Eczema

[twinyoga]

Anyone have any advice? My daughter (17 months old) has eczema. It got better when I removed dairy, but all of a sudden it's starting again. I've tried every lotion and oil I know of. She's also very sensitive in the diaper area. She seems to always have a little diaper rash.

The eczema looks like a red area and actually has a couple white pimple like spots in them. It comes and goes very quickly. So quickly that a couple times I took her to the doctor but by the time the appointment came around, the areas on her skin that broke out has already faded. The docs tell me to use hydrocortisone, I do once in a while, but I don't want to make it a daily application.

Thanks

[Rawkinlocs]

Hi Debbie,

Just keep in mind that cortizone creams weaken the immune system.

My daughter had very bad eczema until we changed her diet. Not only removing dairy, but grains, sugar...everything except raw foods.

Once it cleared completely up, she can now "sometimes" eat things that aren't raw without any flare-ups, but I don't allow that too often.

[Revvell]

As skin serves as a third lung and as a third kidney, your probably realize it's a sign of detox. If she's been drinking dairy I'm assuming you're giving her something in exchange since her doctor is thinking she's not getting enough protein? Have you finished breast-feeding?

Without knowing what you are feeding her, it's hard to get to the core of the problem although, it's possible she's detoxing from the dairy.

Topicals are "treating" the symptoms. If you feel you must use something topical to ease the discomfort until she can clean her lil system (and yes, I know it's not raw and I know it's not vegan) many have found relief with pure emu oil. Just be aware this is a temporary and not long-term "solution".

As the skin absorbs whatever one puts on it, eventually she will have to detox the hydrocortisone.

How clean can you make her food program? Fresh/pureed fruits and veggies, especially greens? Raw juices? Fruits are mostly cleansing why veggies are mostly health-buidling.

[Mommax4]

My 15 month old daughter has the same problem. I went so far as to take her for allergy testing because from what my doc said things that trigger eczema are peanuts, eggs, milk, and something else I can't think of. She didn't have any allergies to anything, so the doc said it was due to sensitivities from the foods.

Have you tried the new Eucerin Calming Creme? It seems to help my daughter.

My daughter is very senstive to wheat and oatmeal and will break out with the eczema after eating that. She also can't tolerate eggs or peanutbutter or milk.

The nice thing was when we (my daughter and I) went high raw, she completely cleared up, no outbreaks. Her dad ended up feeding her some eggs not remembering the experiment I was trying and she immediately has broken out again.

So back to raw we are going....it works if you let it.

Hope you find what works for you.

Ohhh, another thing the doc said was not to let her take a bubble bath, or a long bath. She also said no baths everyday, just wash the normal sweaty places daily and then every other day take a quick bath using unscented dove soap.

[twinyoga]

Yes, dove soap is good for this (me to, I had eczema as a kid). And yes, I know that cortisones weaken the immune system. And I know I'm treating it topically. But I do that to ease the discomfort. By the way, her twin brother has no skin problems.

She has been without dairy for about 4 weeks now. This is her typical diet:

Beverages are either rice milk, almond milk, or water

Breakfast: either fruit salad (fresh), organic eggs, ezikiel toast or sometimes some cereal (fruit sweetened). the toast usually has some honey or almond butter on it. sometimes a little butter (i know that's dairy)

Lunch: almond butter sandwiches on ezikiel bread, organic tukey meat, pretzels (she loves pretzels), veggies (carrots, peas, broccoli), pasta (usually whole wheat), and sometimes a leftover dinner

snacks: brown rice cakes, fruit, bananas, pretzels, sometimes a cookie, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers

Dinner: usually a variation on what I eat, whole wheat pasta, organic chicken, always a vegetable, some sort of whole wheat bread (ezikiel), some tofu, legumes (chickpeas, lentils).

She rarely has dessert. Maybe one or two little cookies (like once a week)

Thanks for all the advice. Any other thoughts now that you see her diet?

[Revvell]

Hmmm. Two things I would examine first ~ wheat and eggs. See if eliminating those for a couple of weeks helps.

[rawmom]

We have found corn starch to bring relief especially in the diaper area. We would just put it on like powder whenever changing the diaper. We found that my son's eczema was directly related to his dairy allergy and it cleared once we removed that from his diet. Just my 2 cents.

Rawmom

[swiddweas]

Aloe vera is good for this and so is liquid Vitamin E, and Vitamin A. I have mixed these three together with a little tea tree oil and applied it to the affected skin. Maybe not in that order, but you get the drift. Usually, just the Vit.E and A I have used regularily with great results.
The over the counter cream for yeast infections also works in a pinch. Usually takes the itching and redness immediately away, but for a baby , I would try the naturals, first.

Swid

[rawpriestess]

Oh the poor darling.

My son had it so severely, that behind his knees, and inside his elbows, his clothes would stick to the sticky scabbs, my granddaughter had it so bad, they hospitalized her, thinking she had the worst case of scabbies, until they did the lab work.

They said they had never seen anything so bad. Until I told them about my son.

Guess what cured it?

Taking her off dairy, yep, my son too, they were both tiny babies, so NO cow mild, my son drank goats milk, and I think that's what they put my granddaughter on too.

Once they were old enough to try solids, I warned my son about wheat, as he has this allergy to it, and so does all 5 of his kids.

Personally I think most people can't tollerate wheat as it is so hybredized, but try to tell them that their challenges are food related.

