Atopic Dermatitis

100% pure emu oil or 100% virgin coconut oil. My duaghter has struggled with the same issue, and I went to local all natural food store, and the man there told me to try emu oil. It is very expensive, but you only use a little. Within a few days, my daughter was healing and after about a week, the patches were gone. It is amazing stuff. All natural, no side effects, gotta love it.
Good Luck,
K. G.

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Hi S.,

First: Have the Drs tested your son for liver disorder? They can be the origin of skin problems sometimes.

To treat the symptoms, I have found that Lavender Essential Oil tends to work quite well to soothe the skin and reduce the itch. The only warning is, you need to use therapeutic-grade essential oil, and make absolutely sure that your bottle contains ONLY lavender, and no lavandin, much cheaper but also with completely different properties. I've been treating my son's eczema this way for two years, and he barely ever needs the prescription cream. Email me directly and I'll give you my source for the essential oil, it's really worth it.

Also, there is often a link between eczema and food allergies, so I would check what he eats, remove foods until symptoms clear, then add them in again to see what triggers the problems.

Good luck!

K.

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Dear S.,
I feel for your young son and I hope you can find a solution to his eczema. I work at Mount Sinai Hospital were we have a fantastic team of doctors specialized in food allergy. They have several clinical trials that are reporting fantastic results. The Jaffe Food Allergy Institute is directed by Dr. Hugh Sampson, but they have many doctors there that specialize on this. I see that you have already tried the bleach baths and so sorry to hear that this has not worked. One of the doctors there has reported great success with the bleach baths. Anyway, I think that perhaps they can help you. They are located on 5 East 98 St, 10th Floor (between Madison and 5th). Phone ###-###-####. I really hope they can help your son. Best wishes.

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I would pack an extra set of clothes and have him change immediately after his activities. Then a shower when he gets home to wash away the sweat. I use Cerave Cream (can be found in CVS) and Vanicream (bought at drugstore.com or ask the pharmacist). Both products are just moisturizers that really do help keep the skin moisturized. After the shower I just slather the Cerave on my son to lock in moisture.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

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Hi S.,

My son also suffered from atopic d./eczema, allergies, asthma, etc. I started using melaleuca products and he has greatly improved. They have a lotion called renew that he uses every day (we all use it actually) and when I switched to melaleuca's safer cleaning/hygeine/health products his allergies/asthma went away completely. We even just spent a week at a friend's house (who doesn't use melaleuca products) and he had an asthma attack when she cleaned with bleach. I couldn't wait to get home! Please contact me if you are interested in learning about melaleuca. You won't regret it! Good luck~ T.. ____@____.com ###-###-####

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Hi S.,
I really feel for the emotional difficulty you are faced with regarding your sons' condition. He is going through a really rough phase with his condition. I suffered from eczema as a child and my two small children have VERY sensitive skin. They breakout with dermatitis from a variety of irritants. There is a wonderful, all natural cream that I have found to work amazingly well. An organic product called "Natural Healing Aid" from Nature Only. I pick it up at Whole Foods or on Amazon. I use it on any skin breakouts, cuts, dermatitis or signs of eczema. The Healing Aid heals the skin up beautifully. In my household I use it in place of Neosporin, Bacitracin, and all the other synthetic products full of chemicals. My kids skin is just too sensitive to the preservatives in all these OTC drugstore items. After extensive research, this is the only natural product I have found to be so effective. Since my kids were born I have used the "Diaper Rash Cream" also from Nature Only based on some friends recommndations. I just simply love this product and my kids love it too.
I would also recommend a great book, "Prescription for Nutritional Healing". You will find this an excellent source of reference for a natural approach to your sons condition. I hope this is helpful. Good luck to you and your son.

