Wooo hooo! I finally found a great natural eczema treatment!! - Page 2

[MamaOui]

"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. "

I agree.


I want to add that you may have idenified the trigger through eliminations in your diet. Sometimes eczema is at its worse as it flushes from your system. With my ds, we identified his triggers with a nutropath, he took oral remedies, and his skin began to flare up (went from very bad to worse), and then a week later his skin rapidly started clearing up. He hasn't had any eczema in almost 2.5 years.

[bellasarah]

diaper rash eczema

Wow, this is a very timely thread for me! I came to mothering.commune specifically looking for eczema ideas. my 17 month old daughter has been diagnosed w/eczema on her bum. The doc said a lot of the same stuff as here- washing often and sealing the water in seems to help. But of course, while the doc mentioned that eczema is more common in children of parents with allergies, she didn't suggest the child might have an allergy! Anyways, I knew, and her dad is sensitive to milk, so we're eliminating that now to try to get to the root of things- BUT. Here's the question part. We've been using cloth dipaers (motherease) and they seem to exacerbate the problem. We've been using paper at night and her bum always looks better in the morning and then worse after all day with cloth. I HATE to use paper diapers all the time, but I need suggestions to keep using the cloth! Has anyone tried using disposable diaper liners? I made some fleece doublers, since it's so much softer than the terry, and we're seeing if they work, but it's kind of bulky... We use Life Tree or Arm & Hammer free & clear detergent- would it bother her only on her bum and nowhere else? her dad is sensitive to almost every other detergent, but not those. she has slight bits on her face and hands, easily controlled by occasional lotion use. and the diapers seem rougher than they should be- we always use minimal detergent and rinse with 1 C vinegar every time. out hottest water isn't super hot, though. any suggesitons? THANKS!

[MamaOui]

Welcome, bellasarah! You may want to post your diaper related questions in the diapering forum as well. You may get some great suggestions there.

[sarahariz]

Eczema improving?

I wrote awhile back about my 5 mo old DD's eczema on her face. After my being off dairy, wheat, and eggs for over 2 weeks (we are exclusively breastfeeding), we went back to the homeopath and she said she didn't think it had made any difference. She started us on a topical homeopathic ointment for eczema called "Udon 270." She's been on it 5 days now and I actually think it is working! I'm excited. For 3 of the days I went totally off my "diet" as we went to the bay area for the weekend. The fact that it is looking better, despite that, and also given the homeopath's assessment, leads me to believe those things in my diet were not activating it.

I don't know about eczema in the diaper area. The sources I've read about it say often the diaper area is spared because it is one of the few areas that stays moist. I hope you've gotten some ideas from the diapering forum. I think I would try switching detergents and changing the diapers frequently. Good luck! Let us know what happens.

[sarahariz]

I got the name of the ointment wrong... it is made by Unda and called "onguent 270."

[Pilgrim]

Howdy!

This thread has been quite interesting! Our DD also suffers from eczema. I had a couple of comments...

1 - We also heard the new trend is bathing daily and sealing in with moisturizer. BUT, this has ALWAYS aggravated DD's eczema, and I really think she has a sensitivity to something in the water (probably the chlorine.) I would go so far as to put in a whole-house water treatment system, but this house is for sale. Maybe in the next house.....

But, she ends up getting a quick bath about once per week, sometimes not that often. In fact, I only get her in the tub when she rubs her food in her hair!

2 - This is for Bella Sarah. We used Fuzzi Bunz for the longest time, and I experineced the same as you. We used Huggies for the night, and the cloth for the day. Her rash/itching was usually better in the mornings after the Huggies. We ended up using only Huggies after she outgrew our stash of Fuzzi Bunz.

This may sound very strange, but we went through about 18 diapers/24 hours. I wiped her ever time with a washcloth dampened in water only. I wonder if all that wiping contributed to the problem!? Her little bottom does much better if I save the wiping for first thing in the morning, and then after poopie diapers. (she does 2-3 per day.)

[sarahariz]

I thought the new homeopathic ointment was working, but today dd's eczema looks as bad as ever. It is the strangest condition. It seems as if I often see it worsen or improve before my eyes!

[Meiri]

It seems as if I often see it worsen or improve before my eyes!

Keep a log of your observations: when it looks worse and what's going on, where she is, what's she doing/laying on/playing with; when it looks better with all the same info.

