Bleach bath can contain kid’s eczema: Study

Although the treatment sounds unusual, the researchers found that the antimicrobial properties of bleach help in reducing the itching, rash and discomfort caused by the skin disorder.

The routine antibiotics treatment increases the risk of bacterial resistance, something doctors try to avoid, especially in children.

Eczema is an itchy and painful condition where the skin becomes red and inflamed. A more serious consequence is that constant scratching can lead to chronic skin infections, like methicillan-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

Details of the study

Dr. Amy Paller, a professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and her colleagues treated 31 patients, aged 6 months to 17 years old with moderate or severe eczema including a skin infection.

Half the children recruited for the study, received a diluted bleach baths (half a cup of bleach per 40 gallons of water). They were instructed to immerse their torso and limbs excluding the neck and head. The remaining had a placebo mixed into their bath water. The children were told to soak in the baths for five to 10 minutes at a time, two times a week for three months.

Since the ratio of bleach used was small, the diluted bleach baths were nearly odorless. Both groups were also treated with oral antibiotics and the nasal ointment muciprocin to control staph infections.

The researchers observed that the bleach baths were well tolerated, with only one patient reporting itching and irritation of the skin. The children who took the diluted bleach baths showed five times greater improvement in their eczema severity as opposed to those in the placebo group. In fact, the results prompted the researchers to halt the study so that the children in the placebo group could get the same amount of relief.

Paller said, "We've long struggled with staphylococcal infections in patients with eczema. This study shows that simple household bleach, which we think decreases the staphylococcus on the skin, can help these children."

The eczema on the body, arms and legs improved dramatically with the bleach baths, but the face, which was not submerged in the bath, did not improve, thereby providing further evidence of the positive effect of the bath.

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

The study will be published in the April 28 issue of the journal Pediatrics.