[Strawberry Welli...]

I've never had dermatitis/eczema until I fell pregnant. In my first pregnancy it developed on my face, unattractive but it wasn't too bad because I didn't use any products on my face that flared it up. It went away as soon as I gave birth to my daughter.

This pregnancy it has developed on my hands, particularly my right hand (dominant hand). It is getting so bad now, so red and raw and itchy and covers half my hand and fingers at least. I've had it for months, since the first trimester (I am 31 weeks now). It certainly seems to flare up after washing dishes, using soaps, doing laundry etc, so I have been trying to avoid these as much as possible, but obviously I need to use soaps sometimes!

Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing (pregnant or not), and can you recommend some products I could use that won't flare it up? I am thinking particularly soap or hand/body wash I can use when washing my hands or in the shower. Any other tips that would help?

I know I could use gloves when I do the dishes and laundry, and perhaps I really should buy some and do that. I have been using a weak hydrocortisone cream on and off for months, and I am starting to worry it could be dangerous for the baby to use it for so long so I'd like to reduce my reliance on it, but at the moment its the only thing that reduces the redness/itchiness.

I can't wait for this pregnancy to be over so things go back to normal with my skin!!

[Ianthe]

My skin is so sensitive I don't use any soap products at all. Generally that keeps it under control. You could try derm-aid as a cream when it flares up.

[Strawberry Welli...]

My skin is so sensitive I don't use any soap products at all. Generally that keeps it under control. You could try derm-aid as a cream when it flares up.

Thanks, that's the cream I've been using and it does help but I worry about prolonged use as I am pregnant.

So you only ever wash with water? What about after changing a dirty nappy or using the toilet? Or if you've been cooking with something oily/greasy and you need soap to remove the residue?

[Ianthe]

If my hands are gross I will use a tiny amount of dishwashing liquid or soap but I can't use great quantities all the time.

[Tamzin1984]

I've had problems with dermatitis on my face my entire life. The best facewash I found was cetaphil and used it for years and years (probably 20-odd) until it started to aggravate my dermatitis as well! I tried a non-sodium-lauryl-sulphate product and it improved for a while, then came back. So these days I just use water to wash my face. I wear make-up infrequently, when I do use it I use hypoallergenic baby wipes to remove it rather than harsh cleansers. I have recently found that my toothpaste has started to aggravate it and have switched to a non-sodium-lauryl-sulphate one. I'm starting to get a suspicion that its also aggravated by dairy, as it tends to get worse when I drink a lot of coffee (that's pretty much the only milk I have).
As far as hands go, I wear gloves a lot at work and have to get non-powdered ones otherwise I get itchy dermatitis on them. If I wash my hands a lot in aggressive soaps it stirs it up too. I make sure they stay well moisturised and it tends to keep it mostly in check.

When I was little I used hydrocortisone creams on it but eventually the cortisone started making it worse (the description by the dermatologist was that it was like the cortisone was 'feeding' the dermatitis), so I don't use any creams at all these days.

[follies]

I have developed a very small amount of dermatitis between my fingers. It goes away with Vitamin e cream.

[tick]

I pretty much avoid all soaps also. We have the sensitive skin dove soap bar in the shower but I only use it under my arms. Water only for the rest of my body!

I do dishes with a dishmatique thing which dispenses the soap onto the dishes without me having to touch it much, but we also have a dishwasher so that's only for pots and things. I pretty much just avoid soap whenever possible. If I need to use gloves I use single-use powder free nitrile gloves, I really do hate gloves though.

For my skin I love hemp body butter from the body shop - it's not for eczema and is even fragranced a bit but it seems to work really well for me. It's nice and rich and works better than all of the standard eczema options. Mine flares up so much during pregnancy also.

ETA: Actually the entire hemp range at body shop is pretty good, as is the "green" hemp range of skin care stuff which seems to be often sold at healthfood stores.

This post has been edited by tick: 07/04/2012, 08:26 PM

[Ianthe]

I also can use the hemp body butter and have for a while. Funnily enough my excema was generally better during pregnancies.

[Loue]

The only dish liquid I can use is Morning fresh sensitive with Aloe. Can be hard to find at the Big 2 supermarkets, try smaller independents.

Also a non-soap user, or use sparingly.

Hope it settles down for you OP, it's a real pain.