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Dear S., Oh my goodness, your poor son. He must be so uncomfortable! I do not have an answer for you but my daughter has exzema and was given Pramosone by our Dermotologist. It works although her case is not as severe as you describe. Is it possible for you to get another DR. opinion? I will pray for you and your son. Grandma Mary

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Hi,

I would consider taking him to a naturopathic doctor. I made changes for my son when his skin was so irritated w/ eczema. I put a water filter on the shower (I thought the water supply was probably part of the problem); made sure he only got fish oil from tested sources (many of the fish oils are tainted along w/ much of our seafood); I use Nordic Naturals but also good is Carlson's. And I use very simple soap I found from a True Value Hardware Store - they all will carry or order it for you if you want to. It's called Grandma's Lye Soap. You could order it online as well- it is excellent for psoriasis & eczema. All these things in conjunction w/ stopping his intake of milk/dairy that was NOT Organic - and reduced the amount he took drastically- really helped him a lot.

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from another post: "also, I am aware of the issues around red dye...in fact, as I was researching diet and adhd, one of the major recommendations made by almost every source was to avoid ALL artificial colors and flavors. In addition, one of my friends has eliminated all red dye (food, clothes, etc.) from her son's life because she found that it causes his excema, which gets pretty bad. "

often there is red dye in yogurt...try Stonyfield Farms r another all natural brand...???

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my friends son had it so bad.. and tried everything.. he finally took singulair every day.. and after about 3 weeks had gotten better.. it is still working after 3 years.. hooray.. hope it works for you too.. its an allergy med.

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use a dehumidifier in the house
and 400 thread count sheets or HIGHER.
to block out dust mites,
NEW polyester fill pillow

And wash his sheets atleast ONCE per week.

Another suggestion is to make a fruit paste.

Mix mango, and vaseline in the blender.

then apply.to his arms and legs

Also I have heard that photo therapy helps.
If it is not covered by your insurance,
a TANNING bed has the same effects.
Planet fitness is 10 dollars a month

And I would lastly like to suggest 2 things.
Valtrex which is a herpes cream. Has been said to be helpful but is very expensive

And This might sound crazy BUT
I would experiment with OTC creams.
Like Lamsil see if it makes a diffrence.
monostat7 for yeast infections. Poke a hole in the capsule and dab some on a SPOT.
Try acne creams like neutragena, and proactive.

They can't hurt so why not try them,

And I would also say go to the book store, buy cook books for Eczema. And avoid the foods that might trigger it.

For all you know these veggies are the cause,
Switch things up and try anything.

Put diffrent creams on diffrent body parts to see which ones have an effect.

And avoid using laundry detergents.

Good luck

M

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I have similar symptoms all year around. It is very very difficult to control the itching. I do feel for your son since I have been there and know what that feels like.
Did he try Zyrtech yet? Those steriods are not good for you and the cream is not good to use long term. When I went on Zyrtech, this worked the best for me. No creams work for me either.
I really hope that yur son will have relief soon, it is
very hard to deal with the constant feeling of itching when trying to be a normal 8 year old.

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You had some great suggestions, but I wanted to add one more. Try taking him to the beach and going in the salt water. You might try and do this for a few days, and taking some of the ocean water home in bottles and dousing him in it every day. It worked wonders for my Mom who had eczema head to toe and tried EVERYthing. Ocean water was the only thing that helped. Good luck!

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He seems to have a limited diet, but I still suspect a food allergy. Since its summer try removing different foods from his diet 2 weeks at a time and see if he improves. Often it isnt one food, but a combination eaten at the same time. Keep a food diary of everything he eats or drinks and see if you can pinpoint anything that makes him worse. The first thing I would remove is all cow products, including yogurt.

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I know his diet is already very restricted, but have you tried eliminating dairy? Even though it didn't come up in the allergy test, he may still have a sensitivity to it. But it is worth a try to go a month without dairy and see if it clears up a bit. I knew someone who had eczema and it did help to cut dairy out. It is a common symptom for dairy sensitivity. You can replace cow's milk with rice or almond milks (soy not great for boys).

