Eczema flareups are uncomfortable. The skin is tender to the touch, itchy, and bumpy. While some flareups are worse than others, people who have eczema often don’t want any type of flareup at all. If you have this skin condition, follow the tips below to prevent an unwanted flareup.
How to Avoid an Eczema Flareup
1. Retain Skin Moisture
As long as you get perfume- and dye-free lotion, apply a generous amount to your skin regularly to get it moisturized. Be especially generous with lotions and creams during the winter and right after taking a bath or shower, since hot water dries skin out. Keep a humidifier in your bedroom and turn it on during dry days to help your skin retain moisture.
2. Choose the Right Clothes
Your skin may be extremely sensitive to rough or itchy fabrics like wool and polyester. If you wear them, layer them over cotton, since the fabric is breathable. Avoid dressing in tight or heavy clothes, as they may chafe against your skin and worsen your eczema. Instead, wear loose clothing around the affected area or wrap a cotton bandage around it to avoid chafing.
3. Follow a Healthy Diet & Lifestyle
Sugar, refined carbohydrates, dairy, and red meat, tend to cause inflammation, heightening the risk of an eczema flareup. If they’re a regular part of your diet, reduce or eliminate your intake so that you can focus on fruits, vegetables, nuts, and lean meats instead. Additionally, exercise regularly to strengthen your immune system, which eases eczema. Keep a towel nearby to wipe sweat off your skin to reduce a flareup.
The team at Columbia Hickory Pharmacy in Baltimore, MD, will help you pick the right eczema creams for you. Emphasizing personalized care for each of their customers, they can help you find ways to treat not only your eczema, but the allergies and other issues that might worsen it. For oral eczema medications, they also offer pill finders so that you can stay organized. Call (410) 964-6409 or visit their website for more information.