Eczema is an inflammatory skin condition that causes symptoms such as itchiness and dryness. To ease symptoms, people often use different types of moisturizers, including lotions, creams, and ointments.
Coconut oil is another option that can be effective for people with eczema. But it’s important to understand how to use it safely to help with moderate to severe eczema.
How Does Eczema Affect the Skin Barrier?
Eczema can weaken or damage your skin’s barrier by creating gaps between skin cells. Your skin barrier plays an important role.
“[A weak barrier] is not only letting water come out, but it lets allergens and irritants and even bacteria in,” says Peter A. Lio, MD, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
When bacteria gets in your skin, it can trigger inflammation and upset the skin microbiome, worsening your eczema symptoms.
Many people with eczema use emollients — skin care products that create a film on the outer layer of the skin — to repair the skin’s barrier.
“[These products] basically fill in those gaps between the skin cells that are leaky,” says Jennifer L. Shastry, MD, a dermatologist at Northwestern Medicine.
How to spot an eczema flare
Eczema flares happen when symptoms suddenly get worse, often because of exposure to allergens or other triggers.
You may recognize a flare when your skin develops rashes or discoloration. These flares can look different depending on your skin color.
In people with darker skin, discoloration may be purple, dark brown, or gray. People with lighter skin tend to have pink or red discoloration.
Still, eczema flares aren’t always visible, meaning they can happen even when your skin looks “normal,” like it usually does. The hallmark of an eczema flare is the itching people experience in their skin, Shastry says. Other common symptoms include:
- Dryness or flakiness
- Bumps
- Thickening
- Scaling
Overall, eczema flares are different for everyone.
“A flare is when you feel like you have to increase your treatment,” Lio says. “It just means a worsening [of symptoms].”
Potential Benefits of Coconut Oil for Eczema
Coconut oil is a type of emollient that may help with the symptoms in people with moderate eczema. Plus, it does a better job than options such as olive or mineral oil, Shastry says.
Products such as olive oil can actually make eczema worse by damaging your skin barrier and causing dryness. Coconut oil does the opposite by increasing moisture.
“Some people just really like the feel of it too,” Lio says.
Researchers think coconut oil helps with eczema because it has lauric acid, which offers antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. Coconut oil can fight bacteria and reduce inflammation, further improving eczema symptoms.
Because of this, coconut oil can be especially useful for people who are more prone to infections. Still, it’s not really a medicine, Lio says. For example, although coconut oil has benefits, using it instead of prescription medicine to treat an infection can be dangerous.
In general, think of coconut oil as something you may use alongside eczema treatments prescribed by a doctor — not as a replacement for them. This is especially true with severe eczema, for which coconut oil hasn’t been thoroughly studied, Shastry says.
Always talk to a doctor about whether coconut oil is a safe option for you, especially if your eczema is more severe.
Types of Coconut Oil for Eczema
There are a few types of coconut oil available. Before trying any of them for eczema, get to know the differences between them.
Virgin and extra virgin coconut oil
The best type of coconut oil to use for eczema is virgin coconut oil. This type is made from raw coconut, with little processing and no added chemicals. This is the type of oil used in most published studies on coconut oil and eczema, and research shows that it can be effective at improving eczema symptoms.
The one downside of virgin coconut oil is that it may have more of the natural proteins that cause people to become sensitized to coconut oil, which can lead to allergic reactions, Shastry says. Even so, these allergic reactions are extremely rare.
Refined or fractionated coconut oil
Coconut oil can also be refined or fractionated, meaning it’s been processed through methods such as heating and filtering, which remove natural ingredients from the oil. This process can also involve adding certain chemicals.
But terms such as refined and fractionated aren’t always well defined, and different companies may use them to mean different things. Because it’s not always clear what went into the process of making these types of coconut oil, Lio recommends avoiding them.
It’s also good to avoid these coconut oils because there isn’t enough research on their effects on eczema, making it unclear if they even help with flares.
“We just don’t know as much about them,” Lio says. “We want to try to remove variables that we’re not sure of.”
Plus, the harsh chemicals in some of these oils can further irritate your skin.
How to Use Coconut Oil for Eczema
You can put coconut oil anywhere on your body where you have symptoms of a flare. But if you’re prone to acne, you may want to speak with a doctor before applying coconut oil to your face.
Studies on coconut oil typically have participants apply it twice a day. In general, this is a good practice to follow. But there’s very little risk to using coconut oil more often if you feel like your skin is still too dry. Shastry recommends applying coconut oil after you shower to seal in moisture.
Tips for using coconut oil
Using a more conventional moisturizing cream or lotion along with your coconut oil can help better moisturize your skin, Lio says.
Because you’re using coconut oil on your skin, you’ll want to avoid using the same coconut oil for cooking. This can lead to contamination. If you want to cook with coconut oil, buy a separate container.
Are There Risks to Using Coconut Oil for Eczema?
Coconut oil is generally very safe.
“Worldwide, people use coconut oil as a moisturizer very broadly,” Shastry says. “It’s really well tolerated.”
Still, there’s always a slight risk that using food products on the skin will cause sensitization. When this happens, your immune system recognizes that something is unfamiliar and creates antibodies to fight it. This can lead to food allergies.
Even so, not all foods are equally likely to cause this response, Lio says. Common allergens, such as eggs, peanuts, almonds, and cashews, are very likely to cause sensitization if applied to the skin. But coconut, which is already found in many skin care products, is unlikely to do so.
Plus, if you are sensitized to coconut, it doesn’t mean you’ll actually have a reaction to it, Shastry says. Many people become sensitized — meaning tests show they have high amounts of antibodies to fight against a substance — but never develop an actual food allergy.
Contact allergy, where people have a reaction on the skin when it touches an allergen, can also happen with some skin care products, but it’s extremely rare with coconut oil.
“Because the overall rates of coconut oil or coconut food allergy are rare, it’s probably pretty low risk,” Shastry says. “But it’s something to consider.”
How to tell if coconut oil is working
If coconut oil is helping your eczema, you should notice your symptoms improving within about two to four weeks. If your symptoms worsen or you notice signs of infection, such as yellow crusting, you should talk to a doctor before continuing to use the oil.
“Let your skin be your guide,” Lio says. “If your skin is improving and it feels softer and more supple and better, great. If it seems like it’s getting worse, you want to seek medical advice.”
Worsening symptoms aren’t necessarily caused by the coconut oil itself, he adds.
“[Coconut oil] does help against bacteria but not against a real infection,” he says. “So, it may just be the wrong tool for the job.”
Takeaways
While it can’t replace medications prescribed by a doctor, coconut oil can be a great option for soothing your skin and preventing eczema flares. Though side effects such as allergic sensitization and acne can sometimes happen, these are rare, and coconut oil is generally a safe option.
Still, it’s good to let your doctor know if you’re using coconut oil for your eczema so they can offer advice and help you make sure you’re making the best choices for your eczema.