All I can say, is it cleared up my son's eczema almost over night, and my granddaughter too.

[twinyoga]

I just tried the cornstarch, let's see if that helps the diaper area. I love the idea of mixing vitamin a, e, and tea tree oil (wasn't there aloe in that too). I need to buy the a and e. I've tried almond oil, shea butter, jojoba oil...didn't work.

I can't imagine stopping wheat. It's the majority of her diet. She's already off of dairy. I'll think about this some more.

Thanks!
Deb

[rawpriestess]

Hi twinyoga,

trust me on this giving up wheat can be tricky but it can be done, even with kids.

the most important thing to remember is no packaged foods, no canned or boxed or frozen foods at all.

And since this is a raw food board, I would also say no cooked food.

But just to tell you how I did it with my son, since you say your daughter is eating alot of wheat, you can use spelt bread, and spelt or corn noodles, if you feel a need to feed her that stuff.

But raw vegan would be so much better for her, and while you're going raw, she can too.

Now, let's just say you are 100% yet. toss out all of the wheat you have, like waffles, bread, noodles, etc.

and replace with spelt or corn or quinoa noodles, they are very good and you can buy many things like this.

But I bet your daughter will love the raw food just as much as you do, so why not just go the whole way, and do that?

I support you in any decision you make, just trying to help out a mom in distress with her little one, as I went through this, and had no clue about raw, so we struggled for a long time, every time my son went to a friends house, they would give him bread or soup or crackerjacks or just about anything, if you read labels you will see wheat, whey(dairy) salt and sugar(usually disguised by another name) in everything, even frozen french fries, has wheat and whey in it, and for what purpose, because it is highly addictive, that's why. No other reason to put it in there.

Good luck.

[twinyoga]

Thanks. It's a big change but I know enough on how to do it now. I'm going to start it slowly and begin the transition. I'm also going to up their raw, not 100% but more.

Thanks, again.

[meganthevegan]

My son, age two ,also has eczema. I recently took him to the allergest for another problem and the dr said at least he doesn't have eczema. I laughed because he does. I keep it under wraps by lubricating him with vaseline every single night. It's messy but I swear by it. I used to use hydrocortisone and have found I don't need to with this treatment.

Finding what is causing allergies can be difficult. I've tried everything and now I'm starting to think it may be environmental.

I also have eczema and the vaseline also helps me (one of many things I'm hoping to clear up by being raw).

[ilaria]

The eczema I suffered from is not the one your kid has, but I thought to post my experience anyway.
Dyshidrotic Eczema (or Pompholyx) is a bit different from other kinds of eczema. It plagues your hands and feet only, making it almost impossible to do even the easiest tasks without bleeding (at a cronic level). Eczema and severe depression are the reasons why I moved first to a macrobiotic diet and then after a water fast moved to 100% raw food. After 12 years of discomfort it is gone and I'm so happy to be free. Before changing my diet I've been to many doctors and dermatologists and, aside from the first 4 or 5 wrong diagnosis, I was eventually diagnosed with cronic dyshidrotic eczema.
It only affects palms of hands and soles of feet.
Steroids, cortisone creams only help to relieve the symptoms a bit when it itches like crazy, especially at night. (Good alternative to the thought of wanting to chop my hands off in order to stop the pain).

When I was suffering from it I found that putting vaseline at all other times to trap moisture in would help and wouln't burn, otherwise they would crack and bleed in the PHASE 2. Other moisturizers (even the expensive dermatologist recommended) contained some irritant stuff or chemicals that I couldn't apply when there were open wounds. So, I stuck to a lil' bit of vaseline at all time (wiping excess with soft cloth) even when my hands looked better and didn't seem to need it.
Keeping my hands clean, minimizing contact with water and soaps helps (I used to have to wear double rubber gloves secured with rubberbands when I had showers!)
At the moment there's no cure for that kind of eczema I had, they don't even know the cause, but thu error and trial I recovered from it not by dealing with the symptoms, but going to the rooth of the cause. I tried many healthy diets/lifestyles to solve this problem because nobody seemed to be able to help me and after some improvements with the vegan, then macrobiotic (very complicated) diets I moved to eating 100% ORGANIC raw food.
In my researches I came across many articles in the past that said how eczema like other stuff in the body is simply its desperate attempt to remove excess toxins. When our body is overloaded with toxins it will try to isolate and eliminate them as much as it can starting with skin problems to the extremes of cysts and worse..

Hope it helps..

Ila

[Punky]

I agree with the wheat comments.
Removing wheat from the diet can be hard but worthwhile...
My oldest son has been dairy and gluten free (wheat, oats, rye, & barley).
He never has had skin issues ,but his younger brother has had
eczema since a baby --now 5.
When I switched his diet more like older brothers it stays pretty clear
for the most part now. Sometimes it flairs up but sometimes i am not as strict
with his diet as his older brothers.
We eat gluten free/wheat free pastas, waffles, breads etc...
Whole Foods carries a lot of it in my area. They are more expensive
than the whole wheat products though.
Of course raw is best, but these are good alternatives to her current diet.
We eat mostly Quinia (sp?) and Rice products, and buckwheat waffles.
Spelt is a good alternative to wheat too although we don't use it
because we are avoiding gluten and it has some.
Lots of kids are sensitive to eggs to; but I'd start with the wheat.
More and more people are finding they are sensitive to wheat.