Holistic approach for eczema

[Francesmalin]

Hi everyone. My baby is 6 months and suffered from severe eczema since she was 2 months. We have seen a pediatric dermatologist and the baby now needs to have steroids on a daily base to keep everything under control. Do you have any recommendations for doctors that use an holistic approach beyond steroids to help my baby? I am keen to see a naturopath or similar if needed and anh recommendations will be great. We have accepted that we need to use steroidal creams but looking at complementary alternatives. We are UK based

The problem with anyone representing themselves as "holistic" (or naturopathic for that matter) is there's no real agreed definition of what those things mean, or gatekeeping around who is and isn't a quack. Are there specific treatments you are interested in pursuing?

Research what bathing products you’re using, join some Facebook groups to get ideas, diet change

Have you considered the impact of ultra processed foods? Obviously she won’t be eating them but if you’re BF it could potentially have an impact? Might not be relevant but just thought I’d mention! also worth considering hers and your emotional wellbeing as this can manifest as physical health difficulties in babies

Have you considered food allergies? My DD2 had really awful eczema as a baby and within 2 weeks of me cutting out cow's milk and soya (as breastfeeding) it cleared up so much we didn't have to use the steroid cream anymore. Note that this was on the paediatrician's advice.

I found “baby” products were the worst (for me and dd3). I’m allergic to Johnson’s top to toe which is “just like water”.

I found aveeno and vegan soaps are safe (I’m not vegan).

it’s about finding what causes the allergy - for me it’s latex and salicylates. I can only use persil liquid. Dd3 is also very allergic to nail varnish, especially round her eyes (from contact).

I'd try diet before anything else. Dairy caused my dd's eczema, egg caused my ds's.

Try monitoring what you are eating/drinking, and also what chemicals you are exposing the baby to (body wash, baby lotion, nappy cream, baby wipes, washing powder etc)

I would agree with looking at your diet, particularly dairy. Don’t use anything but water to bathe baby.

Also, try this for bringing down redness. Made for Life Organics 100% organic, made in Cornwall and actually works. A little goes a long way.

I’ve had severe eczema my whole life. I’ve taken all kinds of treatments.

The only time I’ve ever had complete clearance has been the last few months. I’ve been in Asia. Lots of sunshine and salt water seems to be my cure but might not be suitable for a baby. Definitely try some sea salts in the bath though.

So far we haven't been recommended to change my diet but I am now going to take some probiotics and cut sugar. I have been eating a lot of chocolate since baby was born so I will cut that and have an healthier diet. Not that I eat crap but I have been very indulgent.

We are also going to change detergent for the clothes. We have used persil but just want to change to ensure that's not the cause. Is there a brand that you recommend?

My daughter had an early introduction to solids and so far she had a reaction to peanut only. It's hard to pin down what are triggers are

Have you tried cutting out dairy from your/her diet yet? Eczema is very commonly caused by a dairy allergy.

My son's was very often triggered by getting too hot. Difficult to manage in a baby when you want to keep them cosy, but even now he's 6 and his eczema is well controlled, he gets flare ups in summer.

My daughter has eczema and asthma. The doctors won’t even entertain a link between diet and the symptoms, but the link is clear for her. Dairy is it for her. Cutting that has dramatically improved her skin and breathing. She’s not a baby though so I think you need expert advice.

We use Ecover non bio washing powder and it's the only one we haven't had a reaction to.

I am 44 years old and have had eczema my whole life, from birth until now. More often than not, there is no dietary trigger for eczema sufferers. Over time the skin barrier becomes weakened due to flare ups (which are often the result of unavoidable external sources) and this becomes a vicious cycle because these external sources (e.g. dust particles, chemicals) more easily penetrate the damaged skin and the body sees them as harmful, mounts a response .. and repeat.

Therefore, my advice is to use the daily moisturisers, bath emollients and steroids you are recommended. I understand your reticence but these have been developed specifically for this purpose and by using them you are not only helping your baby feel better today, you are doing everything you can to help her skin stay protected and stronger for the future so that her eczema doesn’t worsen as she gets older.

@PARunnerGirl this is definitely what we are doing. I just wanted to explore other venues just to try and figure out what else we can do for her and reduce the flare ups. It's very important to keep her skin calm other when she is itchy she doesn't sleep and that's detrimental of her growth.

Fairy non bio is the only detergent I can use for my son’s clothes, sheets, towels, etc.
he also will break out if he’s sweaty. The change in weather also affects him. He’s 10 and we haven’t particularly noticed any dietary effects

Hey I have a problem with eczema as well...I didn't think of UPF - ultra-processed foods could be the culprit, really? On the other hand does anyone know the kinds of foods that would fix ezcema?

Everyone always says to look at diet (and blames dairy) but honestly, you’ll drive yourself insane and second guess everything.

Similarly if she already has a peanut allergy you don’t want to cut foods out and risk more allergies forming.

Eczema is usually caused by a defective skin barrier, and whilst it can get irritated by things, a lot of the time it’s just the food generally on the skin rather than an allergy (our consultant described a bit like if you cut yourself and get lemon juice on it).

We’ve found steroids were good to get it under control (your best using strong ones for say a week, than weaker ones for ages).

Once under control, protopic has worked really well for us and it’s kind of naturally got better as she’s grown. (Heat is a huge trigger for us, so summer is pretty miserable!).

Thanks so much for your advice! I'll look into all that

Beat thing you can do is diet. Diet diary and eliminate the obvious onea that trigger ezcemza. CMP, soya, wheat gluten etc etc etc. Sugars are bad for some patients with it. So you need to adjuat and play about with it.

Another vote for Fairy to wash clothes and bed sheets. Also, try and wash bed sheets on 60 degrees as it kills dust mites, and change them frequently. Try different emollients as the right one can do wonders. Another vote for aveeno products. Temperature can also cause flare ups, keep a room cool at night. My son had eczema for years from six mths but a combination of the aforementioned methods calmed things down. I found carpeted rooms made things worse as well, as you can't wet dust. Hope things improve for you.