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Wooo hooo! I finally found a great natural eczema treatment!!

post #1 of 105
12/21/04 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
I've tried everything I could think of with Bran...we have a zillion all natural lotions, potions, goop, etc. None of it worked for his eczema... Then this weekend, I was at Wild Oats and saw some liquid lanolin. I remembered reading that people use it for their wool covers so I picked some up. But then I thought that it may work on Bran's eczema, so I've been putting it on him. It's working!!! His eczema is starting to clear up now!! Unfortunately, the side effect is that those spots smell like sheep now (um, yeah....), but at least his dry itchy skin is starting to heal!!!

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post #2 of 105
12/21/04 at 2:47pm
I have some in my linen closet and thought about putting it on Reese's excema. Maybe I will try it.
post #3 of 105
12/22/04 at 12:05am
What has cured my (lifelong) eczema, besides stopping dairy and eggs, is Borage Oil supplements (they contain GLA, a vital omega fatty acid) and borage oil lotion from ShiKai. By ingesting the Borage, I'm healed from the inside while I use the lotion to help myself feel better while I heal. (When I lapse on the oil, I get a flare-up.) I'm sure lanolin would work as well but I'm vegan.

You might look into omega fatty acid supplements, they have some for kids, that contain GLA (it comes in walnut oil, black current oil, evening primrose oil, and borage.) which might work better long-term. (Plus it's great for your brain!)

I'm so glad you've found something that at least helps topically without being prescribed. I had absolutely ghastly eczema as a child and my mom couldn't find anything to help. I've never heard her mention lanolin, though...She did CD me but with cotton only, so maybe she never heard of using lanolin.
post #4 of 105
12/25/04 at 1:28am
I've tried pure lanolin, like the kind you use for breastfeeding, on my sons ezcema before and it really seemed to help, but it was sooooooooo goooooy and hard to put on. I think I will try the liquid lanolin now. I also read in the Dr. Sears book that there is something called smooth and health with Lanolin that is lieka lotion, but they didn't have any at wild oats so i don't know where else to look. Maybe the internet?
post #5 of 105
12/25/04 at 8:49pm
I'm glad you found something that works for you all.

That wouldn't work for everyone though, as lanolin is a common allergen.
post #6 of 105
12/26/04 at 3:30pm

eczema

My 5 mo old dd has terrible eczema on her face. She's exclusively breastfed. The homeopath said to eliminate dairy, wheat, and eggs, which I've been off of for a week now (it is so hard during the holidays, isn't it?), but her eczema seems worse. She said if any of those were aggravating it, we should see a difference in two weeks. Has this been others' experience, that is takes this long? Is fresh goat's milk okay? I just got some this week-the homeopath didn't know...

Also I've been taking evening primrose oil and fish oil supplements myself.

As far as what to put on it, we've tried lanolin, evening primrose oil, neem cream, a healing salve our midwives made, an organic lotion with MSm in it, & coconut oil. Has anyone heard of something called Florasone (10% cardiospermum)? It is supposed to be a natural homeopathic alternative to cortisone and can be used for eczema, but it says for children under age 2, consult an MD.

I looked at the discussion forum archive on eczema here at Mothering and saw something mentioned called Triceram. Has anyone used that? What about this new prescription stuff called Elidel 1% (pimecrolimus cream)? There is an article on Yahoo news (Dec 2004) about its effectiveness in infants. Also, what about this stuff touted on the internet called FreeDerm? We ordered some yesterday we were so desperate. It contains 1% hydrocortisone. I'd rather not use that, but would it be better to treat aggressively before it spreads all over her body?

We are using a humidifier at night and natural detergent.

Thanks so much for any suggestions!
post #7 of 105
12/26/04 at 4:54pm
Sarah, the first thing to do is to get past the idea that just because something is natural it will help excema. That is no more a quarantee than it coming from a pharmacy would be. Problem substances can come from either souce, as can helpful ones.

