Homeopathy for ECZEMA

[sagarika]

Has anyone tried homeopathy for treatment of eczema? I have heard that homeopathy can CURE eczema. Does anyone know of such a doctor? I am ready to travel to the farthest corner of the globe if necessary. I am desparate!! My little one (now 7 months) has been suffering from bad eczema since he was 3 months and nothing has been very helpful. At the moment he is having a flare up and to watch him suffer like this is painful. I am doing the routine stuff like steroid and moisturiser applications but it comes back again and again......

[EldonAve]

sugar pills cannot cure anything sorry

[jumpingjojo]

Hi,
Yes, we have had success with homeopathy for my ds, now 2 1/2 yrs old.
His eczema started by 5mths old and I discovered it was triggered by dairy, later we discovered he is allergic to dairy. With dairy out of his diet his eczema on his body cleared up but his face remained terrible. Last July we finally tried homeopathy as a last hope and within 3 weeks his face had cleared up and since then we have had small flareups but nothing as bad as before. ( previously I had to change the cot sheet everyday due to his chin bleeding.) She also identified a few other things that trigger it so along with the remedies and dropping things like msg & raspberries he is now loads better. We were sceptical but the results speak for themselves.
What I would say is try to get a recommendation, there are alot of practitioners around and it's hard to know where to begin. Happy to recommend my lady if you're down south - Bucks. We spent £70 for initial consultation, then 2x £35 sessions. No charge for the remedies.
So sorry for your little one as it's heart breaking to see them so itchy. The steroids do work but we found it came back everytime we stopped them, no matter how slowly we weaned them.
hth

[PfftTheMagicDragon]

Homeopathy cannot cure Eczema. Homeopathy cannot cure anything.

[eragon]

well of course avoiding acidic foods would stop irritritating the inflamed skin. a dermatologist would have given that advice and ezcema society.

[PfftTheMagicDragon]

jumping - the results speak for themselves for a reason.

Ds's eczema was triggered by cow's milk.

If I went to a homeopathic "doctor" and they gave me some sugar pills and told me to avoid milk, and then the eczema cleared up - why would we assume it was the homeopathy? Why on earth would you not see that the foods that trigger eczema being removed might actually be the reason that the condition has cleared up?

[bruffin]

Ds had quite bad eczema on his face as a baby. It was caused by teething and cleared up by itself, so suspect that jumpinjojos homeopathic cure was a coincidence

[Shallishanti]

really, I wasted many £100s on homeopathy for DD1, her v bad eczema is caused by house dust mite allergy, impossible to avoid
the cotton comfort pjs are very good

[sagarika]

Thanks all you mums for your advice. But really I feel so helpless. My little one is allergic to nuts, milk and eggs. I am still breast feeding him and I am on a strict exclusion diet. He's been seen by allergy specialist, paediatricians and gps. I have done whatever they have said and still he gets flare ups and really bad ones. It feels like a curse thats not going away. Homeopathy is the only treatment I haven't tried. I respect your opinions but I want to try homeopathy just to say, "I have tried everything".

So, jumpingjojo could you please give me the details of your homeo doctor. Theres no harm in trying because homeopathy do not have any side effects.... thats what I have heard.

[sagarika]

hi jumpingjojo, i am still waiting for your response :)

[bruxeur]

Run him under the tap for a bit, no need for a specialist.

Careful not to overdose, though.

[crazycatlady]

Sagarika I have been there. I know just how hard it is with an allergic child with eczema, doing the exclusion diets etc etc... I totally understand your need to feel you have tried everything. At our worst time (also about 8 months) I sought out a homeopath and took DD. I am not sure if it helped but it did make me feel I was 'doing something' and certainly did no harm. Her name is Maria Jevtic and she is based in Wimbledon. If you google her you will find her website.

To be honest, in my mind the best thing you could do with your money is to book a private consultation with a paediatric allergist named Dr Gideon Lack. DD has been under his care at St Thomas's since 8 months and aged 2.5 she is now eczema free and has grown out of all but one of her allergies. He managed the allergy testing, diet advice and skin maintenance brilliantly for us and was so reassuring. He practices privately at a couple of locations in London and you will get seen quickly if you can afford a private consultation. We waited months on the NHS, and we're in area for St T's! It was excruciating.

I am sure you have tried all sorts of things already, but are you being liberal enough with the steroid cream? Dr Lack said to use it intensively until the skin is COMPLETELY clear, otherwise it just comes back... and GPs are very reticent (rightly so) to recommend any more than tentative application of steroids which sadly doesn't do a thing.

I hope you find the right treatment for your little boy and that he is better soon.

[sagarika]

Dear crazycatlady thanks v much for ur supportive msg. Believe it or not I'm doing my best. No matter how much I try(with steroids unto moderate potency) I hv never been able to wean him off the steroids coz the patches never goes away completely.he has been almost continuously on various steroid creams since he was 3mnths.he's nearly 9mnths now.poor thing.he's also allergic to cows milk,nuts and eggs.I'm breast feeding him and planning to do so until he's two.if I can't cope that far than will switch to soya milk.I had to push my gp for a ref to a specialist although initially we had to go private.now he's being followed up at st marys hosp by an allergy specialist. My in laws r more keen on homeopathy than me to be honest.but I will give it a try.but the thing that keeps me going is the hope that he will soon grow out of it including his allergies

[somethingwitty82]

omg!
"£70 for initial consultation, then 2x £35"

This is a lot of money. Im all for placebos if it works but this is taking advantage of vulnerable people

[crazycatlady]

I am sure he will grow out of it sagarika. It's so hard in the meantime though. It's nervewracking dealing with the allergies and heartbreaking seeing their skin look so raw...

