If the patient has mild eczema, the most important thing I would tell patients is to use gentle cleansers and moisturizers. I think that is very simple and safe. The other important thing is to avoid scratching, I know it sounds like a very simple thing to say, but it is extremely important, because the more you scratch the worse it gets, and it is called the “itch-scratch cycle”. The more you scratch, the itchier the skin gets and the more you scratch, and if you can stop scratching, a lot of cases it will get better without any topical steroids. So, that is something important.
Some people do find it hard to stop scratching and that is when we will come up with ways to minimize that and doing some things like cold compress relieves the itch without side effects, just put the cold or iced towel on the area and it will help to relieve the itch. If the skin is very inflamed we do reach out for topical steroids to relieve them, or if the patients really do not want to use topical steroids, we can just start on the non- steroids medication like Protopic or Elidel and see whether that works.
