Eczema: To moisten, or not?

QuackQuackOops

barnstar2077 said:

I developed eczema a few years ago on my shoulder blade, which recently has come back with a vengeance.  I have an emollient cream that I put on several times a day.  Should I lightly dampen the area first before I put the cream on?  Or am I making it worse by doing so?

Any advice greatly appreciated, thank you.

Eat more fruit and veg. Cut out wheat.
No more eczema

Emmia

QuackQuackOops said:

barnstar2077 said:

I developed eczema a few years ago on my shoulder blade, which recently has come back with a vengeance.  I have an emollient cream that I put on several times a day.  Should I lightly dampen the area first before I put the cream on?  Or am I making it worse by doing so?

Any advice greatly appreciated, thank you.

Eat more fruit and veg. Cut out wheat.
No more eczema

I'm not sure that's the most helpful - eczema can have many, many causes, eating veg and cutting out wheat won't fix a flare up for me.

Spoonie_Turtle

Emmia said:

QuackQuackOops said:

barnstar2077 said:

I developed eczema a few years ago on my shoulder blade, which recently has come back with a vengeance.  I have an emollient cream that I put on several times a day.  Should I lightly dampen the area first before I put the cream on?  Or am I making it worse by doing so?

Any advice greatly appreciated, thank you.

Eat more fruit and veg. Cut out wheat.
No more eczema

I'm not sure that's the most helpful - eczema can have many, many causes, eating veg and cutting out wheat won't fix a flare up for me.

Indeed, and for some people they just can't find the trigger no matter how many exclusion diets they follow. And unless the eczema is a a problem to the point of interfering with functioning (physically or mentally), the hassle of overhauling one's diet outweighs the potential benefits for many people.

Besides, not everyone can eat (more) fruit and veg. My aunt can't, due to ulcerative colitis (extremely frustrating for her as that's what she used to live on but now the only things she can consistently tolerate are simple carbs and starchy things. Not her diet of choice by any stretch of the imagination, but it's that or literally starve ... ) Obviously for a vast majority of the population, more fruit and veg is good advice, but you can't sanctimoniously declare anything is The Cure for anyone, and even less so if you know nothing about their health. Sharing what helped us when people ask for tips is very different from assuming it will automatically work for everyone. Not only that, @QuackQuackOops how do you know the OP can even eat solid food? A very ableist presumption. Very many people are tube fed or rely on TPN to survive, for whom your advice would be unhelpful or irrelevant.