Eczema is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that causes patches of dry, itchy, and inflamed skin. When eczema becomes severe, it can cause the skin to become leathery, dry, and can cause scarring. Often, long-term scarring is caused by itching because it opens wounds. As this cycle repeats itself, the skin becomes thicker and discolored, called lichenification. Infections are also more common when you can’t resist itching your eczema.
How to Prevent Eczema Scarring
The best advice out there for minimizing eczema scarring is: don’t scratch the itch. This is also possibly the hardest advice to follow because of the pure intensity of the itch. Since this is so difficult, here are some suggestions to minimize or prevent scarring:
- Keep your Eczema Patches Clean and Moisturized
Keeping your eczema patches clean and moisturized is the best way to prevent lichenification and scarring. You can do this in a few ways.
Start with your environment. If you live in a dry climate, you can keep your house more humid so that you’re not constantly losing moisture to the air. Buy a whole-house humidifier or just keep one next to your desk or bed, wherever you spend the most time.
From a nutritional standpoint, maintaining hydration by drinking water is super important. This will keep your skin more hydrated and assist in flushing out the toxins that can cause flare-ups.
On the external side, try wet-wrap therapy. This is best done after bathing, moisturizing, and using topical medication. Start by moistening some clothing or gauze for the wet layer you plan to put over the eczema, and then wrap it with a dry layer afterward. Use something occlusive like plastic wrap, a sweat suit, or gloves (if it’s on your hands) to trap the moisture. Leave it on for a few hours or overnight. Wet wrap therapy is a great way to boost hydration and help your topical medications sink in better.
- Eat Healthy, and Include Fish Oil
Your skin has a barrier that is made up of dead skin cells, proteins, and fats, and the fat’s role is to plug the gaps between skin cells so that moisture can not escape. When your consumption of those healthy fats like omega 3s is low, it can affect the integrity of the skin’s barrier, leaving it vulnerable to moisture loss, inflammation, and damage.
If you’re not eating enough foods with healthy fats, like nuts, fish, or olive oil, a supplement may help improve your skin barrier by filling those nutritional gaps. We recommend the True Grace Omega-3 Fish Oil supplement due to its high concentration and superior bioavailability.
- Wear Sunscreen
Since your skin is already compromised, you don’t want anything else to damage it, because it will impede healing. Getting sunburnt not only physically damages the skin, causing inflammation, but it also causes moisture loss. Ensure you wear sunscreen of at least 30 SPF or more any time you leave the house, or put on some protective clothing to prevent sun damage. Try Kids Uber-Sensitive Mineral Sunscreen Lotion SPF 40 by Earth Mama Organics.
- Use Anti-Itch Creams and Inflammation Reducers
As we said, itching is the worst thing you can do for your eczema, so an anti-itch cream can help you resist the temptation to scratch! Creams like hydrocortisone can reduce how itchy your eczema is and even decrease the inflammation around it, making it less likely to scar.
- Learn Your Triggers
Most of the time, eczema is just a result of your body reacting to something. Once you learn what triggers your eczema, you can try to avoid it so that you have fewer flare-ups.
Externally, these triggers can be things like soaps, detergents, makeup, certain types of fabric, dust, pollutants, or even weather conditions like extreme heat or cold. Triggers can also come from within, in the form of foods, stress, hormonal changes, or excess of refined sugars.
- Probiotics
Sometimes gut issues can show up on the skin. Some types of bacteria in the gut are associated with more inflammation, which can be a trigger for an eczema flare-up. Taking a probiotic can help rebalance your gut microbiome and reduce inflammation. The Skin Probiotic from Codeage has a blend of inflammation-reducing herbs, vitamins, and probiotics that is expertly tailored for skin concerns.
