Dealing With Eczema in Kids

I should title this blog post something more along the lines of eliminating eczema because that it just what we have done! Both of my kids and myself have struggled with bad bouts of this. My daughter thankfully grew out of hers right around her second birthday. I struggled with it most of my childhood life, and like most, "grew out of it" with occasional dermatitis issues as an adult from being exposed to different chemicals at work. My son on the other hand hasn't been as fortunate to have it resolve on his own. His actually got so bad that we were unable to manage it on our own. His skin at any given time would be lit up like the fourth of July! Anything we tried to put on it or do to help seemed to make it worse and it covered almost his entire body minus his head and feet. Knowing how painful and itchy eczema is, it broke my heart to think of how he must have felt on his worst days with it covering his whole body. I am kind of wishing I would have saved the before pictures of his skin, but they were way too sad to keep. I knew I would't ever want to remember those moments.

We tried what the pediatrician recommended (applying ointment and topical steroids twice daily for two weeks-which also came with great warning as prolonged steroid use isn't optimal), changed up laundry detergents, sun exposure, adjustments, supplemented with vitamins...you name it, we did it. Some of these changes would show some relief, but it would always come back with vengeance. We had labs drawn to test for true allergies, and all came back clear. The pediatrician explained that just because he isn't allergic to any foods doesn't mean that he can't not be sensitive to certain foods. She recommended we see an allergist for further testing.

I knew that muscle testing (applied kinesiology) had miraculous results for me, so this was the route I finally took with my boy! It was just a matter of finding someone who I could trust and did this on babies. It was quick, totally painless (best alternative to being exposed to major triggers and chemicals with an allergist) and worked like a charm! The chiropractor informed us that every one and every body is different, but that most eczema is worsened by two main food groups, wheat and dairy. Although we primarily don't consume these foods, he was still getting enough exposure to these things that it was making his skin a total mess!

He tested sensitive (not allergic, that's an entirely different testing process which we did do through our pediatrician) to the following:

-Rye
-Dairy
-Wheat
-Soy
-Corn (found in many gluten free options, so read the labels!)
-Peanut Butter (he used to eat PB in massive spoonfuls...shhh)

It hasn't been even a month since we eliminated all of these foods for him and his skin is clear! No more itchiness, fussiness, crazy sensitive skin. As a parent of a kid who suffers from eczema, you know what a relief this is!

I will continue to keep our skin care protocol for patients with eczema and do the following:

-bathe him in the gentlest of cleansers
-use lukewarm bath water
-use my hands to cleanse him rather than a washrag
-apply a lotion that I make (2 ingredients) on him 4 times a day to keep his skin moisturized
-give him plenty of healthy fats and Omega supplements to nourish his skin from the inside out.

All of these are things that I did prior to the diet change as well. I would love to hear your stories and testimonies, too!