This was shared with me today and I thought it might be of interest to parents who just need a quick remedy for your child’s itch associated with eczema. It is especially helpful when your child is away from home.

I read other parent’s post in several different forums that ocean water stops their child’s eczema itch immediately. Well many of us live inland and not near the ocean so here is an optional remedy to help your child during an itch cycle.

Get some high quality natural salt, Himalayan salt, or celtic sea salt. You want to make sure it sea salt that was gently prepared to retain all it’s minerals from the ocean. Then make a solution with warm water so you can soak a compress to apply to the areas that is itching.

When your child is away from home you can either pack some of the sea salt in a small first aid kit or if you are traveling get some from the local grocery store along with some bottled water and a small towel to make the compress.

Remember to moisturize the area with an oil or lotion moisturizer depending on the type of eczema. Dry eczema is best to use an oil based moisturizer, wet eczema is best with a lotion based moisturizer.

If you would like additional eczema treatments that can help you stop your child’s eczema sign up for my free newsletter at http://www.stopmychildseczema.com

Sandra Hurd, CNC
Health Educator and Nutrition Coach

Disclosure: The advice given in this blog post is not intended to diagnose or cure eczema and therefore not to be used in place of eczema treatment recommended by your child’s doctor.

By now you may be aware that the polluted world we live in has some effect on your child’s eczema. We already know that the outcome is often the dreaded itch, which can sometimes be unbearable to watch. However, there are so many pollutants it is tough to decide where to start to look.

When I tackled the environmental causes of my son’s eczema it was massive. I had to already made many changes years before my son was even conceived yet I still had a lot to learn about how our environment affects his eczema outbreaks. I have no carpet in my home and the tiles/wood floors are cleaned with vinegar and water. Our clothes was washed using Seventh Generation, Ecover, and many other naturally safe and gentle detergents. The remainder of our home was cleaned with eco friendly products that are safe and gentle for the most sensitive people. Yet that still was not enough. I even had a water treatment system on my home. I soon learned that with all the changes I had made years earlier my son would still react to our environment. Here are some areas I found that affected him.

1) Candles - my husband loves to burn candles and the pollution and scent from the candles still affect my son today. My son’s teacher is a Party Lite representative and she said that the candles they sell would not have a negative impact on my son as regular candles. Since it is helpful to manage a condition in peace we are considering it as an alternative to my husband’s need to burn candles.

2) Chlorine - I had to switch from a water treatment system to a water filteration system to get all the chlorine out of our home that was entering via the water. I soon learned that my son was also reacting to the chlorine in toilet paper and white paper he used to doodle on. I had to purchase toilet paper whitened without chlorine such as Seventh Generation and Whole Foods brand and acid free paper for my son to doodle on.

3) Toys - there were several toys my son could not go near or even touch as they immediately triggered an itch/scratch episode. I found this out by just observing my son while he played and watched how he responded to they toys in question and then I removed them only witness his improvement.

4) My clothes - I had to change my wardrobe as my son was reacting to the material when he sat or laid on me or when he helped me with the laundry. After the change I saw improvement with his outbreaks.

5) Air freshener - My husband not only loved candles but during the times when he did not burn candles he would spray the house with either lysol or some other type of scented spray, but it affected my son to the point where it was completely off limits.

6) Electro-magnetic pollutant - this is a pollutant that is caused by cell phones, antennas, electronic devices (refrigerator, television, computers, video games, etc). Yes we live with many electronic devices but I found it to be one of my son’s triggers. I tested several protectors for our home but the one I found to work the best are personal protectors as they go with the person everywhere.

7) Dust - Clutter produces a lot of dust and that often affected my son. I found after I got our home organized and clutter free from toys and such his condition improved.

These are just a few ideas where you can find environmental pollutants that could be affecting your child’s eczema outbreaks. Keep in mind that soaps, shampoo, car care products, lawn care products, makeup, perfume, deodorant, shaving products, body sprays, hair care products, and such can all trigger an outbreak. The best weapon you have is observation and your instincts. If you can pinpoint a product or item remove it from your child’s presence and observe how your child responds.

Sandra Hurd, CNC
Health Educator and Nutrition Coach

To sign up for this free newsletter go to http://www.stopmychildseczema.com

Disclosure: The information on this blog site is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or cure eczema. It is also not intended to replace your child’s professional doctor’s advice or treatments.

Celiac disease is a condition where the body is unable to digest gluten, which is a protein, mostly found in wheat. Usually when someone cannot digest this protein his/her body experiences some type of discomfort, which is often immediately or shortly after consuming any foods that contains gluten.

As a parent of a child with eczema, this is probably the last subject you want to learn about simply because it is a different disease you now must tackle. It is starting all over and learning about how to manage this disease. It can be frustrating, but as uncomfortable as it may appear it is worth the effort to learn all you can about what is causing your child’s eczema. I learned that things in life is not always going to be pleasant to face, but I must still face it in order to overcome it. I apply that to my child as well.

Now your child can have an intolerance to wheat and not have celiac disease, as the key to celiac disease it the “gluten.”

There is a blood drawn test called the serum IgA-endomysial antibody test that your child’s doctor can assist you with and can help you rule in or out celiac disease. If your child is diagnosed as celiac disease that is where you should turn all your efforts in stopping the eczema. That is the place where you will find more solutions and treatments that will stop the eczema.

If you cannot decide if you should contact your child’s doctor to discuss testing your child you do have the option of removing “gluten” based foods from your child’s diet and see how he/she responds, in relation to the eczema. You must keep all foods containing gluten away from your chld for at least 7 days straight in order to determine if gluten is a problem.

