I couldn't control my eczema during my last few years of high school no matter what cream was prescribed to me by my family doctor, and despite going to a ton of chinese doctors that my mom wanted me to try. I did finally control it and almost seem to cure it through the Vancouver Skin Centre, which took about half a year for me to book an appointment for. It was definitely worth the wait, my eczema back then was horrible and everywhere.
You do get an immunity to steroid creams after using them for a while, but sometimes it can't be helped if the condition is bad (like mine). Definitely has to do with your diet, every time I eat anything really bad like chips or too much fried food my eczema flares up. I find that it also flares up during seasonal changes, both winter and summer. For me at least, excessive heat makes it worse. I've also heard that acne creams make your eczema worse, and vice versa.
I've tried a ton of different lotions, and this one (which was one of the many recommendations by the doctor) has worked the best consistently. Been using this for over 10 years now, it is a bit pricey though but well worth it depending on how bad your eczema is.
Can be found at Shoppers Drug Marts and London Drugs.
Although fried foods and whatnot are bad for eczema, I still eat them every now and then. Stress and lack of sleep also make it worse for you too, which sucks when you're in school.
Definitely water has something to do with it as well., and be glad that we're living in Vancouver lol. Everytime I travel anywhere (states, Toronto, Asia) my skin feels horrible.
If TLDR, here are the things that make my eczema worse:
-RANDOM CHINESE CREAMS (not all Chinese doctors are good...)
-Water
-Not putting on lotion regularly
-Scratching
-Stress
-Lack of sleep
-Sweat (and heat causing sweat)
-Not changing out your bedsheets/pillow cases often enough
-Dusty rooms
-Fried foods
-Some fruits (I've heard mangos were bad, can't really remember though)
-Alcohol
-Smoking
All that being said, I still play sports, work out, work on cars, eat bad food, drink, etc. All of it can be controlled with the right doctor, of course depending on your condition as well. You just kind of have to find the right balance of what you can/can't do.
Also, Polysporin eczema cream sucks. At least for me, I guess it might depend on the person.