What is needed is to get rid of whatever the allergen is that is causing the reaction. Yes it does take a couple of weeks for the stuff to clear your system, and then a bit more than that for it to clear the child's. Whether that allergen is food or some other environmental substance, it takes time and paying close attention to figure out what it (they) may be. If you don't see results with the dietary changes, I suggest you 1)stick with them (Rule one in science like this is to only change one thing at a time so that you Know what made the difference); 2)try different detergents, different soaps to see if they are the source of the problem. Read labels, compare ingredients.

I forget which ingredients are supposed to be the worst offenders in stuff like lotions, but I do recall polyquarternium or quarternium15 or whatever number, or something like that, supposedly being a problem for many. Lanolin is a big problem for me, which is frustrating when one of the most recommended soaps for people with excema contains it.

The best thing to do IMO is to stick with single ingredient items for baby's skin: olive oil or coconut oil to keep it from drying out. Tepid baths, only 3-4 per week at most, pat skin dry rather than rubbing, apply oil lightly. One of the things with adult excema is to stop the constant wet-dry cycle which is what helps aggrevate the problem. Same for baby from what our first ped advised us when DS was having a bit of an issue.

FWIW, what we use here is: Lubriderm for Seriously Sensitive Skin for lotion, coconut oil for after shower (when the Neutrogena runs out ), Granny's Power Plus Laundry Detergent for clothes washing. Some might say that the Granny's is not "natural", but by golly it's got nothing in it but water and nonionic surfactants. No brighteners, colors, masking perfumes, florals or any other nonsense that pretty up the ad copy and may or may not do any actual cleaning. Thus it also has nothing to cause skin reactions.
post #8 of 105
12/26/04 at 5:24pm
my son with terrible eczema is allergic to wool and I wouldn't use anything with lanolin in it on him.

We recently found a new thing (since I don't have access to cetaphil cream anymore) is something called

Baby Sebamed CREME it is made in germany.

I slather it all over him before bed and he doesn't scratch all night. This stuff is great!

I wonder if you can get it in the US?

http://www.sebamed.com/

edited to say I'm using the baby sebamed "special healing creme"

translation error, sorry.
post #9 of 105
12/26/04 at 5:31pm
Sarah--when we tried elimation diets, they told us to give each variable a solid 2 weeks as well.

IMHO, I'd steer clear of any prescriptions. We tried Elidel for a bit when ds was OVER 2 years, but it has a lot of drawbacks; ie. it is NOT conclusively safe. We just used it a couple of days if ds had an outbreak. We found out that his eczema was simply genetic and went away when he turned 3.

But...please visit a naturopathic dr. and try to identify the root cause. Otherwise, all the topicals in the world won't do any good except as maintenance. Sometimes, they could even worsen it if they're covering up the cause. But, unless, of course, you're like us and it's just bad Daddy genes

A friend's infant sounded like yours and they FINALLY figured out the allergen, removed it and the excema is gone. But, if he gets any, it immediately comes back.
post #10 of 105
12/26/04 at 6:08pm
Hi Meiri,

Thanks for our post. Those are great things to keep in mind... the natural aren't necessarily better than the unnatural. I've just been reading posts on an eczema specific forum-things that have "cured" some have exacerbated the condition in others. We use a liquid laundry detergent called Granny's Original Laundry Detergent-I wonder if that is the same as yours? Even so, I'll switch for a while to see if that makes any difference. She had a tiny bit of eczema on her right cheek here and there for a while. I noticed one flare up at around 6 weeks when her grandfather, who had on strongly smelling aftershave, was holding her up to his face. Since then we've requested people who hold her not wear anything sensitive. This latest outbreak seemed to start in November, when we started using the heat more (we live in the mountains of Arizona, where it is dry and can be cold). When we went back east for Thanksgiving, her condition cleared up. It was almost gone. During that time I was using a lotion on it whenever I had the chance. When we got back it started to worsen, especially after she was out in the cold dry wind one day. Her poor little cheeks were red for hours afterwards, and that's when it started to worsen. The lotion didn't seem to help anymore. I stopped eating eggs, because I was eating 3 a day(!) in a souffle pancake I was eating for breakfast. The difference between being here and on the East Coast-humidity, diet, cats (we have two), and I'm trying to think of what else. Now it seems to be spreading daily!
post #11 of 105
12/27/04 at 12:34am
Something else to keep in mind is that not all dry skin is eczema.

