I recently told you about a friend who returned from a trip to Mexico complaining about itchy, scaly skin on her palms. It quickly progressed to painful, bubbly sores with peeling skin. A visit to the dermatologist diagnosed eczema.

My friend was quite surprised as she hadn’t ever had any eczema patches before on her body, so she knew she wasn’t prone to it. But during her vacation, she was so concerned with keeping her preschooler healthy that she may have overused sanitizer during the week. The drying effect of the alcohol combined with the disinfecting chemicals in the product had severely irritated her skin.

Here’s a natural hand sanitizer she might want to try next time to avoid this problem. But in the meantime, she still had to do something to heal her hands.

The doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory cortisone cream and vasoline to hold moisture into the skin. Of course, I immediately suggested less toxic alternatives for her.

Instead of a steroidal cortisone cream, I like to use Florasone, a homeopathic anti-inflammatory cream that helps reduce inflammation, provide soothing and healing, and help rebalance the imbalance that is causing the problem in the first place.  I’ve successfully used Florasone for reducing the itching from hives and other skin irritations, including bug bites and cold sores. Because it is homeopathic, you can feel safe about using it as frequently as needed and even on infants.

It only takes a knowledge of the full title of Vasoline Petroleum Jelly to know where it comes from and that I don’t want it anywhere near my body. I certainly don’t want it to absorb through my skin. Instead, for adding moisture into the skin, we have not found anything better for providing immediate relief than Weleda Skin Food. Love this stuff; it’s very powerful.

To promote healing of cracked skin, try mixing a drop or two of antibacterial Tea Tree oil with a carrier oil, such as pure Almond oil, on the affected skin. I like NOW almond oil because it doesn’t contain any vitamin E, which can be an allergen for some people with eczema.