We switched to soya formula for DD in the end (she was allergic to cows milk protein, eggs, fish and nuts - now just raw egg and almonds). I found it so draining constantly excluding new foods. Once she had her first skin prick tests and we knew she wasn't allergic to soya I introduced one bottle a day and then at 12 months switched her completely. She's done just fine on it.

Are you a member of the Eczema Society? I'm not but I have heard they are brilliantly supportive and may have some more advice for you if you're finding the flare ups really difficult to control.

I know how overwhelming it can feel at times. But you're doing all the right things and he will get better as he gets bigger I am sure. Take it day by day x

[skyebluepink]

Safarika sorry if I'm being dense- have you seen a dermatologist? Have you been to the Excema workshops at St Ts?

If so what about trying acupuncture / Chinese medicine, of course witha registered legit practitioner.

[Amieesmum]

i have been treated for eczema, and hay fever by homeopathy. It does work if taken correctly, not as a cure, but control measure.

[sagarika]

Thanks again all u lovely mums.im not a member of eczema society but will look it up.the allergy specialist is also looking after his eczema so hvnt seen a desmatologist.i wonder what would they do differently...more steroids! despite strict dietary restrictions I still worry that something in my food might be causing these reactions/flare ups....mayb i should establish him on soya by the time he's 1. thanks again to all for ur support and advice.

[skyebluepink]

I had a very difficult time with DD. She had a discoid eczema that looked like chicken box. I recently looked at a photo of her when it was at it's worst ( when she was 4/5months) and she looked shockingly bad.

The GP kept saying we need to get it under control. But using the low steroids wasn't touching the sides. So I was using them but getting nowhere.

From advice on here I went to an eczema nurse who was incredibly helpful and suggested stronger steroids and then a consultant dermatologist who reassured me about steroid use and told us to carry on.

Alongside this I went to an eczema workshop at st Thomas - this was a self referal as I'm in n london. I learnt so much- things that you don't realise can make a difference. I know how hard it is an disheartening to feel like nithing makes a difference Or works so it was incredibly useful to go somewhere and Learn what Does work or whats out there to try. They also discuss alternative therapies. I thought i kew everything but I learnt how to put emolient on and ( after a bath within 3 minutes!) to do it constantly, i do it 5 times a day. To not use steroid too sparingly, to wash things at 60,to do lots of hoovering and banish soft toys.

Now the eczema is under control but she still gets flare ups so I still use super strong steroids. I don't question it because I know there are no cures, only ways of managing it. I use enough steroid at a high strength to make sure it's soaked in but I do this only when it looks angry.

We almost went to Chinese medical practitioners but touch wood, so far she's OK.

If you need any more info just ask. Also cardimimginger and alison1 were very helpful. And lots of others on here!

[sagarika]

Thanks skyebluepink,i might actually try the workshop.im now using the stronger steroid on the bad patches and moisturise him as often as I can. Hw often can i bathe him.im doing it evry othr or two days and dnt use soap.i put oilatum bath.is there anything else thats betr.dermol doesnt suit him

[skyebluepink]

Well I was told bathing every day does not dry out the skin- with emollients to soften the water it actually prepares the skin for moisturisation. After a bath skin is at its optimum and so is more receptive to moisturisation. I had thought bathing everyday would dry it out but current treatment is that they advise bathe everyday. I use more oilatum than the capful they suggest too. It was particularly important for us to keep her skin clean as it was v prone to infection. I found dermol and oilatum plus too drying ( they have antimacrobiaks- something like that! Which can dry skin out) so we use the normal blue oilatum. Also cetraben has been my favourite moisturiser and sometimes the thick ointment - on very bad patches.

[skyebluepink]

Antimacrobials I mean!

[RitaMorgan]

Homeopathy doesn't have any side effects because it doesn't have any effects - there isn't actually an active ingredient in it. It's basically faith healing - if you wish/believe hard enough you can convince yourself it works.

Be careful with soya - many children who are allergic to dairy are also allergic to soya as the proteins are quite similar. There are hypoallergenic formula milks you can get on prescription though.

My ds also has eczema and helpfully also reacts to many of the eczema creams/moisturisers, diprobase etc. I've found oilatum in his bath, hydromol ointment (it's like a thick grease) and steroid cream for flare-ups has been a good combo for us.

[crazycatlady]

Do you have a water softener sagarika? I was worried about daily bathing too because we live in a very hard water area (south London) and when we went away to Cornwall DD's skin cleared up... we wanted to continue with the daily bathing as the moisturiser definitely works better straight after bath, so we have installed a water softener and it's made such a difference, to all of us!

[sagarika]

yes ritamorgan, he was tested for soya and its safe for him.

now i feel a lot confident about bathing him daily. but crazycatlady ur suggestion is very sensible re: water softener. me and my hubby thinking about it.

i use the blue oilatum and like you skyebluepink i use more than a capful and moisturise him soon after. after trying millions of emollients iv found cetraben to be the best.

i will keep going and try my best to make life as comfortable as possible for my little one.

i cant thank u mums enough

[crazycatlady]

I know this might sound odd, but an old pair of tights filled with oats makes a lovely natural water softener in the meantime!

And Aveeno bath oil (the adult one is fine) has been used by many mums of little ones with eczema with great success. We found this far more effective than the Oilatum.

Can't think of any more tips that you haven't already tried. You'll get there xx