Whats the time Mr Wolf? Its EXCEMA time!

[komatsu]

Hey everyone. While waiting up to give S his midnight dose of antihistamine i surfed awhile and found mumsnet. I got carried away reading all the interesting talk that you all have posted on the board and found myself saying, yes, been there, done that, tried it 3 x ago, and having a little chuckle to myself. It then occurd to me that there are probably all these mums across the world with the same 24 / 7 routine as me. How horrific! My son is 4 half yrs and has had excema since he was 11 mths which has progressively got worse. (I have been told by various people that he will grow out of it as he gets older. Im still waiting for them to tell me the day, date and time this miracle will happen) Over the last 3 half years we have, as well as our family GP visited a Naturopath, Homeopath, Herbalist, Accupunture,Irridologist, Cranial Osteopath, used Maaori medicine, used cooled thermal / mineral bathing waters, smeared his body with emulsifing ointment which is then covered with wet wrap bandages (these need to be kept damp to be effective) and tried a few other unmentional methods to try and rid my son of his suffering. For the most part all of these things have worked and done some good but only for short periods of time. Like so many of you have expressed, s is also wheat free, dairy free, allergic to animal fur, peanuts, bananas, and the biggy, the good old dust mite. So if anyone has finished with their sterlised bubble ......Thru the process of elimination we have narrowed it down to the environmental location of where we live and the regular use of antibiotics which has reduced his immune system to blah! However, I have hopefully found something that may shed some light on this situation by way of a therapy called the Bowen Therapy. The way this therapist explained how this therapy works made a whole lot of logical sense to me and we will visit with her this Saturday. I am wondering if anyone else out there has tried this method of treatment and would be interested in your feedback. Look forward to hearing from anybody. Thanks

[Heathcliffscathy]

i haven't, but good luck for saturday komatsu

[vivie]

I haven't either but I'd love to know more. Good luck and keep us posted!

[Pippinthedog]

i have just discovered it in the last week and think it sounds amazing.i am taking my son to see a bowen technique practitioner as she says she can alleviate, possibly even cure his asthma. as we have yet to go i cannot shed any more light at mo but i would love to hear how u get on.my son also has mild excema and a dairy and egg allergy so i know how u feel.I think u are great for trying all those different remedies.

[komatsu]

Hey everyone. Thanks for replying with the words of encouragement. This will take awhile so please bear with me. It is now Tuesday after the appointment on Saturday. For the actual info on this type of therapy just type in Bowen Therapy into the web and heaps of info will come up about it. Basicly the therapist talk with son & I for approx 30 mins then did the "pressing gently then rocking" type massage on him. She calls it a "Tickle". This process took approx 1hr because there are time out breaks in between each few "tickles". She explained these breaks as image throwing a pebble into the middle of a pond. The ripple effect takes time to reach each edge of the pond, all the way around the pond. This is the same theory as having the breaks in between each tickle. The body needs time to send out the messages to the parts of the body that need the massage tickle information, and then it needs time to action this info. Between each break we talked about where she believes the starting point of all his ill health began. His birth. I told her that i had quite a traumatic birth with him because he was positioned back to back and was having a hard time turning himself. Anyway, long story short, my doctor reccommended that i use this certain drug which would help him to turn thus reducing the stress he may have been experiencing. The drug would stimulate the muscles of my womb to continuously contract for up to 3hrs thus performing a kneading bread type of action to help him turn. He then said that as soon as the drug wore off S would be born within 20mins or so. In order for me to live thru such an ordeal i would have to have an epidural. I wasn't at all happy about it but i concented just the same. The therapist said image yourself being inside a thick redish rubber balloon which was being constantly pushed, punched etc for 3hrs. As an adult it would probably give you a huge headache. But as a unborn child the compressions of these CONTINUOS contractions for 3hrs would have caused pressure on all parts of the body, especially his internal organs.Add to this fear, and chemical injections of 2 different types of drugs. Well you get the picture! This then would help to explain why he has had such bad digestive problems which meant the necessary vitamins, minerals etc were not reaching the body parts that need them, which in turn led to lack of bowel movements, which in turn meant that his liver has to work over time to deal with the stored waste...and it goes on...which eventually led to his excema condition. So, the Bowen Therapy is helping to correct & therefore restore the balance to his internal organs that had been out of balance since birth. Hopefully his body can start to help heal itself because things will be starting to work in the manner that they should be. Now im no medical professional but this made logical sense to me. So Saturday night was bliss. He woke only once instead of his regular 6 x. As the therapist predicted, his body started to detox about late Sunday afternoon. This detox will happen over the next few weeks she said and will probably get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Thats definitely what happened last night. Today he looks hidious. His face is weeping thru the many cracks of dried up excema but he is well otherwise AND has scratching is almost a non event. I am hopeful that THIS TIME this will be the one that will fix it. Ill keep you posted.

