Aqueous cream

sixtiesgal_2

My friend has just been prescribed this to wash with as she has abcesses down below, he said to her just use this and nothing else to wash with. Does anyone else use this? I have eczema and am currently using tea tree shower gel which makes me feel really fresh and clean but now my skin is feeling drier.

absolutebounder

sixtiesgal wrote: »

My friend has just been prescribed this to wash with as she has abcesses down below, he said to her just use this and nothing else to wash with. Does anyone else use this? I have eczema and am currently using tea tree shower gel which makes me feel really fresh and clean but now my skin is feeling drier.

Dont know about the cream but does your friend have this
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hidradenitis-suppurativa/Pages/Introduction.aspx

butterfly72

im a district nurse and see people with eczema and dry skin on a daily basis. Although i cant recommend a cream, forum rules and all that, we use a lot of Diprobase/doublebase. You can buy that over the counter. Also Epiderm and Cetraban are other popula choices.

I dont hace eczema but do use Diprobase myself on my legs as they can get dry after swimming.

We dont tend to use Aqueous that much so i cant comment on that. I know that it is gentle and less harsh than a regular soap.

mazza111

Aqueous is much kinder than soaps to the skin, I use this to wash, although, when used as a moisturiser it's been found to actually dry the skin a bit. But is fine for using for washing:)

Fire_Fox

Aqueous cream contains 1% sulphate surfactants and is contraindicated in dermatitis I believe.

"Why is Aqueous Cream bad for eczema?
This will not, we imagine, come as significant news to members of the National Eczema Society. Indeed back in December 2007, the NICE guidelines for the management of atopic eczema in children clearly stated that aqueous cream BP should not be used as a leave-on emollient and research by Professor Mike Cork and his team in Sheffield (published 2003) demonstrated that for many children aqueous cream was an irritant.

In 2010, the results of a study carried out by Professor Richard Guy and his team at the University of Bath were published in the British Journal of Dermatology ....

Volunteers who do not have eczema applied aqueous cream to their arm twice a day, leaving it on for 10 minutes, for 4 weeks. The effects were then measured using laboratory tests - comparing the skin ‘treated’ with aqueous cream to adjacent ‘untreated’ skin. The research team measured the comparative thickness of the outer layer of the skin (the stratum cornea) and tested for transepidermal water loss.

Overall the areas that had been ‘treated’ were 12% thinner than the untreated areas. There was also an average 20% increase in water loss through the thinner ‘treated’ areas .... Prof. Guy has confirmed to us: ‘Aqueous cream contains 1% sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) and this is the ingredient, we believe, that causes damage to the skin barrier."
http://www.eczema.org/aqeous

Speaking for myself, my mild eczema and contact dermatitis cleared completely when I quit all sulphate surfactants including hand soap. Turns out shampoo bubbles running down my arm was the main trigger even tho I rinsed well afterwards!! My mother who has atopic eczema and (probably) seborrhoeic dermatitis quit except for hand soap and hers reduced over 50%, easy to shift the last with a mild steroid. Funnily enough what convinced my mother to join me was a face rash which a rubbish pharmacy sold her aqueous cream for ... the rash promptly worsened.

spicyprawn

I too have stopped using SLS in everything. I now use good things range of products. I have atopic eczema which is now starting to flare up do to the weather change but the difference this year is it is only drying. I am not scratching the top layers of skin off anymore.
Also I stopped smoking in January which has been a massive help skinwise.

Fire_Fox

spicyprawn wrote: »

I too have stopped using SLS in everything. I now use good things range of products. I have atopic eczema which is now starting to flare up do to the weather change but the difference this year is it is only drying. I am not scratching the top layers of skin off anymore.
Also I stopped smoking in January which has been a massive help skinwise.

I can't believe how long it took me to work out sulphate surfactants were the main issue; I was getting flares on a night out and at work which I put down to booze and air conditioning respectively. Not washing my hair beforehand .... :doh: Cleaning up my diet was also beneficial.

browneyedbazzi

I use aqueous cream to wash with too - I started on the recommendation of my doctor after having a nasty allergic reaction for ages that we couldn't identify the cause of. It is really gentle, inexpensive and does the job

Fuzzy_Duck

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Aqueous cream contains 1% sulphate surfactants and is contraindicated in dermatitis I believe.

"Why is Aqueous Cream bad for eczema?
This will not, we imagine, come as significant news to members of the National Eczema Society. Indeed back in December 2007, the NICE guidelines for the management of atopic eczema in children clearly stated that aqueous cream BP should not be used as a leave-on emollient and research by Professor Mike Cork and his team in Sheffield (published 2003) demonstrated that for many children aqueous cream was an irritant.

In 2010, the results of a study carried out by Professor Richard Guy and his team at the University of Bath were published in the British Journal of Dermatology ....

Volunteers who do not have eczema applied aqueous cream to their arm twice a day, leaving it on for 10 minutes, for 4 weeks. The effects were then measured using laboratory tests - comparing the skin ‘treated’ with aqueous cream to adjacent ‘untreated’ skin. The research team measured the comparative thickness of the outer layer of the skin (the stratum cornea) and tested for transepidermal water loss.

Overall the areas that had been ‘treated’ were 12% thinner than the untreated areas. There was also an average 20% increase in water loss through the thinner ‘treated’ areas .... Prof. Guy has confirmed to us: ‘Aqueous cream contains 1% sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) and this is the ingredient, we believe, that causes damage to the skin barrier."
http://www.eczema.org/aqeous

Speaking for myself, my mild eczema and contact dermatitis cleared completely when I quit all sulphate surfactants including hand soap. Turns out shampoo bubbles running down my arm was the main trigger even tho I rinsed well afterwards!! My mother who has atopic eczema and (probably) seborrhoeic dermatitis quit except for hand soap and hers reduced over 50%, easy to shift the last with a mild steroid. Funnily enough what convinced my mother to join me was a face rash which a rubbish pharmacy sold her aqueous cream for ... the rash promptly worsened.

I have eczema and aqueous cream is a god send. The issue is eczema isn't caused by one thing (which is why we don't have a cure!) and eczema sufferers might have loads of triggers. I react to stress, pet hair and dust, and probably loads more things I haven't yet identified. SLS products don't set off my eczema.

Having said that, aqueous cream keeps my skin well moisturised and most importantly it relieves the itch. I wash with it and use it as a body moisturiser when my skin is still damp.

You may well find you have an allergic reaction to it, but I think we can say that of any product. So give it a go- it's really cheap so you won't have wasted much money if it's no good for you.

Linda32

I use aqueous cream alot. I don't wash with it but I do know that you can I slather it on my feet at night. Use it as body cream and hand cream.

OH used to get little cuts on his fingers, mostly during the cold weather and he says daily use of aqueous cream cured these cuts.