Cleansing your skin during eczema and/or topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) flares can be one of the hardest things to do. Water, which is normally good for your skin, can sting like crazy when you're dealing with itchy flare-ups.
Having walked through the depths of skin struggles myself, I've made mistakes and also discovered some useful strategies to care for my damaged skin barrier.
Today, I’ve moved completely from relying on the conventional creams and soaps towards a completely natural eczema skincare approach.
With much trial and error, I’ve narrowed down a routine that works for me and you may find it helpful too.
(Something that’s good to note, is that as flares do evolve so what may not work during a severe flare period may work down the road. Here are some tools, tips, and tricks that have been instrumental in caring for my eczema and TSW-afflicted skin.)
Let’s dive into it!
When water feels like a foe:
Taking a shower or bath may be too irritating for your skin during severe outbreaks. That’s OK. You may prefer to:
- Choose a soft anti-bacterial cleansing cloth: I found solace in using a microfiber cloth designed for face and body cleansing, with the Norwex brand being a personal favourite. These cloths cleanse the skin gently without causing any stinging sensation, since they only need to be lightly damp with water to work.
Their antimicrobial properties help combat odor-causing bacteria, ensuring freshness with each use.
- Lock in the moisture while the skin is still damp: Right after cleansing, slather on a clean, natural oil or moisturizer while your skin's still damp. It keeps that moisture where it belongs. Despite you skin rejecting the water from a shower, it does need it to remain healthy. Soothing your skin with an oil helps to restore the damaged skin barrier over time.
Tips to minimize the irritation from water:
Invest in a quality shower filter: Tap water can be harsh on sensitive skin, so installing a good shower filter helps to remove these impurities, safeguarding sensitive skin. (Here’s the one I use. It’s simple to install and has a filter that lasts approximately 1 year and can be replaced.)
Opt for lukewarm to cool water: Hot water can further irritate sensitive skin, so opting for lukewarm to cool water temperatures helps soothe itching and retain skin moisture.
Enhance baths with soothing ingredients: Use a filter (shower filter or bath filter like this one) to fill your bath with lukewarm to cool water. Then, consider adding ingredients such as dead sea salt, epsom salt, vinegar, colloidal oatmeal, fractionated coconut oil, lavender and tea tree essential oils to lukewarm baths for added soothing effects.
Always spot test first. If it’s too irritating, try just one ingredient at a time to see what works best.
Choosing skin-friendly soaps:
When opting for soap, prioritize ingredients that are pure, pronounceable, and moisturizing. Pay attention to your allergies, but there are many natural soaps with ingredients like:
- Mango butter
- Shea butter
- Colloidal oatmeal
- Goat milk
- Essential oils
- And other natural oils that will leave your skin feeling nourished.
Not sure where to start? Here are my favourites:
My current simple shower routine:
- Shower time: Using a shower filter, I indulge in lukewarm or cool water with The Eczema Bar soap and exfoliation gloves/natural loofah (only if skin can tolerate it and doesn't have open wounds).
- Post-shower care: Gently pat dry with a 100% cotton towel.
- Hydration: Spritz a hydrosol onto my skin and allow it to absorb for a few moments. (These are sometimes called floral waters as well. Lavender is my current favourite, but peppermint, chamomile and witch hazel are great options too!)
- Locking in moisture: With slightly damp skin, I apply Whipped Shea Body Butter to seal in moisture effectively.
This shower routine keeps itching to a minimum and my skin feeling refreshed. Even if I do experience a small flare, nothing changes! I continue to take the same care, and it heals itself quickly.
That’s it! Keep it simple!
Simplicity is the key to lasting nourished skin. Just remember that long term healing from your eczema or TSW symptoms requires more than just a skincare routine. It’s really important to work with a practitioner to address the root causes driving the inflammation.
A side note about no moisture treatment for TSW:
I will also mention that some people who go through topical steroid withdrawal choose to do a “no moisture treatment” (NMT) to encourage the skin to develop it’s own moisture retaining abilities. I personally did not do this method, and it doesn’t always help. I was already in so much pain and discomfort from TSW that I could not imagine increasing it to the NMT method level. I continued to moisturize, cleanse and drink water throughout my whole recovery journey. By working on my health from the inside out including a root cause approach with professional guidance, my skin barrier restored itself without NMT.