[Pippinthedog]

fantastic!.I really hope it works for him.I have yet to take my son to have his asthma treated,but what you have to say is very encouraging.

[pixiefish]

can they do it on babies do you know-have had a quick look on the net and can't find that. Also how much does it cost? not that i wouldn't pay but just to get an idea

[komatsu]

hey pixiefish, yes they can. I have a copy of The Bowen Therapy Academy of Australia brochure. (this is where Mr Tom Bowen is from and its place of origin). Their website link is www.bowtech.com , or email is [email protected] Anyways pg 2 of the brochure reads Quote "The original Bowen Technique is extremely gentle & is considered appropriate for anyone from pregnant women to newborn babies, the frail & elderly. From traumatic injury to chronic illness, depending on each individuals capcity to heal. No adverse side effects have been reported." unquote. I kicked myself when i read this as i could have saved my son at least a couple of yrs suffering. I live in New Zealand and there are a number of therapists here but the brochure states that there are Affiliated Associations in Austria, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Sth Africa, United Kingdom & The United States Registry. Hope this is helpful. Just chat back if you need more info. Only too happy to help, komatsu.

[komatsu]

oops pixiefish, i forgot to say that the cost was/is NZ$40 per session with the therapist i see. She said at the begining that each persons treatment should take no more than 4 sessions to correct the in-balance. There after visits are at the patients request of when & if they feel they need therapy. She suggested perhaps 1 month later OR 1 year later. Its over to each individual. Good luck.

[pixiefish]

so it's not ridiculously expensive then- not that I wouldn't pay of course but just needed a guideline. What you said about the epidural got me thinking- I had one of those and had a difficult but quick last stage of labour as dd's heart rate dropped and they gave me an epiostomy so they could deliver her by ventouse. I believe that she was a bit blue as well. I have ehard that such a quick delivery could upset the equilibrium. There's a therapist about 50 miles from me so I'll have to sort something out. At the moment it's fairly clear but am just waiting for it to come back.

[komatsu]

Hey pipinthedog, How did everything go with your visit to the therapist? We have since had our second visit (5 days after the first). Things have been very very difficult. As was explained to us DS has been detoxing of all the antibiotics he has had over the last 3yrs and its not a pretty sight. Im finding it very distressing because he looks so awful and normally i would have taken him to the hospital 3days ago. The nights have been the worst as he heats up in bed and scratches himself raw, with bloody sheets and weepy tissue by the morning. (Thus the reason why im on the net so late at night, staying up nursing him) Then dh reminds me that they will only stick needles into his excema covered skin and increase the doseage of medication yet again. So we will take one day at a time and continue to hope that this will be it this time. Fingers tightly crossed.

[Pippinthedog]

hi komatsu!.How is your sons skin now?.I feel so sorry for him.It is such a shame that it has to get worse before it gets better.I bet you would do anything to swap places with him.

As for us,we have been too busy to go yet.

[Pippinthedog]

me again!.Just remembered about a cream i heard about a while back called Elidel cream which is a non steroid and is supposed to be v good.
However its not licensed for kids under a certain age (cant remember which)and besides u have been down so many routes that have possibly already looked into it.

[komatsu]

hey, nice to hear from you. Yes we have tried Elidel. It worked for awhile but then that too stopped working. In a way i was glad because it costs approx NZ$80 for a tube of 30g and given that he has excema all over his body it was costing us a small fortune to cover him with it. Anyway, he is a wee bit better today & his legs are not so bad, so hopefully this is the start of the turning point. His face however is still the worst place as, unlike his body that you can cover with clothing, his face is always exposed to the elements. Its spring here in NZ and windy with it so the pollen is a nightmare. Needless to say i dont let him outside very often. Like you i too feel so sorry for him. It has me in tears with him when he can't go outside to play with his sisters. Anyway, on a more positive note i wanted to recommend a book that i got 2yrs ago called "Encyclopedia of Complementary Medicine" by Anne Woodham & Dr.David Peters. It is awesome & has info on just about every known alternative form of therapy and medicinal practices. Altho it is written for Australian & New Zealanders in particular (it has a glossary of practitioners in both countries)I suspect it is a copy cat version of another publication that maybe similarly orientated for the UK, USA market?? It is an excellent guide of info on what to do/ where to go next if what you are currrently doing is not working. Check out your local libray & if they dont have it ask them to get it. This saves you buying it first in case its not for you. Anyway were back to the therapist for our 3rd visit on Tuesday so I'll come back at you all after then. Luck & happiness