That might be the only way to pin down what's causing the problem.

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

joining this thread...

[Autumnschild]

Hi, thought I'd add some notes of my own...

My dd has had eczema since she was a wee lass, still breastfed. As time went by (she's 2.5 years now) I have been able to pinpoint some triggers in her case. Citrus...namely tomatoes and oranges cause her cheeks to turn bright red and crack. She also had a bad reaction to wool covers, but it could have been the lanolin. Anything with fragrance had to be eliminated. I use(d) unscented laundry detergent, washcloths with water and TTO instead of wipes, and bathed her less frequently. I don't use soap unless I need to wash her hair. Her skin gets aggravated at the turn of the season, come wintertime, but otherwise we pretty much have it under control for now. Now my 6mo is getting patches on her upper arms and I'm afraid we're going to have to play the guessing/elimination game all over again.

[sarahariz]

desparate!

I got so desparate the other night. DD was itching and itching and so upset. I had sewed the arms of her pj's closed at the bottom so she wouldn't scratch up her face-still, the poor little thing was scratching with any means she could find. My dh had ordered the "Miracle Cream" FreeDerm off the internet (which has the 1% hydrocortisone) so I decided to try some. I used just the smallest amount. The next day, her skin looked quite a bit better-the first thing I've noticed that made any difference. So then I thought we'll just use it until we get the eczema under control. I used it once a day for about 4 days-it helped a lot with the itching and her face kept looking better. I was using the Unda 270 ointment the rest of the time, which is the best I've found yet for keeping it moist. Anyway, the last time I used the Freederm on her little cheek-she started screaming! I thought it must be burning her so I refused to use it last night. DH thought we should use it anyway and I told him to put it on if he wanted to! (He didn't). Anyway, this morning her face looked almost as bad as ever. I can see that the hydrocortisone really doesn't cure anything
but just "suppresses" the symptoms, as they say. Now I'm thinking I will stop eating anything containing processed sugar or flour... I'm going to look up the gluten free casein free diet...

[JaneS]

Oh Sarah... we've been there, done that... s

You are still dairy and wheat free yourself? Do you have any other symptoms that would indicate a yeast imbalance/leaky gut that might be causing this? Are you or she taking any other homeopathic remedies besides the topical cream?

You have such gorgeous pictures, your DD is a *doll* and you are beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing with us

[sarahariz]

Hi Jane and all, I took Jasmine to the pediatrician Tuesday because the eczema seemed to be spreading. She gave me the best advice yet-bathe with no soap at least once a day for 10 minutes then when out slather on something to keep the moisture in. I'm using a homemade natural lotion first, then on her face I use the Unda 270 ointment, which is essentially lanolin and eucerin, and on her body I'm using the liquid lanolin. I'm doing this twice a day and it has really helped. She said only put the hydrocortisone on where it is really bad-a little bit once a day, and not more than a 1% hydrocortisone.

I did go off the diet when we went to the bay area a few weeks ago (living in Prescott, AZ, I'm eating out food deprived) but I think I will go back on it. Also, I eat tomatoes almost every day and I noticed on another eczema/rash thread kids are often sensitive to those-so I could eliminate that too. I have been taking the probiotics once day and she has too. Also taking a lot of EFA's. I haven't gotten the quercetin yet.

I don't know if I have symptoms of leaky gut. What would those be?

Thanks, Jane, I just looked at your babe's picture, and his skin looks great!

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by sarahariz

I don't know if I have symptoms of leaky gut. What would those be?

Thanks, Jane, I just looked at your babe's picture, and his skin looks great!

Indigestion, gas, irritable bowel symptoms... food passing undigested into the stool... a loose stool with discernable food particles. Yeast infections or thrush while breastfeeding.
http://www.caringmedical.com/symptom...dition_id=1039
http://www.gsdl.com/home/news/1999/d...index.blk.html
http://www.gsdl.com/home/news/1999/d...index.blk.html

Thank you very much re: picture, my sweet babe is now a whirling dervish! So that was quite some time ago, but the first month after we started treatment... the difference was dramatic. That picture took a lot of hard work to get there!

