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Background: Hand Eczema (HE) is chronic skin disease with a high prevalence in population. It has negative impact on the quality of life. Due to the public interest in herbal remedies, we attempt to assess the efficacy of pumpkin ointment in treatment of chronic HE in this research., Methods: This study was conducted in an outpatient clinic at Imam-Khomeini Hospital in Tehran (Iran) from May 2015 to Nov 2016. We performed a double-blind trial on 60 patients with chronic HE randomized to four groups included pumpkin, betamethasone, eucerin and almond ointment (n=15 for each group) for 28 days. Patients were ordered to apply ointments twice a day. Hand Eczema Severity Index (HECSI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) of the patients were evaluated by a dermatologist on the 1st, 14th and 28th d after the start of treatment., Results: Patients' DLQI scores in pumpkin and betamethasone group was significant and pumpkin group showed a better response in quality of life ( P =0.001). Betamethasone and pumpkin ointment were effective and showed significant improvement compared with almond and eucerin and reduce HECSI scores ( P =0.002 and P =0.012 respectively). Betamethasone ointment outcome on HECSI scores in comparison with topical pumpkin was significant ( P <0.001). No clinically adverse effects were observed., Conclusion: Although pumpkin ointment showed a better response in patients' DLQI in HE but it was less effective than betamethasone in decreasing HECSI., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright© Iranian Public Health Association & Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

Background: Hand Eczema (HE) is a dermatological disorder with frequent relapses and multiple causes such as atopic, allergic and irritant contact dermatitis. The management is complex because of the wide range of different pathogenesis. Efficacy of some of available treatments is not well established and it can affect patients' quality of life significantly., Methods: Reports on HE such as diagnosis, pathophysiology, pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapy that described in medieval Iranian medicine, were gathered and analyzed from selected medical and pharmaceutical textbooks of Iranian Traditional Medicine (ITM). The search of databases such as PubMed, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Science direct, Scopus, Google scholar, Web of science, Sid, Iran medex, Irandoc, was performed to reconfirm the efficacy of ITM remedies in conventional medicine from 1980-Jan-1 to 2015-Dec-30., Results: According to their opinion, HE is highly associated with liver function. This disorder was categorized into two main types as wet and dry ones. Most Iranian textbook explained signs of HE, as excessive skin itching, redness, burning and dryness. Treatments recommended by Iranian scientists were lifestyle modification, dietary intervention and performing the rules of prevention as well as herbal therapy and special manipulations., Conclusion: Iranian practitioners believed that, six essential principles, diet therapy and medicinal plants have high impact on treatment of HE. These remedies based on Iranian scholar's experiences might be useful for further studies to the management of HE.