I have no idea what brought it on since it’s usually stress related, but recently on a Thursday night I rubbed the back of my thigh and felt bumps — lots of them. From there it rapidly spread to the back of my neck and shoulders, up across my butt, then started creeping down my arms and legs and all over my mid-section. It was even on my scalp and a little of my forehead. Whether you call it eczema or atopic dermatitis I was having a major outbreak and it sucked and I needed a good way of treating eczema.
The one true blessing this time was that it barely itched at all. About the only places it itched was when it reached my hands and the bottom of my feet, but even that wasn’t too bad.
I got online and started reading how it could go on for extended periods of time. I didn’t want that to happen and I wanted non-prescription ways to fight it.
Albolene
I already had this stuff on hand. I love it because it has so few ingredients and no alcohols at all: Mineral Oil; Petrolatum; Paraffin; Ceresin; Beta Carotene. It comes in a big tub so I had plenty to use.
I started applying Albolene to the worst areas, but almost my entire body was involved so I didn’t cover everything, obviously not on my scalp.
The eczema had been getting worse every day for about 4 days. When I started using Albolene things held for a while and then started getting better.
I found an article Commonly Used Beauty Staple Clinically Proven to Help Treat Eczema that said Albolene works as well at treating eczema. After the experience I had with it I would agree.
Borage Oil
I normally take a borage oil gel cap once a day. When I read it could help with eczema I doubled up on the borage oil and also took other GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) caps.
Results
I don’t know if it was luck or what I was doing that made it better.
One night when I was getting ready for bed I looked at where the eczema was terrible and laughed — at least it was being really polite and staying where clothes covered it. It literally was under my shorts and sleeveless top. Then I thought — wait a minute! It’s under my clothes. I hadn’t changed anything lately — same soap, same shampoo, same laundry detergent. I had bought a new bottle of laundry detergent that I had just started using. Could it be a bad bottle? You can literally drive yourself nuts trying to figure out what triggered an outbreak.
It must not have been any of those things because after coming out of nowhere, building to a crescendo in five days, it proceeded to fade away and was gone nine days after it started. I’d like to think I sped the process with Albolene and borage oil, but I don’t really know. But I can tell you that I’ll use the same eczema treatment the next time it happens.
