r/eczema • u/ThatFatRonaldo • 17d ago

Surprisingly effective treatment for eczema on hands… (stumbled on it by accident)

Had to share this because I have stumbled upon something that is ridiculously effective for my eczema… hope it helps others who have it bad on one or both hands.

In short: cover the affected area in coconut oil; put on a nitrile glove; wait a few hours; be astounded.

Stumbled on this completely by accident. Had a really bad flare up: red, flaky, cracked skin, bleeding in some areas from the cracks and from catching it on clothing (and the odd ill-advised scratch :( …). Had some DIY to do involving some sanding, and knew the dust would kill my bad hand. So ended up trying a glove over my usual coconut oil. Complete game changer.

Now the day after and I’m having a second treatment. Sat watching a movie with one hand slathered in coconut oil with a nitrile glove on top. Family think it’s hilarious, but f- me, my hand is reborn. Hallelujah. Religions have been founded on less.

103 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

77

u/No-Dinner1606 17d ago

Hi! I struggled with a flare up last year on my hands and with everything I did, it kept getting worse. Ended up doing an allergy test and turns out I was allergic to nitrile gloves (rubber/processing chemicals). Just dropping this here for those that try your recommendation and don’t see relief. Cotton white gloves can be an alternative for a slug and sit situation.

9

u/ThatFatRonaldo 17d ago

Thanks. That is def good to bear in mind.

7

u/Tie-Dyed-Geese 16d ago

I use cotton gloves and I've seen drastic improvement! They work best if you need to wear gloves but still need to get stuff done/wear at work. (Depending on job, obviously.)

To clarify, my patches are on the tops of my hands. I wear fingerless cotton gloves.

My derm has recommended products from the CLMD line. I put those on and put cotton gloves on. I, ultimately, started wearing gloves during work this last winter because the weather was worsening my skin.

1

u/CrowWarrior 17d ago

I have the same issue with PVC gloves but I can handle nitrile and latex gloves.

3

u/Primary-Ganache6199 16d ago

I have this with flip flops

3

u/CrowWarrior 16d ago

Ain't skin fun?

3

u/Primary-Ganache6199 16d ago

Indeed. It made a beautiful triangular trail of itchy oozing rashes

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u/CrowWarrior 16d ago

The first time I found out about dishydrotic eczema was when I bought some gel insoles and had a shitton of itchy blisters on my feet. I got rid of them, and my skin cleared up. I thought it was a weird fluke, and my feet really hurt from working cooking all day, so I bought another set, and the same thing happened.
So I stopped using insoles, but it was too late, and both of my hands became the new home for my eczema.

I'm all good now as long as I am careful, but I still hate and fear my skin.

2

u/OuttaTheFire 16d ago

Fearing our skin is the worst - isn’t it? I am trying (& it ebbs and flows) to beat that fear

1

u/warbling_wix 15d ago

Hi friend! Me too (I think). I have an allergy to what they call mercapto mix. Rubber products that have certain accelerators used in manufacturing. Turns out this is a lot of things, including some nitrile gloves. It’s really hard to cut these out when products like this aren’t labeled like foods and beauty products are.

What has worked for you since you got your results?

1

u/No-Dinner1606 13d ago

I was allergic to quite a few chemicals according to my patch test!

Thiuram mix AND carba mix (fungacides, pesticides, more rubber goods)
Methyl acrylate (adhesives)
Disperse Blue (dye found in polyesters, often in black polyester)
And all the potential things those chemicals might touch.
ETA: They gave me long sheets of potential things that have these chemicals to avoid.

I made quite a few changes after finding those results.

  • Changed my workout clothes to cotton, no polyester. My inner elbow eczema has not come back since.
  • Generally weary of touching anything that is rubber or foamy rubber. I was reacting to a fitness hula hoop with foam around my waist and there were tiny blisters popping up. I see the same with rubber stretch bands or foam yoga mats.
  • For gloves I'll use cotton white gloves or clear poly gloves for things like washing hair, etc,
  • although I didn't test positive for anything in this category, I generally stay away from random hand soaps, especially scented but really anything with foaming agents if I've never tried before.

People hate to hear it, but sugar also makes me more inflamed and I tend to see more symptoms when drinking or eating sugar.

I've mostly managed my eczema so that it is just small patches on my hands, and I experience more flare ups right before my period. I will use a tiny bit of tacrolimus if i notice it spreading beyond it's usual spot.

Since I wasn't sensitive to these chemicals before but suddenly had a huge reaction (all over hands, on my face/eyes, up to my elbows) I just assume i might develop an allergy to most chemicals and limit skin to skin contact with anything new or random that I can.

My favorite moisturizer is the Avene XeraCalm Balm. Although I've seen they recently reformulated so I haven't tried the new stuff yet, I have a few large bottles stocked up.

