Scientists have found that chronic eczema can be effectively treated using household bleach.
The startling discovery was made by researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the US, who found that bathing in diluted bleach could provide a cheap, simple and safe treatment for the skin disorder.
Youngsters who took diluted bleach baths benefited from fewer chronic skin infections and less severe eczema flare-ups.
According to Dr Amy Paller, professor and chair of dermatology and professor of paediatrics at the Feinberg School, the eczema of youngsters who bathed in bleach was five times less severe than in those who were treated with a placebo (dummy treatment).
'The eczema kept getting better and better with the bleach baths and these baths prevented it from flaring again, which is an ongoing problem for these kids,' she revealed.
Dr Paller said that the bleach is thought to decrease the number of bacteria on the skin, a key 'driver' of eczema flare-ups.
Around one in six UK schoolchildren are affected by eczema, but the majority grow out of the condition by the time they reach their teens.