Jennifer, like you, my husband would have died as a child from a ruptured appendix and yes modern medicine is lifesaving, yet it's all the other modern contacts that are causing diseases.
Get ready, I have written a novel.
What is the name of his type.? Saying he has eczema is like saying he has cancer, what type he has is necessary to know to treat it.
I blog on the Mayo site about Grover's Disease, GD, aka, Transient Acantholytic Dermatitis. Dermatitis and eczema are synonymous. It's considered a rare form with no know treatment, if you follow the Mayo blog it doesn't seem rare, there are plenty of us. I blog on the Inspire site about my Allergic Contact Dermatitis, ACD and Perioral Eczema, PE. For ACD the amazing 5 Day Extended Patch Test identified my allergens to avoid and gave me my life back, avoidance is the key, steroids are for temporary break outs, however with avoidance steroids should not be needed for most people.
All eczema is incurable, yet some types are more treatable then others. From all my blogging over the years there are two forms, which I do not have, that seem the most difficult to treat- Atopic, AE and Dysidrotic, DE. Both these forms are confounding and AE is a heartbreaker because many are born with it. The poor babies suffer and nothing can be done. Their hands are wrapped to keep them from scratching. Yet, AE has a new miracle drug, Dupixent to treat it but it is not for babies. Dysidrotic is a scaly, flaking, peeling form which targets the feet and hands. The affected areas crack and bleed. Most with DE itch but my son has this form which he developed in his 30's and he is lucky he doesn't get much itching. About all that can be done is keep a barrier, heavy ointment on and the doctors prescribe the evil steroids, yet steroids do help outbreaks, still the price is paid down the road with side effects.
I am free of all my 3 forms and the Mayo GD site is a godsend. I learned about cilantro smoothies from a posting by Kimass1 in late Feb of 2019. I consider her my guardian angel, my life was so limited with my recurring GD outbreaks. The theory she shared, which unfortunately derms do not tell us about is how heavy metals are tied to Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and GD. Cilantro is a natural heavy metal detox, no need to get your blood chelated to remove heavy metals. We on the Mayo GD became human Guinea Pigs and tried this theory and about 50% of us went into remission, I was one of the lucky ones. I am still clear to this day as well as are many others. I learned how to correctly identify my Perioral Eczema, PE on the Inspire site because a blogger mentioned the specific location of her rash and named its type. It sounded just like a fairly new rash area I had for months. My doctors were treating it as if it were my ACD with steroids- ironically steroids trigger PE. Perioral should be easy to diagnose because the rash is around the mouth and can be around the eyes also. Still my derm got it wrong. Many of us with eczema have several types, but doctors often keep thinking it is the original type you were diagnosed with. The New Zealand skin site photos were helpful because I was looking at rashes like mine.
I am free of all 3 forms today.
If your husband doesn't know his type the best site I have ever found is dermnetnz.org. This New Zealand site has a complete list all the eczema types (if you search on the Mayo site they don't even mention two of my types). Best of all they have dozens of photos of patients with each type. Seeing the shape and location of the rash is helpful in identification. They also give a brief written description.
All said, in spite of all I have written about most types benefit from an anti-inflammation diet. Even with avoidance of all my allergic allergens identified in testing I still had severe internal inflammation inside my skin and I was at the point of suicide because of the burning, stinging, itching and lack of sleep. A cortico-steroid shot helped for about 10 months, Kenalog 40. It is a potent drug. Changing my diet, basically giving up processed sugar, limiting natural sugar and limiting carbs completely eliminated my need for this shot. I haven't had it now for 2 1/2 years. I no longer have the internal skin misery at all. The plan I strictly followed during my 2-3 month detox and now only follow the maintenance program is the William Crooke, MD, The Yeast Connection Handbook. He ties the living yeast in our bodies, which we all have, to various diseases. I didn't have classic yeast symptoms on my outside so never though about what yeast is doing on our insides. He explains it in laymen's terms, very helpful simply hand drawn diagrams. The yeast waste which we all have inside our bloodstream which is trying to clear it out raises our histamine army leading to inflammation. The detox period is brutal, but that's because the yeast is dying from lack of sugar and screaming at your brain for the foods that will keep it alive. I was desperate and in so much pain I was motivated to try this diet. It's not limiting in calories, but it is much like the Keto diet, the lack of sugars and carbs leaves you craving constantly. Surprisingly I no longer think about foods with processed sugar at all. That craving will leave once the yeast colonies die out.