Great for relieveing itching fast- will buy again (Eurax cream)

Member Name: I-tried-this

Product:	Eurax cream
Date:	01/08/08 (534 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stops itching fast- like in 5 mintues- keeps it stoped for hours!

Disadvantages: Greasy, and you have to use it every day for a week or few to get the eczema to stop.

Occasionally, every now and then, I get an outburst of eczema.

Normally it follows the start of ongoing stress, and very rapidly it will spread from around my wrists, to the back of my knees and around the sides of my nose.

I have tried many "solutions" before, E45 HC cream was a last resort as the skin which gets effected is always the fragile types and the 'HC' component of the cream will thin the skin further, not sure exactly what would happen but I dont fancy walking around for the next 70 years with red raw wrists and holes in my face.

So I thought of trying Calamine Lotion, Aloe Vera, exfoliating then spathering with either TCP, Savalon or Germaloid, all to no effect. And to make matters worse, gnats and bugs were appearing at my window as a result of the hot weather and I was also getting bite- ON AND AROUND MY EXMA- (so to anyone who doesn't believe in swatting them- please tell me what I should have done here!!).

I was reluctant to go see my GP as all they do is prescribe steroids, and as above, I don't want the skin issue, so I searched Boots and Tesco and found this Eurax cream.
It reads "stops itching fast" which appealed to me as I stood watching it scratching my palms and wrists like I had turned into Lady Macbeth.

The cream comes in a white tube, its the metal type so you can fold it back on itself and store it well. The printed words are yellow, pale and dark blue, you cant miss it.
It states on the front its for relief of itching and skin irritation caused by itchy dermatitis, dry eczema, allergic reactions, hives, nettle rashes chickenpox, insect bites, heat rashes, sunburn and personal itching. I was impressed as it also included bug bits as well as professing to reduce the itching caused by my eczema.

It also comes in a lotion, I have used and am going to evaluate the cream.

The key ingredients seems to be Crotamiton and there is 10% in the cream. It also has a wealth of other stuff, methyl hydroxybenzoate, phenylethyl alcohol and namely glycerol which is actually added in another cream I saw on the shelves as the key ingredience of that cream. So I sort of see this as a bonus. Also there is triethanolamine, sodium lauryl sulphate, ethylene glycol monostearate, stearyl alcohol, strong ammonia solution, stearic acid, hard paraffin, white beeswax and parfume. Though there is alcohol and ammonia in this cream to be honest, your wouldn't have known unless you read this stuff like I do, its not a cream which dries out your skin. I have dry and sensitive skin but this does not dry out my skin what so ever- in fact it does the opposite.

I tried it as soon as I got home: all the instructions and descriptions of ingredients are on the box so there's no side effects leaflet to wade through. (Actually a shame for me as for some bizarre reason, I find that sort of stuff really interesting!) Though the back of the box explains that your not to use it on broken or weeping skin, around your eyes, pregnant, breast feeding or suffering genetal itching (which is odd seeing as they actually suggest on the front of the box its good for personal itching. (!!) haven't tried this so cant comment. And also the general etc, etc, etc about contacting your doctor if you experience other symptoms.

Its a pierce nib- so is in top sterile condition. On squeezing out a little of the cream, its good to see its quite a firm cream, and holds its own on your hands before you apply. What hit me first as I rubbed some onto my wrists was the overwhelming scent of calamine lotions- yet unless its got another name, is not even in the ingredients.

It goes on very easily, no pain, no tingling, no stinging, it may as well be cool water as its so painless. It can feel a little greasy though, it sinks in but not so well on your face.

I have to say, it actually works- within minutes. My itching reduced within 5 minutes, and though I still felt I wanted to scratch at my skin, it didn't feel as compelling as it did before.

Its not going to stop the eczema, it doesn't say it will stop the eczema on the pack anyway, it just says it will reduce the itching, which it did. But if you do use this day in day out, and reapply after every few hours, the itching really does die down even more which can in my case anyway, stop the spread and usually, if I stop scratching, the bumps go away and the eczema breakout stops.

Its a bit like antibiotics though, you need to use it even after the itching stops top get the breakout to end, then it goes away totally and you don't need anymore cream, generally for me that's upwards of two weeks. If I stop before a week the eczema comes straight back 2 days later.

The insect bites went away and didnt itch after about 2 days of using the cream twice a day, and I no longer needed to use Eurax on them. It seemes different origins of itching will be 'cured' at different rates.

I suppose it depends on how bad it is and how regularly you apply, for me its only twice a day. And I do still scratch during the day when its worn off or been washed off. (Obviously the scratching in the day calms down after a week of using the cream and stops altogether after a week or two).
Its never gone for good but can stop an outburst in its tracks and reduce it down to not itching at all, getting rid of the eczema (for me, until the next time of stress arises anyway which could be months or a year away.) The bumps reduce and vanish as they are not being stirred up by constant scratching anymore and the eczema seems to vanish!

The advice on the pack is to apply 2-3 times a day and irritation is relieved for about 6-10 hours (or unless its washed or sweated off, i.e gym workout or ho weather = clothes). For me it generally works for at least 2 hours, and has been known to last up to 8 hours.

The only real fault I have with this is that it is slightly greasy, OK so this can be a relief if the itchy patches of skin are very dry or sore, but on my face when I get eczema, it doesn't bide well with me to have what looks like a shiny face, even if it is only in patches around my nose.

It seems to settle in quite well, but takes its time to do so, sort of like 30 minutes and even after its settled in on my face, it still looks greasy, its a different matter on the backs of my knees where the skin feels supple and moisturised, but this company need to start making a facial moisturiser.

The cream currently retails at around £3.35 to £3.50 in the small 30gram tube and there is apparently a larger tube of about 60grams though I have not seen it anywhere. I think that one is around £5.00 in places like Tescos and Boots.

I will be buying this again as for me its been the most effective at stopping me scratch- and I think I have also become immune to E45 HC cream!

Summary: They just need one for my face and they have full points on this!