Sounds to me like the dryness is a good part of your baby's problem Sarah, just from the timing of the flare ups. Perhaps going with an oil rather than a lotion might make a difference?

I wish I could consistently spell eczema. I think I spell it differently every time I post.
post #12 of 105
12/27/04 at 10:34am
Sarah, I just wanted to say that while you're eliminating dairy, you should also not use goat's milk products. It may be that you can add them back in after three weeks and see if she reacts, but while doing the elimination you shouldn't use goat's milk either. The reason is that somewhere between 60 and 90% of people who are allergic to cow's milk are also allergic to goat's milk. The proteins are very similar and it really depends on your baby, of course, but it won't help in finding out if she's allergic to cow's milk if you eliminate it while adding in another possible allergen, kwim?
post #13 of 105
12/27/04 at 12:31pm
We've been dealing with severe eczema in my 2yo for over a year now- the most remarkable thing to me is that every single case of eczema is completely different. I'll share what we've been through so far:

My dd gets eczema all over her body- it's somewhat related to food allergies, at first, it was just eggs and peanuts, and some environmental factors- certain detergents, smelly perfumes or lotions, disposable diapers, fabric softeners is a big one to think about too!, ect... Funny thing about the detergent, the only one that seems not to irritate dd is the cheap kind from Sams. So we're not switching again, becuase every time we do, DD breaks out in the worst rash ever. No soap for her either. I bath her every night- just to wash off, in luke warm water. I see this helps her alot. I think it gets irritants off her skin. A couple times a week, I put baking soda in the water- this is a big help too. Chamomile is a good soother if your babe is having a hard time, orally or in a bath.

We've tried pharmacuticals- steroids and elildel and protopic- elidel didn't work very well on our daughter, but protopic, similar to elidel but stronger, worked great and so did the steroids- BUT-- they don't solve the problem. YOu have to keep using them, once you stop using them, the problems come back- at least they did for us. I have heard of some people only needing to use the steroids once, but that was not our experience. And the long term effects of protopic and elidel are not known, and that scares me with something I'd have to put on her twice a day for who k nows how long. when we're desperate and dd is itching her self bloody, I'll give her benedryl to stop the itching. I hate medicating her, but it's better than bloody patches all over. in my experience, doctors simply don't know how to treat this condition.

We've tried the elimination diet- she's developed more allergies because she was getting worse and now we've added soy and sunflower seeds and citrus to the allergy list. But I don't feel this is a solution, just a help until a solution is found. it's extremely difficult to do this with such a young child as well.

We've tried a chiro, but didn't see any results.

Now I'm giving her probiotics and vitamins. I'm seeing some big improvement here- but it has only been a couple weeks. This could just be the ebb and flow of the condition, but she's stopped itching and her skin is healing up (she went through a really bad bout at the beginning of the month.) I'm hopeful about this approach. We're also going to start giving her fish oil- adding one thing at a time, as someone mentioned.

Good luck.
post #14 of 105
12/27/04 at 12:51pm
Hi everyone,
I did a lot of seraching on the internet yesterday. I found some good sites. I thought this one was particularly good regarding substances one can develop allergies to. Here's their section on cow's milk:http://www.unicapinvitrosight.com/te...ns.asp?id=2487 They do say that antibodies to cow's milk proteins in individuals usuall cross react with milk from goats. Also, regarding milk allergies:
"The symptoms in infants are usually gastrointestinal (GI) and dermatological with dermatitis often appearing early. Foucard describes two different groups of infants; those who react immediately with GI symptoms and urticaria and who are often atopic with positive skin prick test and milk specific IgE antibodies; and, the late responders who may be governed by a non-IgE-mediated allergy (11). In children retaining milk allergy, cutaneous symptoms decrease while respiratory and GI symptoms increase with age (4-14 years) (12, 9). Infants with early sensitization to cow’s milk proteins have an increased risk for later development of other food allergies and sensitization to inhalant allergens (13, 14)."

