine cream is the way to go--but surprised thast the doc has not prescribed these for you. Or as suggested above a hrdrocortosine cream--available from chemists--but you may get a stronger one from your doctor. Good luck !!

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

The problem with some things like hydrocortisone creams etc and stronger prescribed medication is you can't take them long term. They are great for a short course but if it they don't clear up the problem you have to try to find something that suits your skin and helps to stop the itching.

So something like a baby cream (Sudocrem is one) and cotton gloves at night/natural fibres during the day can help with the symptoms.

I am afraid some forms of eczema and dermatitis can be reoccurring and long term conditions.

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

I have suffered badly over the years with dry itchy skin the gp always prescribed steroid cream and it works great for healing the open skin but after a while the dryness and itchyness always reappeared. But these past few months I seem to have got on top of it myself by using Argan Oil hand and nail cream combined with Neutrogena. Seems to be working perfectly and no steroid in the mix. I also use cotton gloves at night when I feel my skin starting to dry say after a bath I put Vaseline on then.
Found also there is a Argon hair oil and that as made my dry hair soft again so much so I have not shaved my head this year..

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

I suffer with facial Actinase Keratoses and treat them with cream called Efudix ... It is very effective at killing these pre-cancerous cells but requires application twice daily for two to three weeks and during this time it makes my face very itchy and sometimes sore, I have not found a solution to this discomfort and just grin and bear it.

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

Has anyone mentioned Dermol ? or Eurax ?


Apologies, can't read through all the posts at the moment ... tummy bug !

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

Hi Linda

Thousands of people over the past year or so have suddenly developed itchy red/pink rashes on various parts of their body. I started with it 6 months ago.

It transpires that manufacturers of some washing powders and associated detergents have changed their formulas and some of those products are very highly alkaline. This for some people has been the cause of sudden rashes which they have never had before.

Many people have always had a firm favourite washing machine powder, often because they have experienced problems with other products and for years they have had no problems with their favourite product. That has all recently started changing with more and more people reporting persistent itchy rashes who could not understand where they were coming from.

This may or may not be your problem but if it is, I can assure you from experience that the itching will continue while ever you keep wearing clothes washed in that product because the clothes contain residues of the highly alkaline materials.

To test this what you need to do is give your clothes an extra rinse cycle with no detergent in it at all, and preferably with a little white vinegar thrown in to neutralise the alkalinity.

Then see if the itching dies down a little.

My wife and I both developed itchy rashes and we were using Persil Non-Bio which we had happily used for years and years.

I have now switched to making my own washing powder which is ridiculously easy to do and very cheap. Since making that switch our respective rashes have cleared up totally.

My Recipe For Washing Powder

2 x 1kg bags Tesco Soda Crystals £1 per bag
3 x bars of organic soap grated
500g Bicarb Of Soda







When selecting the soap it is important to find one without all the nasty chemical crap in it. You'd be surprised how many popular brands have nasties in them. Soaps NOT to use include Dove, Pears and Simple, you'd be surprised what "stuff" is in those!

The "Faith" soap above contains the following:

Sodium palmate (Palm Oil), Sodium cocoate (Coconut Oil), Aqua, Glycerin, Lavandula angustifolia oil, Lavandula hybrida oil, Sodium chloride, Sodium citrate, Linalool, Limonene

All good ingredients imo

Dove Soap for example contains (amongst other things)

sodium lauroyl isethionate, stearic acid, sodium tallowate, lauric acid, sodium isethionate, sodium stearate, cocamidopropyl betaine, tetrasodium ETDA, tetrasodium etidronate, maltol and titanium dioxide

Hmmmmm


To make the powder just get a microplane grater and grate the soap bars fairly finely. This only takes a few minutes. Then just mix the soda crystals, soap and bicab all together. I put mine in a large tuppaware box and just shook it and rotated it for a minute or so.

You end up with about 3kg of washing powder. Just throw a scoop of that into your machine for each wash. Ideally, always give clothes an additional rinse

If you buy the Faith soaps in batches of 18 they cost £27.90 which is £1.55 per bar. That's enough to make 6 batches of powder.

I thoroughly recommend buying both the Lavender and the Rosemary and use in combination as the fragrant smell on your clothes is fresh and appealing.

So, the cost of ONE 3kg batch of home-made natural washing powder is:

2 x 1kg Soda Crystals - £2.00
3 x bars soap - £4.65
500g bicarb of soda - £1.50

Total - £8.15

From that 3kg of powder you will get 40-50 washes so each wash is approx. 20p.

No more nasty chemicals, no more itchy rashes and skin irritations, sweet smelling clothes and all for pennies.

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

Wow, thank you all SO much for the very valuable information!

My doc did prescribe a cream, but it was simply an antibiotic cream to prevent infection. However, I couldn't afford it. It was very expensive and I don't have health insurance. They said, however, that OTC antibiotic creams will work just as well for preventing infection. Right now, though, I just want this itch to go away and like Goldie said, I've found that the creams just make my skin feel more itchy, even though they're designed to control the itch. Go figure.

I've used cortisone creams, antihistamine creams, eczema creams, etc. You name it, I've tried it so far. Maybe I should use good old fashioned calamine lotion. That stuff tends to dry up poison ivy and sumac, so why not? I think I'll pick some up today. I'm at my wits end, I'll try anything at this point.

I haven't eaten anything different or used any different detergents or soaps and I am allergic to nickel, so I never wear jewelry. I've read about this blistering eczema and they say it's sometimes related to seasonal allergies.

Gloves at night would be a good idea. I thought about that yesterday, but I'd need to find something comfortable. I can't stand feeling any part of my body restricted at night.

All of you have made wonderful suggestions. Guess I'll keep trying them, one by one, until I find something that works because, right now, I'm ready to chop my hands off

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

I've suffered from eczema for the last 40 years ... in my ears of all places. (Upon initial diagnosis the doctor told me it was because I had long hair ..like spaniel dogs floppy ears, blocking the air flow , yes, he really did tell me that).

One rule of thumb.
Hydrocortisone is great at relieving itching (get the 1% strength from the chemist OTC) but it's level of success depends on whether you have a moist, weepy type of eczema or dry skin eczema (E45 is great for dry skin, I never tried sudocream.)
It helps if you can figure out which you have.
At a certain point, and only your own observation can help here .. it'll dry your eczema out and then have a rebound effect off causing itching through over-dryness. ... I've found switching to dabbing on a little Vaseline at this stage helps moisturise and keep the skin supple.

Don't scratch!
I sometimes pop a face cloth or one of those little handsize wheatgerm bags in the fridge or freezer. The coolness is absolute bliss.

You have my sympathy, especially if it's on your hands. It must be driving you wild.

Re: Anyone with skin conditions and how do you control the itching????

And now we can't wait to hear of anything did the trick.GOOD LUCK