Baths with diluted bleach may help eczema in children


By Christina Good Voice
Staff Writer

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Cherokee Nation citizen Melissa Blackbird’s 7-year-old son is one of 30 million Americans who suffer from eczema. But a study in the journal Pediatrics states diluted bleach baths may reduce its eczema severity. 

Eczema is an itchy and sometimes painful skin condition that can be treated differently. But when children are afflicted, parents are sometimes left helpless as their little ones endure. 

The recent study was released from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. 

It found that giving children with moderate or severe eczema diluted bleach baths reduced the severity.

Dr. Tom Kincade, chief of Pediatrics at the Three Rivers Health Center in Muskogee, said the CN clinics see a large number of eczema patients. 

“The variety of eczema we are talking about is also called atopic dermatitis,” he said. “There are other forms such as contact dermatitis.” 

Atopic dermatitis is non-contagious, while contact dermatitis results from exposure to allergens or irritants. 

Eczema symptoms include itching, dryness and cracking, redness, burning and patches of swollen skin. When a person with eczema scratches the dry skin and the skin is scratched open, it can sometimes lead to staph and other bacterial infections. Therefore, antibiotics are sometimes needed to treat these infections. However, the bleach bath is becoming more used.

“One approach to lowering the amounts of potentially harmful skin bacteria is bleach baths,” Kincade said. “I have recommended several of my patients do this and have seen some excellent responses.”

He said researchers used a half cup of bleach per 40 gallons of water twice a week. But Kincade warned the bleach bath therapy isn’t for all eczema patients. 

“I would not recommend this therapy to anyone without first discussing with their health care provider,” he said. 

Blackbird said her son’s eczema is a mild case, and though she currently has a system of treatment she utilizes on her son, his skin sometimes has “flare ups.”

“When his flares up, I give him short lukewarm baths and immediately cover him with Aveeno lotion, sometimes a few times a day,” she said. “Oatmeal baths help some, and I sometimes have to use hydrocortisone cream on him. His bad time is in the winter.”

Blackbird also watches her son’s diet carefully and makes sure he eats organic and whole foods. She said she knows the routine, as she had a severe bout of eczema as a child.

“I had it pretty severely as a child, and it was only inside my elbows and behind my knees,” she said. “I was miserable. It is such an intense itch that if you don’t experience it, it is hard to imagine.”

Like many parents of children with eczema, Blackbird searched online for remedies and treatments and came across the bleach bath study.

“I know when I was younger if I swam in a pool with chlorine it seemed to help for a couple of days,” she said.

Blackbird said she’s considering trying the bleach bath the next time her son’s eczema flares up. 

“I think I will try the bleach bath for my son if he flares up again,” she said. “He’s 7 and this past winter wasn’t so bad. So maybe he’s outgrowing it.”