Water softeners for eczema relief

91% of people report less itchiness and 83% claim soft water reduced the severity of their eczema.

These surprising results came out of a recent product evaluation carried out with the UK’s largest Eczema support group TalkEczema. Comments from participants include:

• "Since using a water softener her skin does feel smoother and I have to use less cream. Also at the moment less reaction when in contact with the water.”
• "Even my husband has said how moisturized his skin feels after showering. I have even managed to reduce the amount of emollient that I apply each day to my daughter.”
• "I cannot believe the difference the softener has made, I am no longer getting dry flaky patches on my face any more. And there is the added bonus of not having to use so much detergent in my wash etc, so that’s got to be better for my skin too.”

In the UK around one in five* children and one in twelve adults are afflicted by eczema. Despite the negative results of a clinical water softener trial carried out in 2010, more and more Eczema sufferers continue to report both an emotional and physical benefit from installing a water softener as part of their overall skin care routine.

* Source: National Eczema Society 2001.

"If anyone is wondering whether or not to get a water softener, I can say that it has been worth it for us. We have found that it makes a big difference to our 10 month old baby's skin. After installing one, there was an immediate improvement - and specifically a reduction in scratching, which was a huge relief to all of us...”

People with eczema might find their skin improves when they install a water softener. This is because hard water contains high levels of calcium and magnesium which can potentially irritate the skin. Water softeners have an ‘ion exchange’ system which removes the calcium and magnesium salts from the water, thus completely eliminating the hardness.

More than 60% of households are located in hard water areas in England and Wales. A study carried out at the University of Nottingham*, involving more than 7,500 school age children, found that eczema is around 50% more common in primary school children living in hard water areas than those who live in soft water areas. 

*Source: Professor Hywel Williams, University of Nottingham, August 1998