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S., I am so sorry to hear of a child suffering like that as I had severe contact dermatitus (spell)??? on my hands with all the painful symtoms u described about your lttle boy. There is a company called Melaleuca and they have lotions and shampoos and body wash that clared me up completely and I would be happy to talk to you and share these products with you. I can't promise anything but I can say that I have not had to go to my Derm. in 6 months for steroids and usually May-July r the worst for me.
my email is ____@____.com. I live in the New Haven area but am willing to meet you anywhere because I know your son would benefit from these things. email me and we can exchange #s. I work from home and available at any time. Good luck and hope to hear from u soon. D.

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Hi,

I would also consider cutting out the dairy and watch if foods trigger or help. I would also put him on high potency probiotics, to see if all of this might be caused by an unhealthy gut flora. Probiotics are not going to help overnight, stay with it at least 3 months and see if it makes any difference. Definetly stay on the omegas. I also agree with all the advice about the bedding to eliminate as much pollen exposure as possible.

Good luck, I really hope you can help your little boy.

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My son also had Atopic Dermatitis and it never really cleared up until we had him tested for allergies. It was a fight with the doctors, as they kept saying it was a skin problem. It wasn't until he had a full blown asma (sp)attack that he was tested and they found that he was allergic to dust, pollen and cat dander. Once he was given medication for this the dematitis cleared up.

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Hi S.,

According to Aruveydic medicine, your child is diplaying signs of excess heat. Further, things that come and go are a matter of the liver getting cleansed. Having been at this for a while, I would say that your child needs to strengthen his digestion. Eggs are very sticky to the intestinal track, so I would limit or avoid those. why no fruit? For the sugar? I would introduce blueberries and pomegranate but not necessarily the other fruits. the advice of probiotic was a good one.

As a holistic health counselor, I teach vegetarianism and find many vegetarians can be very acidic because the emphasis is on not eating meat. If the liver needs cleansing then foods like kale, collards, dandelion, and swiss chard should be increased. Further, green beans are great for the liver as is cilantro. Nuts, seeds, whole grains, and dairy are excellent foods but if the system is compromised, these foods should be only 30% of the diet because of their acidity. The rest should be vegetables and fruit with an emphasis on the leafy green ones.

I would also make sure that your house is chemical free. Today's child is so sensitive because their systems are just getting bombarded by chemicals in food, chemicals in the environement, and chemicals in the water. The good news is that all these symptoms show that he needs some change in his system to treat the underlying cause and you are trying alternative practices of dietary restriction and western medicine.

Diet and digestion is just about everything. check out Dr. Douillard at www.lifespa.com. He has written an excellent book for keeping kids healthy that will help you to treated your overheated kid. I have found his work to be invaluable to my practice.

Further, I would highly recommend changing to raw milk products. If you don't live in CT or near a farm, you can get them by signing up with www.westonpricefoundation.com. These raw milk products have the enzymes that help digest them. Personally, I was dairy free for years have been able to re-introduce dairy to my diet.

When my daugther was very sweaty, I also used homeopathic treatments that really helped decrease the sweaty palms and feets.

I wish you the best of luck.
Ana M.

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Dear S.
You can try tea tree shampoo from Paul Mitchel I have used it on many thing even sun burn jellie fish sting it really helps. All natural and not tested on animals it can hurt to try.Also you can try dead sea cream you can get it at major department stores I got mine at nordstroms that really helped the dry skin
Hope this helped Good Luck

Hi, we have the same problem (a tad less severe) with our 9 month old. Nothing and I mean nothing has worked for this poor child. My in-laws swear by this cream that they get from Germany. They use it on everything (bug bites, burns, rashes, wounds etc...)so my husband and I tried it on our son. After using it once a day for two days, I was in tears when i felt his smooth, baby soft skin for the first time. There is no redness, no irritation, no scabby crusty dry skin. Just baby skin. We found a web site here that sells it and although pricey, I too am swearing by this stuff. It's called Soothing Naturals Intensive Cream by Penaten. We do bathe him in very mild soap like Mustela (Babies R' Us sells it) and from time to time Aveeno for Babies. You have got to try this cream. They sell other products by Penaten also. The Daiper Rash cream works well too.
Good luck to you and your son and I hope it works for you too.
A.