[tatt]

have you tried probiotics, komatsu - you mention digestive problems and when we gave them to our son to help those his eczema also improved. It was never as bad as your problems though.

[komatsu]

hey tatt, thanks for the tip. No we havent tried them but will look into it. Any suggestions as to where i can access good common sense info? website perhaps?

[komatsu]

hey you all, just a quick update on the ds situation. Things have much improved. We seem to be over the worst of the detoxing stage as his general skin condition is so much better. Still a little way to go with his face tho but he himself is alot more chirpy. We will have our 4th visit tomorrow which ds is looking forward to. Since our 2nd visit she has given him a tonic mixture of herbs to compliment her tickle massage which work along similar lines as homepathic remedies, 1 to assist the immmune system, 1 to assist his new skin growth & 1 to assist sleep. So pipinthedog (& others) for your info, this also is part of the practice involved with Bowen Therapy as i understand it. Each 15g bottle cost NZ$15 each. Catch you all up again later. Luck & happiness

[Sandi102]

komatsu.please keep us updated. I am intrigued. I read on another thread that you are against the use of parafin moisterisors. Why? I've used the 50/50 liquid soft parafin, for 4 years, because aqueous creams are no good for ds. Who is now 5. Could you reccomend any other moisturiser?

[komatsu]

Hey Sandi 102, Sorry ive been off for awhile but i've been flat tack at work with exams & school reports etc.. (im a High School teacher) & ds of course, so i havent had time to chat. Yes life is so much better for ds, and us all as a family. His skin is so much better now than it was 2 mths ago. things are definitely going well. we have had 4 visits and the therapist has said that considering that ds has been on antibiotics etc for approx 3yrs straight, it will take him at least 8-12 mths to detox these chemicals properly. Now that we are over the main, inital detox period we should expect minor detox flare ups perhaps every 6-7 wks. We are at this stage at the mo but its nowhere near the severity it was last time. So in keeping with this we have decided to see the therapist in 6 wks where we will review then for perhaps another session in 6 wks. Will keep you posted. Yes we are using a new moisturiser. It is called "Colloidial Silver Creme" made by Colloidal Health Solutions LTD, NZ. Website is -www.4health.co.nz.- Its base contents are Manuka Honey (NZ Native Manuka tree pollen -honey), Aloe Vera, Vit E & colloidal silver. We've been using it for 3 wks & it seems to be doing the trick. Re: the parafin. If it works for you please dont let me put you off as ea individual is different. I no longer use it because during the three years that we did, the OIL base parafin with continual use, blocked his pores. He now does not sweat or release heat from his body properly. The result of this is that if he is running around for only 5 mins he goes red-purple like beetroot. kinda like a volcano heating up ready to explode. Because the heat cant escape quickly enuf, he passes out. This has happened 2x. The other reason as i mentioned on the other thread, is that that oil based moisturiser's CAN SOMETIMES have the effect of cooking the skin/ heating it up, which in turns makes ds want to scratch his excema. Thus the reason for wet wrapping to counter act this heat effect. This was ds situation, & remembering that he has been a bit of a serve case. Will keep you all posted again soon as our 6wk session is Dec 1st. Luck & happiness

[komatsu]

Hi all, just like to wish you all a happy, healthy, safe and prosperous 2005. Just to keep you updated with ds. Since my last message we have had a further 2 visits which continue to help his skin and general well-being heaps. Every 5-6 weeks he continues to detox thru his skin and by having a coughing spat or the flue but has been able to deal with it alot better every time. Plus the duration is lessening every time. So all in all he continues to improve. He has bee antibiotic & topical/steriod cream free for nearly 4 mths mow. This is such a huge success for us. We will carry on this way for perhaps another 4 mths then re-assess the situation and his condition then. Our next goal at that time will be to look at slowly re introducing wheat products back into his diet. Chow for now, Luck & Happiness.