Water softeners - do they help?

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RMGuymum
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:39 pm
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by RMGuymum on Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:56 pm

Water softeners - do they help?

Hello,

I have a young son with eczema.
He has some allergies, which tend to flare up his eczema often. However we do not want to remove foods from his diet so some of the allergies don't worsen (all guided by Dr's at leading allergy clinic).

We recently travelled to Spain and his skin has never looked better. However we went to the same area a couple of months ago and his skin actually worsened. The only difference I can think of is that he did not have as much contact with grass and his bedroom was air conditioned.

Since returning to the UK his eczema has increased and his skin feels allot dryer.
We always use emollient in his bath however his skin is very itchy and dry during the bath and after. Our dermatologist thinks water softener systems won't make a huge difference if were using emollient but his skin seems very dry from the bath here so I am hopeful it would help.

Would a water softener make a difference as we live in a hard water area?

Does anybody have their own experience with this?

Does anybody suggest a good water softener over another as there seem to be many products on the market?

Appreciate your time and thoughts.

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Marcie Mom
Posts: 857
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:30 pm
Location: Singapore
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by Marcie Mom on Fri Aug 22, 2014 3:28 am

Re: Water softeners - do they help?

Hi there,

There's a study in UK and result is that water softener doesn't help. Extract from my archived blog post

Will Drinking Softened Water Help Your Child’s Eczema?

Many parents have feedback that softened water helps but unfortunately, based on the softened water eczema trial conducted by Prof Hywel Williams and Dr Kim Thomas of the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology at the University of Nottingham, there was no difference noticed in the trial that involved 336 children whose homes were fitted with water softener.


Have you tried oatmeal bath/bath oil? Humidifier in room?
Take care,
Mei

post http://eczemablues.com/2012/05/does-tak ... ilds-skin/
Mei
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Mei - Founder of http://www.EczemaBlues.com and Mom to Marcie
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RMGuymum
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:39 pm
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by RMGuymum on Sat Aug 23, 2014 7:48 pm

Re: Water softeners - do they help?

Thanks Mei,

We use emollient in bath and have humidifier in bedroom. I have tried using some salts from natural shops and although eczema is still present his skin is definitely softer and more moisterized.

I appreciate your comments but concerned it says drinking water rather than water to bathe in and wash clothes in as this is really what I would be using. They actually say not to soften drinking water as we have a water filter for drinking water and it should not have salt added so is separate to the household water supply which can be softened...

Appreciate anyone's help on this please.

Thank you

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