My eczema cure...apple cider vinegar

Seraphina

Jedi Master
Just wanted to share this with everybody. I've had bad eczema since I was a teenager. I get it on the tops of my feet and legs. It would itch and burn like crazy and take forever to clear up. The hydrocortizone creams never really helped much, and I was not crazy about using them because they leave the body open for infection.

A few months ago I tried something new. I put diluted apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle and sprayed it on my rash. It stings at first if there are in open wounds, but within a couple minutes, the stinging subsides, then the redness and itching of the rash also subside. I let it air dry then I apply virgin coconut oil to prevent dryness. I might have to reapply 2-3 times during the day, decreasing every subsequent day. By 3 days I no longer have to apply, because it no longer itches and only thing left may be scabs from previous vesicles.

I also found it very helpful for Folliculitis and dandruff that I occasionally get on my scalp. After I wash my hair, I rinse with diluted ACV. Granted, I don't do it as much as I like, cuz my kids complain I smell like a pickle, but the smell does go away once completely dry. ;)

I wish I knew about such a simple solution years ago. No doctors or expensive creams necessary, who'd a thunk it?
 
Thanks, I'll try it out.
My skin is ultra sensitive. I get a rash (eczema) if I eat wrong, wear anything with perfumes or parabens, nickle etc. I even feel funny whenever I go into any shop selling detergents, shampoos, and so on.
At one stage it was so bad I had to take painkillers to block the itchiness. And I had to wear long clothing in the hot summer to hide
where I had scratched. Then I had to pay astronomical medical bills to get treatment, which meant stress, also bad for eczema.
Your suggestion sounds ...better.
 
Hi Seraphina,

You may wish to investigate the evidence that shows skin diseases are directly related to problems in the intestines, particularly leaky gut, known to be caused by gluten consumption, excess fiber consumption, and antibiotics.

The skin is a major organ of elimination and is forced to compensate for the inefficiency of the intestines.

I had severe psoriasis in the palms of my hands for over 15 years, which is now completely gone after living a gluten free low carb lifestyle.
 
Eczema can absolutely, totally and completely be cured by diet (as can pretty much everything else). A zero gluten, zero dairy and zero sugar diet with very low carbs (less than 40 a day) and high quality animal fat and protein will make it all literally disappear.

Cassandra, if you're that chemically sensitive it also sounds like you need to get some strong detox protocols going. There is a lot of information on that on the forum, if you're interested.
 
anart said:
Eczema can absolutely, totally and completely be cured by diet (as can pretty much everything else). A zero gluten, zero dairy and zero sugar diet with very low carbs (less than 40 a day) and high quality animal fat and protein will make it all literally disappear.

Cassandra, if you're that chemically sensitive it also sounds like you need to get some strong detox protocols going. There is a lot of information on that on the forum, if you're interested.

Actually...that's already done...in fact, I lost 60 lbs. :D My eczema did improve with the diet, but I still get flare ups sometimes after wearing socks and tennis shoes or if my skin gets to dry.
 
Of course, my flare ups could also be cause by my occasional veering of the diet when there's nothing else to eat or my "cheats", but either way, the ACV still works wonders, and can be useful when someone is converting to a paleo diet and are still having symptoms. I take a shot a day by mouth, too, or incorporate it into my recipes.
 
Seraphina said:
Of course, my flare ups could also be cause by my occasional veering of the diet when there's nothing else to eat or my "cheats",

Exactly. By the way, if you occasionally 'cheat', you're not really on the diet - it's all or nothing, that's the only way your body can truly heal.
 
Anart said:
A zero gluten, zero dairy and zero sugar diet with very low carbs (less than 40 a day) and high quality animal fat and protein will make it all literally disappear.

I can attest to this. My acne is completely gone and has not returned since I started this diet and for me this is amazing. I have had acne all of my life and I am now 40 years old. My face is so clear and glowing now, I love it. It is all because of this diet.
 
Thanks, anart. I do need to start a detox programme asap.
Funny thing was, that my eczema got much worse when I gave up smoking for two years. That's the time I had to take painkillers, so I could get some sleep, which the itchiness prevented.
Whenever I cheat at the diet, I also get a bit of a rash.
 
I also found it very helpful for Folliculitis and dandruff that I occasionally get on my scalp. After I wash my hair, I rinse with diluted ACV. Granted, I don't do it as much as I like, cuz my kids complain I smell like a pickle, but the smell does go away once completely dry. ;)

You made me smile with the pickle comment - I remember that smell on our bodies as kids!

