Homeopathic medicine, treatment and remedies for Eczema

• Arsenicum Album
  Common name: Arsenious acid-arsenic trioxide
  Symptoms: Patients who benefit from arsenicum album have some of the following symptoms:
  • Restlessness
  • Swollen and pale face
  • Extreme exhaustion after slight exertion
  • Itching, swelling, and burning skin
  • Dry, rough, and scaly skin
  • Symptoms worsen during cold weather and with scratching
  • Symptoms are relieved with heat and warm drinks 
• Calcarea Carbonica
  Common name: Carbonate of lime
  Symptoms: This remedy works well in fair complexioned people who are fat and flabby with a pale face and deep-seated rings around their eyes. Such people feel extremely cold easily, get easily tired with slight exertion and have a constant feeling of anxiousness. Calcarea carbonica is especially effective in relieving eczema that worsens in winters. It also helps relieve the following symptoms:
  • Itching of scalp
  • Sensitivity to cold
  • Swollen lymph glands
  • Red spots on skin due to broken capillary blood vessels
  • Craving for eggs, salt, and sweets and indigestible things such as chalk
  • Loss of appetite when overworked
  • Dislike for fatty foods
  • Excessive sweating
  • Symptoms worsen with mental or physical exertion, in cold, moist air and are relieved in dry climate 
• Graphites
  Common name: Black lead-plumbago
  Symptoms: Graphites is commonly given to apprehensive and indecisive individuals who easily feel disheartened. This remedy helps alleviate the following symptoms:
  • Red and swollen eyelids
  • Rough and hard skin
  • Dryness in certain parts of skin
  • Skin eruptions with sticky oozing discharge
  • Burning and painful skin rash
  • Pus formation after little injuries
  • Swelling of feet
  • Cracking of skin, often in nipples, mouth, anus and in between toes
  • Symptoms worsen in warm weather, at night, during and after menstruation 
• Mezereum
  Common name: Spurge olive
  Symptoms: Mezereum is administered to individuals exhibiting the following symptoms:
  • Unbearable itching
  • Itching and burning ulcers
  • Eruption of ulcers on skin to form thick scabs, which exude pus
  • Inflamed and swollen bones, especially long bones
  • Symptoms worsen in cold air, at night, with farm food, touch and motion
  • The person seeks and gets relief in open air 
• Natrium Muriaticum
  Common name: Chloride of sodium
  Symptoms: Chloride of sodium works best in awkward and clumsy individuals who have a disposition to cry alone. This remedy is useful in resolving the following symptoms:
  • Irritability and weakness in the morning
  • Throbbing headache
  • Greasy and oily skin
  • Scaly eruptions, especially on the margin of the scalp, behind ears and bends of joints
  • Itching and burning hives
  • Craving for salt and dislike for bread and slimy foods
  • Red and inflamed skin, which worsens at the seashore or by consuming salt
  • Itchiness after exertion
  • Loss of hair
  • Emaciation, notably in the neck
  • Worsening of symptoms with noise, music, warm room 
• Petroleum
  Common name: Crude rock-oil
  Symptoms: Petroleum is useful for irritable individuals who get easily offended. This remedy helps treat eczema when it presents with the following symptoms:
  • Itching of skin at night
  • Dry, constricted, sensitive skin
  • Rough, cracked skin, especially on the fingertips
  • Leathery skin
  • Thick greenish crusts on skin that burn and itch
  • Bleeding easily from cracks
  • Pus formation on skin even with slight scratching
  • Skin inflammation in moist areas or intertrigo
  • Symptoms worsen in winter, dampness, before and during a thunderstorm
  • Symptoms improve in warm air and dry weather 
• Rhus Toxicodendron
  Common name: Poison-ivy
  Symptoms: The following symptoms are relieved with the use of this remedy:
  • Restlessness
  • Cracking of jaws while chewing
  • Red, swollen skin with severe itching
  • Craving for milk
  • Urticaria
  • Watery blisters on the skin
  • Burning eruptions with crust formation
  • Bacterial skin infection or cellulitis
  • Symptoms that worsen during sleep, cold, wet rainy weather, at night, while resting, lying on back or right side
  • Symptoms that are relieved by warm, dry weather, walking, change of position 
• Sulphur
  Common name: Sublimated sulphur
  Symptoms: Sulphur is given to individuals who report the following symptoms:
  • Forgetfulness and difficulty in thinking
  • Dry and scaly skin that looks unhealthy
  • Redness in lips and face
  • Intense itching and burning
  • Constant urge to scratch
  • Aversion to water
  • Craving for sweets
  • Symptoms worse while resting or standing, due to warmth of bed, on washing the skin or bathing and improve in dry and warm weather

Do’s

• Embrace a more active lifestyle with some form of exercise such as walking and gardening every day
• Consume nutritious foods and drinks

Don’ts

• Refrain from drinking beverages such as coffee, Chinese tea, beer
• Avoid highly spiced foods, spiced cakes and chocolates, and cold food like ice cream
• Do not consume celery, onion, garlic, stale cheese and meat
• Artificially flavoured foods must be avoided
• Avoid the use of fragrant cosmetics and perfumes
• Avoid woollen clothing, heated rooms, sedentary lifestyle, and sleeping for long hours in the afternoon
• Avoid excessive exertion of the mind and the body

Conventionally, medicines like steroids are given relieve eczema symptoms. Though they have a  temporary effect and symptoms return as soon as the treatment is stopped. However, homeopathy works by improving the immune system of the body instead of just treating the symptoms of eczema, thus, providing long-term relief. Moreover, homeopathic remedies can be used by children, as well as, the elderly as they do not cause any side-effects.

A clinical study including  42 patients with atopic dermatitis suggested that homeopathy can be regarded as an effective choice of treatment for eczema.

An observational longitudinal study conducted over a period of 16 years indicated that homeopathic treatment has both long term and short term effects in improving the symptoms of atopic dermatitis in children. Another study showed that regular use of homeopathic medicines significantly improved eczema symptoms in children within the first three months of treatment and complete relief from symptoms was observed within two years.

Since homeopathic medicines are highly diluted and do not contain toxic substances, these are safe to use and do not have any side effects. However, self-medication may have some side effects as not every remedy suits every individual equally. So, it is essential to consult a certified homeopathic physician to get the right remedy that is well suited to individual symptoms and miasms. 

Eczema is a chronic skin inflammatory disease that usually appears in childhood. It is characterised by dry, scaly, itchy, and rough skin patches. Homeopathic treatment of eczema aims at determining the underlying triggers of eczema for an individual and then choosing the best medicine accordingly. These remedies have already been reported by various research studies to be effective and devoid of side effects. Thus, homeopathic medicines can be safely taken as a complementary and alternative form of treatment for eczema along with the traditional treatment methods.