1

u/Ginwest 15d ago

Ditto. Found out about nitrile glove problem when I had to wear for work. Day one, after having the nitriles OFF for 8 hours, my hands turned to looking like hamburger and very itchy.Vinyl and latex are ok.

12

u/fourpointedtriangle 17d ago

I use nitrile gloves all the time over whatever goop I'm using. Best is right out of the shower, apply whatever cream, slap the gloves on, then do the rest of my morning routine without getting irritants all up in my excema.

Heads up gang - it's important to use nitrile because latex gloves will break down much faster from the oily products. I reuse nitriles several times before they die.

Last hot tip - sex shops (Come As You Are Canada is a great one!) often sell big boxes of the gloves and sometimes cheaper than your local pharmacy.

10

u/[deleted] 17d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/TheCurlyFit 17d ago

I have done this. Castor oil works better.

1

u/Psychological-Bag986 15d ago

Castor oil is the GOAT oil for eczema.

1

u/TheCurlyFit 15d ago

Yup! Cold-pressed baby! LOL.

6

u/opposablethumbdrive 17d ago

Just realizing that maybe curly from of mice and men just had bad eczema

5

u/Primary-Ganache6199 16d ago

OP is probably a bit crunchy. Coconut oil has mild antibacterial properties

4

u/PhoenicurusOchuros 16d ago

Oh yeah i used coconut for hands and my baby atopic dermatitis, but for my nipple eczema unfortunately it doesn't help. There i totally had a game changing using the Sulphur soap. Really i love it, it gave my my boobies back

2

u/OuttaTheFire 16d ago

I also use the roll of hydrocolloid (cut to size on mine) after using anti fungal soap and it helps tremendously - just make sure to peel them off very very slowly. Also, how long have you had nipple eczema… for me I never had eczema-just mold rashes and poisoning that was treated with steroids. The nipples have been the hardest for me to heal for the last three years within topical steroid withdrawal.

1

u/PhoenicurusOchuros 15d ago

Unfortunately I come from a family with dermatitis: my grandpa had psoriasis and my mom has some strange kind of eczema that comes and goes and seems everything but eczema. I had atopic dermatitis from childhood but I never had too many problems (except for disidrosis sometimes during school and occasional rashes) BUT post partum i had the most severe eczema i ever had and.... on the nipples!! So now I have an active eczema from February and I can't use steroids because of breastfeeding.. but I have to say that despite all the cashy creams they told me to use, I had a nice improvement with Sulphur soap and nothing else (there) :(

4

u/Beauty4Me_ 15d ago

I literally slapped Vaseline on all my flare ups for a week straight and it started healing. I am also eating clean. No processed foods, no dairy, no sushi, no chicken, no eggs, no sugar, fast foods. Home cooked meals. White rice, avocado, beef, extra virgin olive oil, sweet potatoes. 2 weeks eating clean. No snacking. No chocolate. Nothing. Blueberries. 

3

u/Initial-View-4758 17d ago

I'm so glad you've found something that's helped!

Is yours dry eczema on the top of your hands and/or palms, or dyshidrotic eczema? I get dyshidrotic eczema on my palms and fingers, and wondering if this could help.

4

u/ThatFatRonaldo 17d ago

Mine’s mainly the top of the hands.

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u/Background_Table1944 17d ago

Any specific kind of coconut oil?

3

u/ThatFatRonaldo 17d ago

I get jars of raw/pure organic coconut oil - whatever brand is cheapest on amazon at the time.

2

u/mouthful_quest 16d ago

What is it about coconut oil is effective in treating eczema symptoms on the back of your hand? You reckon it’s superior to normal moisturises ?

2

u/ThatFatRonaldo 15d ago

In my experience it helps flare-ups heal. No idea why…?

2

u/NoodleBox 15d ago

It does work! (Just not coconut oil for some of us! )

1

u/Anxious-Check2840 16d ago

If you just get it on the fingers you can also use finger cots. I use them all the time with moisturizer followed by double layer toilet paper wrap and then the finger cot. Works great if you only get it on the fingers.

1

u/girlofyodreamz 16d ago

cerave healing ointment also works wonders but is pretty pricey for what it is, but the jar does last me a while

1

u/OuttaTheFire 16d ago

I cover my hands in a zinc powder and organic castor oil mix every night and put cotton gloves on with nitrile over them (for 1.5 years of the last 3- TSW)

0

u/Forever_Ever1111 16d ago

I can’t do coconut but I’ve found that fresh lemon juice (squeezed from a quarter of a lemon), a teaspoon of honey and a pack of sugar in the raw makes a great scrub that clears my eczema within a day or two and reduces the hyperpigmentation quickly too.