Here are some examples of places where gluten can be found:

Some baby formula, crackers, bread, cakes, cookies, pretzels, some pudding, stuffing, pancakes, pasta, pastry, pie crust, muffins, biscuits, coucous, crumble topping, pizza, some breakfast cereals, pop tarts, scones, barley drinks, gravy, and such.

There are also hidden sources of gluten such as sausages, luncheon meat, blue cheese, gravy powder, matzo flour, seitan, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) baked beans, meat and fish paste, pates, sauces, beer, ale drinks, soups, mustard powder, instant coffee, brown rice syrup, soy sauce, some chocolates, curry powder, salad dressing, white pepper, malt vinegar, and such.

Check places such as: play dough, supplements, toothpaste, lipsticks, and some pharmaceutical products.

These are some product examples; however, your best defense is to read the labels of all products you allow your child to eat, wear, or play with. Keep in mind this is only for 7 days and it is worth the effort because once you find the source you can can then start the process towards stopping your child’s eczema.

My free newsletter is dedicated to help you find the best eczema treatments to stop your child’s eczema. To sign up go to http://www.stopmychildseczema.com

Sandra Hurd, CNC
Health Educator and Nutrition Coach

Disclosure: The information on this blog site is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or cure eczema. It is also not intended to replace your child’s professional doctor’s advice or treatments.

One of the best holistic eczema treatment that I found for my son’s eczema is a product made by Australian Scent called Balm of Gilead. This is a skin loving product. My son only applies this product to his skin and to this day only asks for this product.

When I first discovered the Balm of Gilead, Eddie who is the co-owner of Australian Scent, sold it at a local co-op on Wednesdays. His wife, Megan, created the product for Eddie who was having skin issues. Eddie spoke of his experience with the Balm of Gilead and I was very skeptical but I was willing to try anything to help my son. After about 2 weeks of using the balm my son’s skin was smooth, clear, and less itchy. I immediately emailed Eddie and Megan with a testimonial. I soon learned that Eddie and Megan has been receiving many testimonials of how well this product worked on all types of skin problems regardless of race or gender.

Megan contributes the success of this product to high quality ingredients without any added water.

I love this product so much for my son that after my first purchase ran out I literally panicked. I could not find Eddie or Megan the co-op or the market where they sold their products. I had no information on how to reach them until I came across their phone number. I called many times through out the day to get a call back. When Megan called me back I learned they were in New York. I said NOOOOOOOO!! I need more Balm of Gilead! Where are you I am ready to hop a plane to pick some up. Needless to say, I did not have to as they contracted with several local stores to carry their line of products.

When you find a product that works it is difficult to let it go. Many companies change their products often based on cost and others base it on demand. There are many companies that have no idea that their product works because they don’t get the feedback.

Megan and Eddie mixes and bottles the Balm of Gilead by hand. This is their business. I believe along with the process they use they are also adding their healing energy to each product they make, and that is why it works so well for many people.

Try the Balm of Gilead. By the way, I get zero royalties for sharing Megan and Eddie’s Balm of Gilead with you. My hope is that your child can experience the healing my son did when we discovered the product the first time.

Here is their website: Australian Scent

Sandra Hurd, CNC
Health Educator and Nutrition Coach

To sign up for my free eczema treatment newsletter go to http://www.stopmychildseczema.com

Disclosure: The information on this blog site is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or cure eczema. It is also not intended to replace your child’s professional doctor’s advice or treatments.

Corticosteriod creams or ointments are probably one of the most prescribed medication for eczema. Every parent I have met told me their child’s doctor prescribed or recommended it for the eczema outbreaks.

I found this medication to be helpful, temporary, especially when I felt helpless watching my son during an itch/scratch episode. But what happened after the medication wore off made me decide against using this medication until it was absolutely necessary. After the medicine wore off my son had the worst itch fits that caused him to go into that glaze over zone. It looked like he was in another world. He barely heard me talking to him because the itch was so intense that he just scratched himself to bleed and beyond. I had to cool him off with ice packs and sometimes dip him in cool water to slow down the intensity just to give me an opportunity to apply a different eczema treatment. Then on top of all that my son’s skin would get dryer and dryer then it would damaged very easy. The medication was thinning out his skin even more. Then I noticed that with each application the skin on hands and fingers would peel and if I ran a dull knife across it with a little pressure it would cut through my skin and bleed. When I washed dishes I got headaches because the barrier on my hands were so damaged that I could not touch certain soaps.

Should your child use the corticosteriod medication? That is a decision for you and your doctor to decide on. That information I provide was based on my son’s experience with it.

After searching for answers I realized that cream based corticosterids are better on the weeping eczema and ointment based corticosteriods are best for dry eczema. My son was prescribed several creams and ointments in the 4 years he had eczema. I don’t believe we had one discussion with his doctor, at the time, about the difference between the two. All his doctor did was try a different medication to apply to his skin. His doctor only knew that corticosteriods stopped the itch, so that is what was prescribed.

If your child is having a negative experience with the prescribed creams or ointments educated yourself on what might be possible causes. Search the internet for the actual brand your child is using to find side effects or may even find a blog written by someone else who can help you. Talk to other parents and find out if their child is having similar experiences. Contact the authors who have written books on eczema and ask them where you should look for answers. Contact a natropath or homeopathic doctor and inquire about the problem your child is experiencing. All these can help educate you on why your child is not responding favorable to certain corticosteriod creams and ointments. Once you have some answer and options discuss it with your child’s doctor. Remember you are in partnership with the doctor for providing the best eczema treatment for your child to stop the itch.

To sign up for more eczema treatments for your child go to http://www.stopmychildseczema.com

Sandra Hurd, CNC
Health Educator and Nutrition Coach

Disclosure: The information on this blog site is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to take the place of your child’s professional doctor advice or treatments. Nor is it intended to diagnose or cure eczema.