Eczema and the itchies
My son has eczema and I’m often asked by other moms - what can we do? Every child is different but here are some tips that may help.
1. When bathing use a cleanser with a perfect pH balance. For pH, safety and purity, I recommend Shak’s Baby Bath and Shampoo, Moisturizing shower gel or (what has worked wonders for my son…) the H2 cleanser.
2. Avoid lotions with Lanolin - even moms & dads should avoid lanolin if they hold the child. Hydrocortisone can help but use very sparingly - it thins the skin and can cause loss of pigmentation. Our lotions are safe and pure; either the Hand and Body lotion (my favorite), Creamy baby oil or the herbal cream.
3. Avoid chemicals on the skin! This is huge and just now getting the attention it deserves. Use laundry detergents that are all natural. Things like Dreft for babies is NOT okay and I don’t know why it is still on the shelves. Our laundry products are not just safe but work better than anything I’ve ever used and cheaper than your store brands like Tide. Use the laundry liquid, powder, fabric softener and/or dryer sheets and use only them. Not just on your child’s clothes - the chemical residues of other brands stay in the dryer and transfer to all your clothes.
4. Don’t forget the household cleaners! The chemicals your child comes in contact with or breathes in effect their immune response - eczema is an autoimmune issue. Think of it this way, if you wash your floor with bleach and the child crawls on the floor that residue ends up on their skin and in their bodies. You’d never bathe your child in bleach so don’t clean with it! Switch to safe, nontoxic cleaners (your whole family with feel the difference).
5. Here’s a tough one for most families - examine your child’s diet. Avoid dairy, acidic foods, eggs, peanut butter, hydrogenated oils (donuts, french fries) and SUGAR. It is hard with young children because they love these things and they are easy for them to eat, but at least try to cut back. We’ve found that just switching to organic milk makes a huge difference for my son. We recently bought nonorganic and his eczema flared up right away.
6. One of the most important steps is a supplementation program. A child with eczema is having a problem with the conversion of EPA, DHA and GLA into prostaglandins. Here’s what was recommended to me and it may be that you have to add slowly
- chewable childrens multi-Lea
- probiotic
- chewable vitaC
- our GLA complex
- essential omega-3 complex
- soy protein or meal shakes
- chewable cal/mag plus
And note that for adults, you would get all of the above nutrition (except the GLA) plus much more in our Core nutrition Wellness pack. You can save 15% on all your products and an extra 10% on the core nutrition program - ask us how!
Lisa and David Tambellini
Independent Shaklee Distributors
March 15th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Did not realize that about the household cleaners, good point.