BABY & CHILD ECZEMA

20% of babies and children in the UK have eczema, an itchy red rash that can crack or flake. And it has increased over the last 50 years.  It’s unpleasant for the kids and can be a major frustration for the parents. This red, itchy skin makes your offspring want to scratch and scratch which can lead to the skin breaking down and allow infection to take place. Not a good thing.

Most of us reach for the steroids but is that the best answer?

One interesting fact is that eczema and asthma are linked. “…early eczema is definitely a marker for asthma. In general, infants with eczema are significantly more likely to develop asthma than unaffected infants. About 30% of babies with eczema go on to develop asthma and up to 80% of kids with eczema get hay fever or asthma later in childhood.” (Lilminx.com)

At this point I want to bring in the holistic natural health model (after all, I am a homeopath!) which states that the body is intelligent and is constantly trying to move disease from more internal ‘important’ organs outwards to the skin. Thus the body seeks to protect our innermost organs. Sadly, in our culture we have a distinct aversion to anything that shows itself on the skin and we will do anything to get rid of skin problems. We reach for strong drugs or ointments to suppress these skin symptoms. But natural health experts will often recount how patients with eczema may occasionally develop asthma after suppressing their skin rashes.

Please don’t develop a complex about this. It is natural to want to relieve our children’s suffering and we do the best we can.

And of course medical drugs and ointments can provide short term relief which is a good thing and thankfully they are available for those urgent moments.  

Now, withdrawing from steroid creams needs careful management and the cooperation of your medical professional. Never stop long term steroid creams immediately; it needs a gradual approach of reducing the amount step by step over a period of a 2-3 weeks.

The process can be eased and aided by adding the steroid cream dose to a natural cream like Salvx Rescue Cream. Start by using 75% steroid to 25% Salvx, then 50% to 50% and so on until you are mainly using the natural cream.

However, a holistic approach which encourages the body to recover its own healing ability has more chance of curing at a root level.

Natural creams (containing such ingredients as Aloe Vera, Calendula and Jojoba oil) can be more beneficial than simple paraffiin-based products.

(Salvx Rescue Cream contains  a number of different plant extracts that make it a broad spectrum product whilst making it less likely for the skin to become allergic, as can happen with simple one or two-active ingredient products)

So what can we do to help our little ones’ skin without resorting to strong drugs?

Here are some useful tips: 

• Find a professional homeopath or other natural health expert who can support you to find the best outcome for your child’s problem. (https://homeopathy-soh.org/find-a-homeopath/)
• Rather than urging your child to stop scratching, try to distract them with games and activities.
• Keep nails trimmed short so they have less chance of damaging the skin when scratching.
• Avoid dressing a baby or child too warmly which can cause excessive sweating that in turn can aggravate eczema.
• Soapy bubble baths can be harsh on delicate skin however much fun they are – (try adding a teaspoon of SalvX Cleansing Shower Oil to the bath for a gentle and beautifully scented bath-time).
• A cool wet washcloth applied to red itchy or inflamed skin can help soothe pain and itching.
• Use natural creams that don’t contain petrolatum (paraffin wax).
• Do include the following foods in your child’s diet: oily fish (salmon and tuna), leafy greens, beans and lentils, colourful fruits
• A daily supplement of hemp seed oil (it tastes pleasantly nutty and can be added to cereal, salads and soups contains the essential Omega fatty acids which beneficial for skin and other bodily functions.