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Don’t Take Bleach Baths
Why taking bleach baths to treat eczema is a bad idea
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Don’t submerge anyone with atopic dermatitis in bleach baths as many articles on the net suggest. Again, I am not a medical professional and this is just my educated opinion, but there is disturbing misinformation floating around from seemingly creditable sources, encouraging parents to use that method on their kids (?!).
Who in their right mind with decent common sense would think that this would be a good idea? There are many variables allowing for erroneous application, indigestion of the chemical, not to mention using a harsh chemical on human — and even more sensitive — baby skin. In addition to running the risk of application errors and exposing people to toxic bleach fumes! Whoever interpreted this study must have been high or something, because what I am reading says clearly:
“In other words, out of the aggregated 15 severity assessment evaluations, only 3 assessments demonstrated that bleach baths were more effective than water baths, 11 revealed no difference, and 1 demonstrated regular water baths to be more effective.”
And in the conclusion:
“Together, the results suggest that much of the efficacy of bleach baths at reducing AD severity is attributable to water baths and less the bleach per se.”
(“AD” = Atopic Dermatitis)
Meaning bleach baths are as effective as water baths (with less potential damage).
In addition, the study calls out the following points:
“1) Exposure to dilute bleach can result in stinging, burning and transient worsening of itch.
2) Ocular exposure to bleach can be particularly uncomfortable and hinders prehydration of the face.
3) There is additional cost and time spent acquiring bleach, albeit fairly minimal.
4) Bleach may stain towels, linens and/or clothing.
5) Bleach baths emit caustic fumes. One of the authors (JS) had two patients with reported asthma exacerbations due to inhalation of fumes from bleach baths. It is important to recognize that water baths alone might accomplish similar efficacy as bleach…
