Lara and key tones, Thank you both SO much! Lots of excellent information. Thank you for taking the time to write out your experiences and suggestions.

My diet is quite decent; maybe I have allergies to something I eat (for example, I eat a lot of nuts), but who knows. The dietary thing can be so convoluted and frustrating.
Stress is a huge problem for me...in fact, I believe that stress initially caused the eczema, or at least caused my propensity for eczema to flare up. For example, I had a nasty argument with my husband last night because he overdrew our checking account and my hand immediately turned very red and began to itch like crazy. Felt like tearing my skin off.

Here are some thing I've found out, so far. Lara, interesting that you mentioned black soap. I used to use only black soap to wash my hair and skin with. Nothing else. My hair was in great shape and my skin very calm. I used black soap for years. Then I started wanting to wash with "nice smelling" soaps. Not a good idea, at all.

I will definitely buy the black soap eczema bar. Great idea!

I find Aquaphor (the gooey kind) to be most helpful for the eczema on my arms and hands. I really glob it on there and gently massage it in, and I do that several times per day. Eventually, the itching stops and my skin calms quite a bit (as far as red spots).

key tones, I agree - I also feel like there's some kind of fungal "something" going on in addition to the eczema. My GP completely denied that, but I don't agree with her. I've also used Lotrimin on the itchy areas. Doesn't make the eczema go away, but it seems to calm it down.

My doctor prescribed a steroid cream ( starts with a "t"...it's a common cream for eczema...long name, can't recall it). It doesn't have anti-fungal properties in it, which I think is unfortunate. The cream is helping the eczema on top of my foot, but isn't doing jack for my hand...only the Aquaphor helps my hand quite a lot.

Well, this is not a fun condition, is it? I am immensely grateful to both of you for your information. Thank you