Eczema update

In my search for a moisturiser that I could apply to my sons eczema ridden skin I have come across Blossom Baby Butter from Ayana Organics.  If you are in Perth, Australia then this is a wonderful local product that I highly recommend. We have been going through about 250ml of moisturiser each week (we have tried just about every moisturiser that is commonly available in chemists), applying moisturiser all over his body 3 times a day which is why I am so glad to finally have found a product that I feel completely comfortable using so often. His skin has been dry and damaged for some time and I did not want any unknown or harmful products being absorbed. What is so great about this Blossom Baby Butter is that even the preservatives are all natural. This of course gives it a shorter shelf life but we are using so much of it to manage the eczema that the shorter shelf life doesn't factor in for us. I now have some Ayana products for me too and I am loving them. I wanted to post about it here since we have been grappling with this current bout of eczema for some time and I really want to pass on any info about things that have been working for us.

We have also been going to Allergy Pathway and we are seeing great results from that as well.

The other thing we have been doing is visiting our local pools once or twice a week. It is believed that the chlorine kills off the bacteria that can develop when eczema is present. Hospitals use bleach baths but I much prefer the pools option. Plus the kids love it. Make sure you shower with things on and moisturise after pat drying yourself with a thick fluffy cotton towel.

We have been buying all cotton bed sheets, covers and clothing.

We encourage Canaan to drink plenty of water. I try to offer him water every time I get myself a drink.

We have been adding foods that promote healthy skin to our diet (i.e. foods high in antioxidants as well as other things). Our favourites are raspberries (the frozen ones are great for a snack), other berries, apples (particularly Red Delicious, Gala and Granny Smith), popcorn, oats/porridge, pear, cranberry juice (Canaan loves this for some reason!), lemons (think hot lemon and honey), broccoli (dinosaur trees), barley (beef and barley soup), parsley (in chicken noodle soup or on garlic bread), LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond meal) which Canaan loves sprinkled on his porridge, pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts (add to brownies), grapefruit (Canaan likes the pink one), pineapple, millet (I buy puffed millet and then make a slice out of it with melted choc chips, dried apricots, dried cranberries, honey and butter, experiment with quantities).

The other thing that we do is if he is having a particularly itchy night we have an antihistamine on hand to provide a better nights sleep. We try to save this for when it is really needed.

Anyway, these are the things that have been working for us. We also keep him out of direct sunlight, make sure he's wearing a hat and long sleeve shirt if he is going in the sun, and we've educated him about regulating his temperature. If he gets hot and sweaty he will itch more so he tries to remember to take layers off to cool down. We've also tried to have him rub the affected areas rather than scratch them. Oh and we keep his nails nice and short and clean, buff them too.

Phew, so much to say.

Good luck to anyone else out there trying to manage eczema. It can be tough but we're getting there. I hope these ideas help.