by Sophia Sturges

Created on: February 28, 2007   Last Updated: April 20, 2007

My Cure for Eczema

My experience with eczema has been this. Try the food elimination diet. This worked for my daughter. We tried only bathing every other day. Westcort cream, Desonide, Elidel, Protopic...sound familiar? You itch because of something that you're eating that you're allergic to. Later it may change to acne. My husband consumed dairy and craved blocks of cheese his whole life. He had acne into adulthood and later developed high blood pressure. These were both cured by eliminating dairy. My daughter had large weepy sores the size of my thumbs on both of her cheeks and rashy arms and legs, especially behind her arms and legs. It wasn't until she stopped taking antibiotics when she was sick, and used some probiotics to restore her beneficial gut bacteria that she started on a path to recovery.

If you have eczema, it is a symptom of an underlying problem. You need to stop treating the symptom. Suppressing the immune system from working is not a good idea. If you are too lazy or overwhelmed to try the food elimination diet, then go get allergy tested. Or you can just itch. Think about all the months of crying I could have saved had someone only written this somewhere on the internet where I could see it. It really works, and it saved my daughter. (Elidel and Protopic have been shown to cause cancer in studies and the FDA now requires it to be printed on their care label. Strangely, it is still prescribed. Why would you give this to your child? Hmmm. Itch, or die from cancer? I think I'd rather
itch.)

Something else that I would recommend is Vanicream, shea butter, Dove unscented soap for sensitive skin, 7th Generation or Tide Free laundry detergent, no dryer sheets (unless you are washing pajamas treated with flame retardant, which are toxic to children-the fabric softener will help to take it off their pajamas), organic fruits and veggies, organic everything really, organic cotton clothing, (or at least wash it, but no sweaty nylon and polyester), if taking fewer baths doesn't work, try taking short baths every day, collodial oatmeal baths, Aveeno hydrocortisone-it's over the counter and has been used for years (it can cause thinning of the skin if used regularly over a long period of time, so check with the doc), avocados, and Johnson's Baby shampoo. Try not to wear perfumes or buy products that have a lot of perfumes. Whether it is you or a child, people with eczema don't just have sensitive skin-they ARE sensitive! (So you need to be too!)

I wish you a speedy recovery. My daughter had eczema starting after a hospital stay with a strong dose of antibiotics at four months. It lasted until she was put on probiotics for a few weeks and saw a chriopractor for a year. We also changed her diet. It didn't happen overnight, but it did happen. At 2 1/2 years old, she has the clearest skin you've ever seen. The only time she ever breaks out now is if she comes into contact with something that she is allergic to, so I know we're on the right path. I hope you find yours.

Learn more about this author, Sophia Sturges.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.