How to Reduce Eczema Scars
There are lots of treatments out there that can help with eczema scarring, but the goal is always to hydrate, reduce inflammation, promote healing, and gently remove dead skin cells. Some topical ingredients that can help reduce the appearance of eczema scars are:
- Aloe Vera
Aloe is a natural ingredient that reduces irritation and increases skin collagen content, which improves wound healing. You can get aloe directly from a plant, or for even more benefits, try 99% Aloe Vera Gelly Soothing Moisturizer by Lily of the Desert. It includes other ingredients like vitamins E and A that help moisturize the skin and reduce the appearance of scars.
- Honey
Honey is naturally antibacterial and has been used for centuries to promote wound healing and prevent infection, so it works wonders for healing eczema patches. Unfiltered, raw honey is the most therapeutic because it contains antioxidants and enzymes for skin health. The Organic Raw Honey from Honey Gardens is a great choice that is free of preservatives and pesticides.
- Oatmeal
Oatmeal baths are notoriously rejuvenating for the skin, reducing inflammation and irritation in just 5-10 minutes of soaking. Oatmeal can also be used as an ingredient in nourishing moisturizers to lessen the severity of eczema.
- Essential Oils
Essential oils can be therapeutic, reducing scarring and boosting skin health.
Tea tree oil is best known for its anti-inflammatory properties, helping to soothe irritated skin and promote healing. Plant Therapy’s Organic Tea Tree Oil is a great option since it is highly concentrated and marked kid-safe.
Lavender oil is known for its soothing and healing properties, reducing redness, irritation, and scarring. It also encourages collagen production, which can boost skin repair as well as smooth and lighten scars. Plant Therapy also makes an Organic Lavender Oil that is useful for boosting your skin health.
- Scar Gel
Scar gel is typically a combination of herbs, medications, light chemical exfoliants, and moisturizers that are specifically targeted for fading scars and repairing the skin. Derma E makes a Scar Gel formula that contains scar-fading ingredients allantoin, allium cepa, and beta-alanine, as well as moisturizing and inflammation reducing ingredients like vitamin B5.
- Exfoliate
Exfoliating your scars–not active eczema patches–can help reduce their appearance by removing the top layer of dead skin cells, exposing healthier cells underneath. Exfoliating regularly can increase skin cell turnover, meaning that your skin heals and renews itself faster, reducing the visibility of scars.
You can try a light chemical exfoliant like Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. Dynamic Health’s version has “the mother” and the enzymes and bacteria in “the mother” can help reduce inflammation and remove dead skin cells.
You can make natural physical exfoliants at home by combining sugar with things like lemon juice, coconut oil, oatmeal, essential oils, and more. Just be sure to only physically exfoliate healed eczema, not active.
Conclusion
Managing eczema and preventing scarring can be frustrating and overwhelming, but with the right combination of products and practices, you can support your skin’s healing process. Incorporating essential oils, active ingredients, and moisturizers into your routine can help soften scars and improve skin texture to help boost skin health after a flare-up.
Everyone’s skin reacts differently to treatments, so finding the right products and routine that work for you may take time. Be sure to always patch-test new products to make sure they’re compatible with your skin type. With consistency, you can reduce the appearance of scarring and reduce flare-ups to boost your skin health and resiliency over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I prevent eczema scarring?
Resisting itching your eczema is the best approach, but lotions, fish oil supplements, and probiotics can all help reduce the underlying inflammation in your body that causes flare-ups.
How can I get rid of eczema scars?
There are lots of topical ingredients you can use to fade scars, like aloe, honey, essential oils, oatmeal, and coconut oil.
What supplements can I take for eczema?
Fish oil, probiotics, and multivitamins all help improve your skin’s health and healing capabilities.
- About the Author
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Madeleine holds a BSc in Human Biology and began her career in emergency medicine before transitioning to a wellness role as a personal trainer and nutritionist. This combination of medical and wellness expertise gives her a well-rounded understanding of health topics. Now a full-time health and wellness copywriter, Madeleine enjoys synthesizing digestible content from technical research so readers can make informed decisions about their health.