[Hera]

My first dd had really horrible eczema. Elimination diets did nothing for us. What finally helped, when she was almost 3, was using Elidel twice a day immediately followed by the ShiKai Borage Oil Lotion. She did grow out of it eventually. She's 5 now, and as long as we put the lotion on after baths she doesn't even have dry skin. I would definalely try that lotion, even without the Elidel which cannot be used on babies. Also, Baby's JarrowDophilus and Omega fatty acids for mom. Lots more than it says on the label.

We did do the frequent bathing when she was a baby, which was awful because we could not find a lotion that didn't sting. It wasn't until she was older and I found the ShiKai Borage stuff that we could manage without tears. The worst for stinging is Kiss My Face.

[Breathe]

subscribing

I'm on my second babe with the dreaded eczema . . . am hoping to learn something new!

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by Hera

My first dd had really horrible eczema. Elimination diets did nothing for us. What finally helped, when she was almost 3, was using Elidel twice a day immediately followed by the ShiKai Borage Oil Lotion. She did grow out of it eventually.

I just wanted to mention in this thread for others to see that Elidel, although now widely prescribed for the under 2 set, is not approved for that age. I did some research about it, and I can understand why... it is an immunosuppressive. Smaller bodies absorb much more of a percentage of the drug in comparison to body weight than larger ones. More in my previous post:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ghlight=elidel

[Breathe]

I absolutely second the caution about Elidel -- didn't yet read your previous post, but it says *in the packaging* that Elidel is "not for use in children under 2 because its effect on the developing immune system is not known". I read this AFTER our ped prescribed it for our 8 mos old, and AFTER he developed an almost immediate ear infection (his first) after 3 doses on his cheeks. And my ped had gone so far as to say "you can't overdose on this stuff cause it isn't absorbed into the bloodstream." Huh? He's not our ped. anymore.

[Hera]

Originally Posted by JaneS

I just wanted to mention in this thread for others to see that Elidel, although now widely prescribed for the under 2 set, is not approved for that age. I did some research about it, and I can understand why... it is an immunosuppressive. Smaller bodies absorb much more of a percentage of the drug in comparison to body weight than larger ones. More in my previous post:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ghlight=elidel

Yup, that's why I made sure to say dd was almost 3 when we started using Elidel. Wouldn't want anyone putting this stuff on babies. This is a link to the prescribing information, the stuff the doctors read:

http://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/pr...pdf/elidel.pdf

I wouldn't and don't use it on very mild eczema. When it's a choice between Elidel or some really strong topical steroid, that's when the decision becomes difficult. It was definately hard for us to decide to use such a strong medicine. Those steroid creams are absorbed into the body, at higher levels than the Elidel. They also cause skin thinning and other things. I am so glad we've grown out of this now.

It's such a hard decision for a naturally minded mom to make. I cried when our doctor told us to use a .5% hydrocortisone cream on dd as a 4 mo baby. I had been trying so many things and nothing was working! That's not to say that I think people should give up on natural remedies and go for the nasty stuff, elimination diets, acidophilus, and omega 3 helps lots of people.

Oh, I have heard that the doc to go to is a pediatric allergist. They have much better information and tools for helping with eczema.

[Breathe]

A few questions for you eczema mamas:

How old does a baby need to be before they'll do a skin-scratch allergy test? My ds1 was 13 mos, but all it did by that point was confirm everything I had figured out via elim diet. Would LOOOOOOVE to avoid all the pain and suffering with ds2, and since ds1 didn't even flinch at the test, am wondering if we could just go ahead and have ds2 tested (he's 4 mos on Friday). I know it's not exhaustive, but at least the positives would tell me which things to absolutely avoid.

Also, when can you start giving the EFA oils directly to the baby? Flax is a grass, so flaxseed oil could be allergenic in theory. Same with fish oil? What about EPO? And will just rubbing some on his cheeks be enough, or should I have him ingest some? Anybody know when these things are safe?

Looks like I need to go all-out and do a complete elim diet, bc cutting things one at a time is not yielding consistent results. Here's my list of what I think I need to cut:

gluten, dairy, corn, soy, nuts, eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, chocolate (these last 3 I suspect -- I know they don't have to be part of the std diet)

Have I missed anything? I know citrus should be on there, but I just CANNOT cut that, too. If I don't get results from the above, I'll add that.

I'm now going on three and a half YEARS of a VERY restricted diet and it's getting me down that there's no end in sight . . . I may have to start yet another support thread for BF mamas who can't eat JACK!