My grandmother used ACV on us for any type of skin problem and in particular sunburns... it works so well... The vinegar evaporates quickly taking a lot of the "heat" out of the burn... It also helps heal quickly but I have no idea why!

On grandmas home remedies, she also used to give us a little bit of turpentine mixed with some honey when one of us would get worms!! Tasted HORRIBLE... But we all survived and the worms did not :)
 
cassandra said:
Funny thing was, that my eczema got much worse when I gave up smoking for two years. That's the time I had to take painkillers, so I could get some sleep, which the itchiness prevented.

Fwiw, I used to get "seasonal" colds/flues a lot, especially as a teenager and even in my adult years. I pretty much regarded myself as cursed since it didn't seem to affect most of my friends - only me. That stopped once I started smoking and removed gluten from my diet. And now with keeping my carb intake under a certain limit, it's hard to imagine how I lived with such misery in the past. So I'm not sure if it was the tobacco, diet, or some combination of the two that helped in the end, but I'm inclined to continue with both practices.

Skin conditions can be troubling to say the least. I've had my share of them and so have many members of my family. I remember having big acne flare-ups in my youth after binging on sugar, dairy products and excessive carbohydrates (a.k.a. pizza). My guess would be that something in your diet is still causing you inflammation if the eczema is not cleared up completely. I've used ACV to help relieve the pain of insect bites, so I know it does have some positive effects of relieving inflammation of the skin. But for chronic conditions like eczema, I would try to focus more on diet, fwiw.
 
RyanX said:
I've used ACV to help relieve the pain of insect bites, so I know it does have some positive effects of relieving inflammation of the skin. But for chronic conditions like eczema, I would try to focus more on diet, fwiw.

I agree, but it's also stress-related (psychophysiological disorder). Luckily, I'm getting better at coping with anxiety and stress.
Actually, my eczema has helped me in the past to try and research what poisons "they" put in foods, detergents, cosmetics, etc., who would knowingly use such toxins and why they get away with it, which ultimately lead me here.

Mod Note: Fixed quotes
 
RyanX said:
I would try to focus more on diet, fwiw.

I agree with focusing on diet, but considering the diet takes a while to have an effect, and the ACV works almost immediately...I say both.


Happyville said:
My grandmother used ACV on us for any type of skin problem and in particular sunburns... it works so well... The vinegar evaporates quickly taking a lot of the "heat" out of the burn... It also helps heal quickly but I have no idea why!

I can also attest to using ACV on sunburns, I had one this summer and used it. It made it feel better immediately. This is what led to me using it on my eczema when it flared up later. The ACV does have anti inflammatory properties. I also believe one of the reasons it works so well on the skin is that it restores the acid barrier that gets destroyed by use of soap, etc. Healthy skin ph is 5, coincidentally ACV is also 5. :D
 
Just wanted to 'testify' here that cutting out dairy (especially milk products) cleared up my eczema, although I think reducing carbs waaay down is also very important. You don't really want to have to 'treat' your Eczema all the time, so why not take the steps to make it disappear completely! :)
 
I just wanted to mention too that I developed eczema on my hands, and although it "looked" like work related, because it started when I began a new job, as the dermatologist insisted too, it didn't clear when I was off work for a two week break. I stopped seeing the dermatologist, as he was IMO closed minded and wasn't helping except to perscribe useless hydrocortisone cream repeatedly, as well as dismissing my connection of eczema being related to some teeth shifting, so I bore it because my gut feeling didn't tie in with what my dentist as well as other so called professionals said.
Diet definitely made it go from horrible chronic to manageable however, long story short, it turned out I had severe bone loss in a couple of teeth due to bacteria for God knows how long. (I'm positive it was actually trauma cause by biting on a metal fork but of course the Gods in white poo poo my theory) Anyways, after this was discovered finally and by luck, the peridontist did deep cleanings and I went on antibiotics for five days and my eczema was gone by the 6th day. I didn't want to but I knew after boneloss was revealed and bacteria situation explained that it was likely connected.
I seem to have a vulnerable area in my hands now, probably because my hands are often exposed or sweating in gloves. So they ARE sensitive to conditions and diet does play a role for sure but how they are now and how they were before deep cleaning and antibiotics is uncomparable.. (Even the peridontist dismissed my assertion as nonsense but I could tell it upset him for some bizarre reason) So although a long shot for any eczema sufferers, if you have a gut feeling or have experienced other seemingly unconnected symptoms, bacterial problems might be at play. I loaded up on good probiotics too.
 
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