In Health Watch:Eczema is a common and miserable skin affliction...that affects millions of American children. Now, as Joel Brown reports from Washington, doctors have found a solution that could be no farther than your laundry closet.Dylan Schneider was less than a year old when his mother first noticed patches of eczema on his skin.And now, at 7, he's still bothered by itchy, painful flare-ups.Dylan says, 'It hurts a lot.'The condition is usually treated with topical antibiotics, but a few weeks ago, his mother started a new regimen: adding half a cup of regular household bleach to dylan's bath water.Dylan's Mother Lizzie Schneider says, 'He hasn't had any major flare-ups recently; maybe it's something that will help him not go back to this cream to that cream.About one in six children suffers from eczema. The bleach treatment doesn't cure the disease - but it keeps it in check.Eczema is caused by a mix-up in the immune system that triggers the body to fight off even normal collections of bacteria on the skin.That's what brings the rashes, which are so itchy, children sometimes scratch until they bleed.Dr. Robert Buka says, 'The immune system is so hyper excitable that it attacks the skin unnecessarily, trying to drive off this colonization, this bacteria that's on the surface.Researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg school of medicine found that soaking for a couple of minutes in a bleach bath - even once a week - cuts down the frequency of the flare-ups.Dr. Buka says, 'By adding a half cup of bleach to a full bath, we drop the bacteria counts on the surface of the skin and the immune system is a lot happier.Doctors warn to protect the eyes ... But because the bleach is so diluted, they're not worried about long term risk.Dylan doesn't like the extra bath time...but for relief from the painful scratching - he's willing to take the plunge.Joel brown, CBS News