There are all manner of medicines for eczema relief, from prescription pharmaceuticals to over the counter creams, lotions, and antihistamines to home remedies. Every one of them has upsides and downsides, and every one you try will work differently for you. By examining the pluses, minuses, and differences in these groups you will be in a position to make a more informed decision when you choose an eczema medicine.
The first category mentioned is prescription pharmaceuticals. Within this category your choices are topical lotions and creams, pills, and injections. Topical lotions run the gamut from mild antihistamine creams to fairly strong corticosteroid creams. The pills can be antihistamines or steroids, and the same is true for injections. The plus for this group is that relief from your itching symptoms will be very quick, often bordering on immediate. This big plus is tempered by some equally as big minuses, however. Over time your body will build up a tolerance to the pharmaceuticals, so periodically you will have to change types of medications or dosages to maintain symptom relief. Long term use of steroids can lead to thinning of the skin and compromising the immune system, making you more susceptible to infections and diseases. Injections are for extreme symptoms and require time to go to a doctor's office. This can be a pain if you are trying to juggle a busy schedule with work, kids, etc. And there's the cost. Even though your health insurance will probably cover a portion of the cost, long term use of pharmaceuticals can be expensive.
Over the counter creams, lotions, and antihistamines probably won’t give you relief as quickly as pharmaceuticals, but you’re not likely to build up a tolerance to them, so when you find something that works, you can stick with it long term. Since eczema is linked to allergies, you should read the ingredients of a product carefully before you buy it. It could contain ingredients that you are allergic to, which obviously won’t do you any good. It might be a good idea to stick to products with natural ingredients rather than ones containing a lot of artificial, lab-produced chemicals. Again, you might be allergic to one of the chemicals whose name you can’t even pronounce. Cost can range from quite moderate to “the sky’s the limit” if you go for high end, name brand products.
With home remedies, cost probably won’t be much of an issue, since you may already have many of the items around your house. Unless you happen to use something you’re allergic to, your body shouldn’t have adverse reactions or build up a tolerance to home remedies. If it works for you, you can stick with a home remedy for a long time. The downside is that it may take a bit of trial and error before you find something that works for you. Unlike pharmaceuticals, which are basically “one size fits all,” home remedies are customized to specific individuals and there are lots of folks with eczema! The good news is that once you find an eczema home remedy that works for you, you can tweak it until it is customized to give you optimal relief.
With all the non-pharmaceutical eczema medicines available a person would be hard-pressed to not give one of them a try. The pluses outweigh the negatives, especially when you think you might be compromising your body further than it already is with eczema if you use pharmaceuticals. Whichever route you take, do your research so you can make a choice from a position of knowledge rather than just taking shots in the dark or relying on someone else to make the decisions for you.
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