Recipe Guide: DIY Salve For Eczema To Help Soothe Itchy Skin

Looking for homemade remedies for eczema?

Symptoms of eczema can be at their worst during the winter and you can use natural products like creams and salves or make substantial changes to your diet and lifestyle to keep the symptoms under control.

Even though natural remedies aren’t capable of curing your eczema, they are known to help relieve symptoms, combat inflammation, moisturize your skin, and reduce swelling and infection.

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some potential triggers of eczema and how you can prepare your own eczema relief salve at home with just a handful of ingredients.

What Is Eczema?

diy salve for eczema

Eczema is typically used to describe atopic dermatitis or a rash-like skin condition.

It can occur anywhere on the skin, but it’s commonly known to appear on wrists, elbows, knuckles, knees, and even the eyelids.

It’s where patches of your skin become rough, itchy, inflamed, and cracked, and in some cases, may even start to bleed.

Causes Of Eczema

diy salve for eczema

Identifying the source of your eczema is not easy because it can be caused by internal or external triggers.

If your eczema is a result of external irritants like bacteria or detergents, it’s referred to as contact dermatitis.

Eczema may also be triggered by any allergic reactions that show up on your skin and are commonly accompanied by other allergic responses like asthma and hay fever.

Here’s a list of possible eczema triggers:

  • Foods including wheat, seeds, nuts, eggs, dairy and soy products
  • Allergen from pets, pollen, mold, and dust mites
  • Irritants like soaps, disinfectants, detergents, shampoo, juice made from vegetables or fresh fruits
  • Microbes such as bacteria, certain fungi, and viruses
  • Low stomach acid
  • Weak immune system
  • Extremely hot or cold temperature, sweating, high or low humidity
  • Poor digestion
  • Hormonal changes (Symptoms may worsen in women during their menstrual cycle or pregnancy)
  • Family history of dermatitis or allergies
  • Stress (it’s not really a cause, but it can worsen the symptoms)

If you have eczema, it could be a result of your system trying to detoxify itself or something internal that’s off-balance.

You should identify the cause of your eczema and take your overall health into consideration in order to find an effective treatment.

DIY Salve For Eczema

diy salve for eczema

Even if you’re fully aware of what causes your eczema, there are some salves and creams you can apply to the affected areas for instant relief.

Even though these salves may not be the ultimate cure for this skin condition, they can drastically minimize the symptoms you’re experiencing and cause your skin to feel and look less flaky and itchy.

Instead of resorting to steroid creams, you can make your own salve at home using a handful of ingredients.

What Goes In Eczema Skin Salve?

Coconut Oil

coconut oil

Coconut oil is used as a common natural remedy to relieve the symptoms of eczema.

According to a study, virgin coconut oil has been found to have natural healing properties in treating atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema.

Calendula-Infused Oil

diy salve for eczema

Calendula-infused oil is made out of dried calendula flowers, sunflower oil, and castor oil.

While calendula is known for its healing properties, sunflower and castor oil are also found to be effective in treating eczema, providing relief from itchiness and irritation, and getting rid of dead skin cells.

Neem Oil

diy salve for eczema

Neem oil is basically a vegetable oil that’s extracted from the fruits and seeds of the neem tree.

It’s anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, analgesic, and highly moisturizing.

You only need to use a small quantity when you’re applying it to the affected areas of your skin as it’s quite powerful.

Only a small amount of neem oil is used to make the salve as it’s known to have a strong odor.

Essential Oils

diy salve for eczema

Essentials oil is also needed to make this eczema relief salve.

You can use tea tree, German chamomile, bergamot, and lavender oil as they have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and healing properties.

How To Make It

diy salve for eczema

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
  • 1 tablespoon of neem oil
  • 2 tablespoons of shea butter
  • 2 tablespoons of calendula infused sunflower or castor oil
  • 10 to 15 drops of all the essential oils you’ll be using
  • 1 tablespoon of beeswax

Instructions

  • The first thing you need to do when you’re preparing the salve is to make calendula-infused oil. The cold process method can take anywhere from two to six weeks, depending on how potent you want your oil to be. But if you use the slow cooker method, you can have your infused oil ready within 8 to 12 hours.
  • For the slow cooker or solar method, take a jar and fill it with dried calendula petals. Add equal parts castor and sunflower oil over the petals until they’re completely submerged, cover the jar with a lid, and let the petals infuse.
  • Once your calendula-infused oil is ready, the next thing you need to do is assemble the salve. Measure out all the ingredients, excluding the essential oils into a jar and place it in a large saucepan filled with simmering water. This will create a double-broiler effect and keep the oils from burning during the process. Make sure the measurements are accurate for the best results.
  • Once all the ingredients have melted into each other, take the jar out of the water, and pour in the essential oils. Stir them well until everything is combined and let it sit at room temperature until the mixture solidifies into a salve-like consistency.
  • Your salve is now ready to be applied to the affected areas of your skin, and you can use it as often as you’d like. The best part is that you can also use it as a lip balm and face moisturizer too.

Final Words

diy salve for eczema

Before preparing the salve, you should remember that it’s not going to cure your eczema, and it will only provide temporary relief from the symptoms and help ease irritation.

You should examine the causes of your eczema and narrow down the potential triggers to look for a more effective treatment.