If you want to get rid of eczema, then don’t make the mistake of using detergents and soaps on your skin. You should avoid detergents and soaps of all kinds unless it is absolutely necessary. People today use too much soaps and cleansers. As a rule of thumb, you should use cleansers only when water is not sufficient enough to wash dirt from your skin. Here is why.
Detergents are so ubiquitous in today’s environments and so persistent in tissues and surfaces that you need to use anti-septic soaps to remove them in order to get rid of eczema in a percentage of cases. Even though the terms “detergents” and “soaps” are used synonymously, and experts suggest that eczema sufferers should avoid both, detergents and soaps are not the same and are not equally problematic to eczema sufferers. Detergents increase the permeability of skin membranes in a way that soaps and water alone do not. Sodium lauryl sulfate, the most common household detergent, has been shown to amplify the allergenicity of other substances (“increase antigen penetration”).
According to the latest stats, the use of detergents has increased in the modem decades to a great extent, while the use of soap has decreased over the years. Add to it the fact that in recent times, mild plant-based detergents are being developed for the natural products sector.
It is unfortunate that there is no consensus regarding the best kind of cleanser for eczema patients. Different clinical tests, sponsored by different personal product companies, unsurprisingly tout various brands as the most skin friendly based on specific properties of various products and different underlying assumptions as to what really determines skin friendliness. The terms “hypoallergenic” and “doctor tested” are not regulated, and there is no proof, scientific or otherwise, that the products labeled as “hypoallergenic” are safer than others.
So if you are too hygiene conscious to abandon soaps and detergents then my recommendation is that you avoid the use of detergents and use soaps instead. Mind you, your soap must meet the following criteria: it must not be a dry soap, must not be a perfumed one, and must have oil or fat base- a “super fatted” soap is best.
That said, try to use soap sparingly. For example, use it only on areas where necessary, and soap only at the end of your bath.
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