How to Treat Eczema on Your Face

Having eczema can be distressing, especially if the symptoms appear on your face. You may feel embarrassed and your eczema flare ups may even prevent you from living your day to day life and going out and doing the things you enjoy.

We have stressed out skin ourselves, and completely understand how this common skin irritation can make you feel. But having facial eczema doesn't mean a lifetime of inflamed skin on your face and constant dermatologist appointments. So here, we're going to talk about how to relieve symptoms of eczema and the best way to prevent it.

How Do I Get Rid of Eczema on My Face?

If you develop eczema and think that your regular skincare routine will take care of things, you may sadly be mistaken. Taking care of your skin should always be a priority (after all, it is the biggest organ in the human body). But if you have a type of facial eczema, then it will need special care. Neglecting your skin or not giving it what it needs, could make eczema worse.

Eczema prone skin can become very sensitive and dry, which means that it requires a lot from your skincare, in particular, your moisturiser.

Technically, there's no cure for eczema, but there are things we can do to manage eczema on the face and elsewhere on the body, that will help to prevent eczema flare ups.

Knowing common triggers for eczema and how to get rid of eczema on your face will involve developing new rules for your skincare. Your doctor can prescribe medicated eczema products for the face to help soothe itchy and dry patches of skin. But a good skincare routine and a healthy lifestyle are essential for looking after your stressed out skin.

What is Facial Eczema?

Eczema is often also referred to as atopic dermatitis. The symptoms of atopic dermatitis include itchy, dry skin that can flare up into an angry, red rash and uncomfortably inflamed skin.

There are various different types of eczema on the face, the main one being atopic eczema. This often runs in families and people with eczema often have a family history of eczema, and is also linked to allergies such as hay fever and food allergies.

Irritant contact dermatitis is another common type of eczema that can be triggered by products you may put on your skin that are irritants such as artificial perfumes and preservatives.

Allergic contact dermatitis is caused by the same eczema triggers - topical products applied to or allowed near the skin - but rather than being an irritant, they cause an allergic reaction in the immune system. Examples include certain skincare ingredients, hair dyes and even nickel from jewellery that can all cause eczema symptoms.

What Are the Symptoms of Eczema?

Whatever form of eczema you may have, it will typically causes the same symptoms - dry skin that can become tight and itchy. Eczema may also lead to skin that becomes flakey and cracked, that can weep or bleed and feel sore, hot and uncomfortable.

Eczema can appear anywhere on the body but it can appear on the face more prominently because the skin is more sensitive.

What Are the Causes of Facial Eczema?

The exact cause of eczema is unknown, but what is known is that eczema is a chronic condition that cause skin upsets that's linked to an over active immune system and inflammation. The immune system mistakenly recognises an allergen, that then triggers a flare up. It normally starts in childhood, but can also affect adults.

Different Treatments for Eczema on the Face

When it comes to treatment options to treat eczema on the face, there are various options available from your GP including topical steroids to keep your skin clear and help negate the things that trigger eczema.

As a whole, creams tend to contain less oil than ointments and are great at sealing moisture in. Since they contain less oil, they’re also less greasy to the touch. However, we always advise reading the label of anything you put on your face, including regular skin care products, as some contain preservatives and stabilisers that might irritate your skin.

We'd also recommend looking at a holistic approach before using medicated products to manage dermatitis on the face.

Holistic Skin Care for Eczema on Your Face

We strongly recommend a holistic, whole body approach to managing your skin, leaving prescribed products until last. A healthy diet and an alkaline lifestyle may help you manage your skin without the need for medicated creams.

Knowing how to treat eczema on the face can be a tough affair. So here’s a guide to help you get the best eczema treatment for your face and discover ways to achieve healthier skin.

Can a Topical Moisturizer Treat Facial Eczema?

When trying to manage eczema prone skin, choose an intense moisturising cream that can soothe itchy skin. Opt for one that has hydrating lipids, as they help to restore the protective barrier of your skin, preventing it from drying out and flaking.

These types of eczema face creams moisturize the skin and may also contain calming ingredients such as colloidal oatmeal which helps to reduce the skin redness and discomfort caused by eczema.

Apart from eczema face creams, there are other things you can do to keep eczema flare-ups at bay, including:

Gentle Cleansing

How you wash your face is just as important as how you moisturize. Soap is a common irritant to most skin types, especially for anyone struggling with eczema. It’s very drying, and can strip the skin of its essential oils, leaving it parched, dry and irritated.

Instead, a gentle cream cleanser such as the Sönd Rebalance & Reset Cream Cleanser will gently remove makeup, dirt and impurities, without stripping or being harsh on the skin.

Being Mindful of Humidity and Temperature

Only use or cool or warm, not hot, water when cleansing your face and avoid washing your skin for too long. Water can strip the skin of its vital oils, and hot water can make things even worse.

Try to avoid extremes of temperature and humidity too - harsh, cold winds, wet weather, hot, humid climates and very dry environments can all exacerbate the symptoms of eczema.

Using Phototherapy (UV Light Therapy)

UV light therapy treatment for eczema on the face can be helpful if your eczema is moderate to severe or if medicated creams haven’t helped to calm your skin.

It can however be a little hit and miss - some eczema prone skin reacts well in sunlight, others react badly. Speak to your skin specialist who can diagnose eczema types and give you more of an idea of how to treat your eczema.

Limiting Your Contact with Skin Irritants

Household cleaners, perfumed soaps, laundry detergents, cosmetics, bubble baths and a whole host of other perfumed products around our homes can all irritate the skin. If you have eczema, it can make your skin feel worse and become even more irritated.

It’s therefore important to learn what your triggers are, know exactly what causes eczema flare ups in your skin and avoid them as much as possible.

Avoiding the Urge to Scratch

As anyone with eczema will tell you, eczema causes intense skin itching, and the natural temptation is always to satisfy the urge to scratch the areas where eczema occurs.

However, scratch at your peril! Scratching can damage the skin - weeping, bleeding and blistering is a sign of skin damage caused by scratching inflammation in the skin.

Over time, if you continue to scratch the same area of skin, it can cause the skin to thicken with scar tissue, and ultimately it will feel tough and leathery. Continuous scratching can also cause broken skin that’s at risk of infections, and scarring.

It’s hard to not scratch itching skin, but try to use the soft pads of your fingers rather than your fingernails to provide relief. Wearing cotton gloves and pyjamas to bed will also help to prevent you scratching at your skin in your sleep. (Mittens work well for babies and young children with eczema too.)

Keep your fingernails short and clean too, as this will help to minimise damage and infections if you do scratch at your skin.

The Best Face Creams to Help Prevent Facial Eczema

Following our eczema tips will help to soothe a dry, itchy face, which will offer you relief from eczema. Maintaining a simple yet effective skincare regime will also give your skin the hydration and nourishment it needs in order to have the best chance of remaining healthy and itch free.

The Sönd Calming Hydration Day Cream and Overnight Replenishment Night Cream have both been developed to encourage soft, supple, plump and healthy skin. The long lasting moisturising action will help to protect your skin all day, and all night, long.

Sönd Concentrated Ozone Olive Oil

Eczema can affect the face, causing upset as it leads to visible redness and scarring. So we've also launched a product that helps to provide relief during flare ups to help prevent the scarring and long last effects eczema can cause.

Our Concentrated Ozonised Olive Oil treats and restores the skin and can help treat irritating eczema around the face and eye areas.

Giving Your Skin Condition the Best Care

Whether you have eczema on the body or your face might flare up with itchy, dry patches, looking after your skin will help to give you the best chance of minimising your symptoms. Trust in Sönd to give your skin the best, whatever it needs.