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If you suffer from eczema, you’ve surely heard of people traveling to the Dead Sea to soak in its water and receive its healing properties. The Sea is rich in minerals, but can Dead Sea cream help eczema?
Its benefit to skin goes back 1000’s of years as a natural way to heal and cleanse the skin as well as heal common diseases like eczema and psoriasis.
Whether the Dead Sea can actually cure eczema is a bold and unsubstantiated claim, however, there’s no doubt that the mineral-rich sea can help soothe skin. If you can’t travel to the sea in Jordan, Israel, or the West Bank, then an alternative might be using Dead Sea cream for your eczema.
As someone who has suffered from eczema much of my life, I’ve used Dead Sea salt in baths and I’ve considered using Dead Sea cream as well.
Problematic Areas For Eczema
Eczema is a disease that can be chronic or it can appear at random times throughout your life. If can cover a person’s body or it can appear in tiny areas of the body, most commonly on the face, hands, and arms.
It appears as patchy dry spots on the skin but can become red and irritated. It is usually itchy and can weep with fluid once the itch begins. It can appear in “breakouts” and subside over a period of weeks, or it can be a stubborn minor spot on the skin that lasts for months.
If you suffer from infrequent eczema, it probably has little effect on your life. If you suffer from chronic eczema, the disease can scar the skin, cause infections, and affect your confidence, relationships, and mood.
For what seems to be a minor, superficial issue, eczema can really affect your quality of life – I should know, I’ve suffered from eczema for my entire life.
What Are The Minerals In The Dead Sea
Skin is our largest organ and we often take it for granted. It works miracles with its ability to heal itself. Skin will completely regenerate itself in 27 days!
Because it’s so visible, skin one of the main factors of “beauty” and we spare no expense to make it look great. We spend billions of dollars each year to keep it supple, repair scars, hydrate it, and make it shine.
For these reasons, it makes sense that people are willing to travel 1000’s of miles to soak in the healing properties of the Dead Sea. Let’s take a look at what makes the mineral in the Dead Sea so special.
Magnesium – the mineral is known to enhance the permeability barrier repair of skin. It binds with water and affects epidermal proliferation and differentiation. This mineral is essential is assisting the skin to heal itself.
Calcium – helps with bone health, teeth and organs including the skin where it acts as a regulator for some its functions
Chloride and Bromide
Sodium – helps retain moisture
Potassium – this can’t be absorbed by the skin but it can help improve the feel and moisture of the skin.
In a well-cited study, researchers found that “bathing in a magnesium-rich Dead Sea salt solution improves skin barrier function, enhances skin hydration, and reduces inflammation in atopic, dry skin”.
In general, salts help the body hold onto water and as a result can help with hydration. This is the same reason electrolytes are recommended after strenuous activity or after significant fluid loss.
Why Are Dead Sea Creams Good For Eczema
One of the best reasons to try a Dead Sea cream is because their ingredients are natural (double check if you purchase a cream). The minerals come from one of the most historical bodies of water on Earth and early civilization relied heavily on it, just as we do today.
The salts in the Dead Sea are antiseptic and it can help get rid of unhelpful bacteria on the body while soothing the skin. There aren’t harsh soaps or detergents.
The salts in the Dead Sea have a relaxing effect on the body – this is one of the reasons “salt baths” are so popular worldwide.
The Dead Sea: Short-Term Fix or Long-Term Solution
Visiting the Dead Sea is something many people do each year. After all, it’s a historical site and there are many things to see and appreciate in the region.
If you’re a visitor, the Dead Sea is unlikely to be a long term solution to eczema or other skin conditions but it’s worth a soak in the mineral-rich waters. If you’re a locale, weekly baths in the Dead Sea might be enough to heal and sooth your skin.
For those of us who live on other continents, Dead Sea Cream might be a more affordable option. If you can’t visit the Sea, bring the Sea to you!
Dead Sea creams are an option that will help you receive benefits in your own home.
Below, I’ll highlight a few of the Dead Sea creams available. It’s important to note that most, if not all, Dead Sea creams contain additional hydgrating ingredients (don’t expect the cream to be 100% from the Dead Sea – I wish they were).
Ahava Dead Sea Hand Cream For Eczema
The most popular cream might be the Ahava hand cream. It’s marketed as a Dead Sea cream and contains the precious water from the Sea.
Note the additional ingredients as well and the fact that it’s hand cream, thus, not the best option for eczema on the face.
Ingredients: Mineral Water, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Ceteareth-30 & Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Witch Hazel Flower Water, Corn derived Glycol, Phenoxyethanol & Ethylhexylglycerin, Dead Sea Water, Dimethicone, Perfume, Allantoin, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Coumarin, Alpha- Isomethyl Ionone, Citronellol, Geraniol, Isoeugenol, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate.
Ahava cream is well-reviewed on Amazon and customers love it. If you want to try out a cream for eczema that has Dead Sea ingredients, this may be a good option to begin with.
Health and Beauty Dead Sea Cream – Anti Wrinkle
This Dead Sea Cream is “Amazon’s Choice” in their health and beauty category. The cream is enriched with Vitamin C and E, evening primrose oil, sea buckthorn, essential fatty oils, essence of green tea, aloe, jojoba oil, shea butter, calendula oil, and active Dead Sea mineral water.
I like that it has SPF-20 as well, so it’s an everyday cream that will protect from harmful UV rays.
Instructions mention it can be used as a makeup foundation and recommended for women with dry skin. It comes in a 7oz jar at an affordable price for those who can’t make the trip to the Sea.
Energy Dead Sea Cream For Eczema
This cream is another option for people wanting to try an eczema cream. It contains Dead Sea minerals, plant vitamins, and includes a Dead Sea black mud mask.
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It markets itself specifically for eczema, shingles, rosacea, and psoriasis.
The cream comes in 4oz. and has a treatment period of 3-6 weeks. It isn’t a pure Dead Sea cream and also contains hemp oil which is believe to easy pain and inflammation.
Will A Dead Sea Cream Be The Same As The Real Thing
People looking to replicate the soothing mud in the Dead Sea will probably not find the creams I mentioned helpful. However, those who want a hydrating cream with ingredients from the Dead Sea might think these creams are the perfect alternative.
Similar to eating vegetables instead of swallowing a vitamin, you are unlikely to see your eczema or psoriasis cured with Dead Sea cream. I think the creams mentioned are worth a try if you’re set on purchasing a cream.
I’ve written plenty of article on soothing eczema and I believe that natural oils, salt baths, and daily hydration is the best way to treat itchy and irritated eczema. There is no quick fix for the condition but you can make lifestyle changes to heal your skin.
If you suspect your eczema has an allergy component, consider being test for allergies. There is a connection between asthma, allergies, and eczema and if your skin it triggered by allergies there are additional options.
Antihistamines work great, as does allergy immunotherapy for serious allergies.