So it seems really important to figure out now if she is allergic to milk, to prevent later problems.

Also I found an eczema specific discussion forum. It seems like products that worked great for some people exacerabate the condition in others. http://curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=100007

One main thing I've discovered from the forum is that it is important to hydrate the skin by actually bathing frequently-not using soap or too hot water-and then as soon as the baby gets out of the water sealing in moisture with a good lotion. I tried that last night and her skin does look somehwat better-at least it hadn't spread this morning. I know that is true of me-I have dry skin and if I shower then put lotion on immediately (a good lotion) I'm okay. I know most of the other mothers in my mother's walking group bathe their children daily and then put on the lotion...here in dry Arizona, and none of them have eczema.

Thank you for all your input. I will let you know what happens.
post #15 of 105
12/29/04 at 7:22pm

Milk sensitivity?

This eczema thing can really be a mystery! But I think dd might be allergic to milk. For one thing, and I'd forgotten this, her father was allergic to cow's milk formula as an infant. Also, I've been off of dairy/eggs/wheat for 10 days now, and I think her face is improving slightly. A few others have said so too, so it isn't just my imagination! The only "slip" I had was when I tried the raw goat milk. I had a cup (it tasted good!) and the next day her face broke out worse. So I'm thinking that is the problem, or at least one of the problems!

Scary thing happened today... dd was taking care of her and had her car seat propped in a chair without her fastened in... he left her for a second and she sat up and toppled forward onto the floor! Luckily she was alright! My husband was quite upset as I would be too if she had fallen on my watch, but I think he understands car seats and babies a bit better now!
post #16 of 105
1/1/05 at 8:34am
Sarah,

By far I think probiotics were the key in our success. They reduce overgrowth of yeast that can cause leaky gut, as well as increasing the digestion of foods which may be allergens. I think I had yeast issues which caused this in DS.

DS also took 1/2 tsp. cod liver oil (we use Nordic Naturals peach) and 1/2 tsp. flax seed oil or evening primrose oil. Also 1/4 tsp, or 250 mg. quercitin, 2x day, to reduce histamine response. This regime started when he was 9 mo. old along with an Elim. Diet. We are down to just probiotics and CLO only and he pretty much eats everything but on a rotation just to be sure.
post #17 of 105
1/1/05 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarahariz
One main thing I've discovered from the forum is that it is important to hydrate the skin by actually bathing frequently-not using soap or too hot water-and then as soon as the baby gets out of the water sealing in moisture with a good lotion. I tried that last night and her skin does look somehwat better-at least it hadn't spread this morning. I know that is true of me-I have dry skin and if I shower then put lotion on immediately (a good lotion) I'm okay. I know most of the other mothers in my mother's walking group bathe their children daily and then put on the lotion...here in dry Arizona, and none of them have eczema.
that's exactly what our ped. told us about our dd's mild eczema. i was skeptical at first since most things i have read on posts here suggest to do the opposite. our ped. agreed it has been the traditional approach for a long time to wash less frequently instead of more frequently for fear of aggravating the condition, however it seems that recently some studies have been done to concur with more frequent, mild bathing and putting moisturizer or oil on within a minute or 2 of patting dry.

we're going to give it a try - we've gotten her started on probiotics and may start with CLO soon.

-jennifer
post #18 of 105
1/1/05 at 9:52pm
Thanks for sharing your research on the bathing issue.

Learn something new everyday, eh?
post #19 of 105
1/2/05 at 11:17am
Jane, Do you have a brand of quercetin that you like? I wasn't familiar with it...but I just looked it up online and it sounds like a good idea!
post #20 of 105
1/2/05 at 3:20pm
Solaray non citrus quercetin
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...=A26XED0S1E7AO

500mg 2x day ( I was wrong in stating 250mg. above ) so I just open one capsule and give it mixed into applesauce or other food. This stains horribly, be warned.

This was also one of the eczema recommendations in Michael Murray's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. Pretty much what he stated was our naturopath's program for us.
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