Children with moderate to severe eczema who used a small amount of bleach while taking a bath reduced the severity of the chronic skin ailment five times greater than those treated with placebos over one to three months, suggesting the household product may be a powerful tool in fighting the common problem. Northwestern University researchers who performed the study say chronic, severe eczema can mar a childhood as the skin disorder, which starts with red, itchy, inflamed skin, often becomes crusty and raw from scratching, leading to chronic skin infections that are difficult to treat. Eczema affects 17 percent of school-age children.

 

The study reported in the journal Pediatrics finds that giving pediatric patients with moderate or severe eczema (atopic dermatitis) diluted bleach baths decreased signs of infection. It also reduced the severity and extent of the eczema on their bodies. The researchers say the result is less scratching, fewer infections, and a higher quality of life for affected children.

 

The researchers say the typical treatment of oral and topical antibiotics increases the risk of bacterial resistance, something doctors try to avoid, especially in children. Bleach kills the bacteria but doesn’t have the same risk of creating bacterial resistance, they say. “We’ve long struggled with staphylococcal infections in patients with eczema,” says Dr. Amy S. Paller, chair of dermatology, and professor of pediatrics, at the Feinberg School.

 

Paller adds that more than two-thirds of eczema patients have evidence of staphylococcus on their skin, the bacteria that most commonly causes infection and worsens the eczema. “This study shows that simple household bleach, which we think decreases the staphylococcus on the skin, can help these children,” she says.

 

In the study, Paller and researchers treated 31 pediatric patients (6 months to 17 years old) who had eczema and a bacterial staph infection for 14 days with oral antibiotics. Half of the patients received bleach in their bath water (half a cup per full standard tub), while the other half received a lookalike placebo researchers say. Patients were also instructed to put a topical antibiotic ointment or placebo control into their nose (where the staphylococcus can also grow) for five sequential days of each month. All were instructed to take a bath in the bleach twice a week, and soak for five to 10 minutes for three months. The researchers say they witnessed such rapid improvement in the kids taking the real bleach baths that they ended the study early because they wanted the children getting the placebo to get the same relief.

 

“The eczema kept getting better and better with the bleach baths and these baths prevented it from flaring again, which is an ongoing problem for these kids,” Paller says. “We presume the bleach has antibacterial properties and decreased the number of bacteria on the skin, which is one of the drivers of flares.”

 

Scientists believe eczema may be triggered by urban pollutants and toxins and allergies, and certainly shows a genetic tendency.