Does your child have eczema? Here, Tamla Anderson – Registered Nutritional Therapist who specialises in helping adults and children to manage their eczema – gives parents her top tips on how you can help your little ones with this distressing condition.
Looking at things from the inside out when your child has eczema
I meet and communicate with so many parents who have tried every cream, lotion, steroid and bath solution. Some are more successful than others but the eczema always comes back. This is because they are treating the skin alone. Eczema is really just the skin communicating something that is happening deep inside the body. Eczema is an inside-out condition.
Elimination of food allergens and sensitivities
Have confidence that you know your own child better than anyone else and trust your instincts. Allergy tests only test for IgE allergen responses (the ones that may cause a severe allergy or anaphylaxis). Food sensitivities are different and parents should watch for patterns and trust your instincts with food sensitivities.
Typical food sensitivities are dairy (from cows), gluten, sugar, shellfish, hen’s eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. If you suspect a food is triggering a reaction, remove it for three weeks and then try a slow introduction. If it still triggers, remove the food for now.
Environmental triggers
Your child with eczema should only wear 100% cotton clothes. Wool is an eczema trigger and will not help your child, even over a layer of cotton.
Use non-biological washing detergent and don’t use fabric conditioner (even those for sensitive skin). The enzymes in biological washing powders and fabric softeners can disrupt the protective bacteria on your child’s skin and cause irritation.
Household plants and air purifiers will help to mop up any household pollution, which may be affecting your child’s skin.
It is very likely that your child will be reacting to any household pets you may have. The good news is that there are products on the market that you can apply to your pets, which will help your child to live harmoniously with household animals.
It is important to deal with any household mold or damp which can be a trigger for your child’s eczema.
Hard water is hard on skin
Another controllable home irritant that’s often overlooked or not mentioned is the water we use daily to wash and bathe in. For large parts of the UK, many households live in hard water areas which means that the water contains calcium and magnesium minerals. This makes the water much more aggressive on the skin as it strips out the natural oils and leaves a layer of scum over pores. Water softeners will remove these minerals making the water kinder to skin and hair. Many people have shared their experiences on how a water softener has helped to alleviate and improve eczema.
Stress
In short, stress causes inflammation and eczema is an inflammatory condition. You may have noticed that your little one starts to itch and scratch when they are upset or worried about something? This is the stress response causing inflammation, which negatively affects your child’s eczema.
While we can’t protect our children from stress forever, we can aim to create calm in our children’s lives through relaxation, reading, warm baths and by feeding them an anti-inflammatory diet.
Through a number of physiological pathways, sugar causes stress and inflammation and should definitely be reduced or ideally eliminated for your child’s diet.
Immune system modulation
Our little ones with eczema react to foods and triggers that most people are unresponsive to. It’s not so much that these substances are dangerous – it’s an over active / hyper-responsive immune reaction and perception of danger from your child’s immune system. Speak with a Nutritionist or Naturopath about modulating your little one’s immune system. Not suppressing it – modulating.
If your child has eczema we hope you found the above tips helpful. Does your child have eczema? Do share your experiences in a comment below.
Picture credit: People photo created by prostooleh – www.freepik.com
My daughter was the worse case of eczema at our GP. Every fold in her skin would crack open and I would have to bandage her together. She still has scars now on her ankles and neck. We did everything, emollient baths, steroid creams, Chinese herbal medicine, everything to help. We finally got a water softener and it worked miracles! Went to Dr and said about difference in skin and asked why she did not mention one before, she said she was not allowed to endorse products! So PLEASE if your child is suffering, get a water softener, it changed our daughters life!