Natural Remedies for Eczema – What Worked For My Son
When my son, Tristan’s, eczema peaked at 3 years old, he was head to toe covered in red, itchy, dry skin that was inflamed and painful looking. I cried on and off throughout each and every day back then out of sheer frustration over not knowing how to help him and with worry about how this may affect his quality of life, both at the time and in the long-term. Sleep was rare because my husband and I had to take turns laying in bed with Tristan to prevent him from scratching himself until he drew blood. And we had a newborn child that needed us the other half of the night. To make matters worse, my husband and I disagreed, rather intensely at times, about how to best treat Tristan’s skin. My husband wanted to jump back to the topical steroids that were being prescribed at ever-increasing strengths by his pediatric dermatologist and I felt in my heart that it wasn’t the answer for Tristan. You can read more about our journey with topical steroids here.
They were dark times for my family and I can honestly say I hit rock bottom. I remember calling a nurse at National Jewish Hospital and just sobbing over the phone. I had dreamed about taking Tristan there, but since we lived in Canada, it was just too difficult. I think I just wanted a connection with their Atopic Clinic. Of course they couldn’t provide me any real advice over the phone, but it was nice to speak with a nurse that understood what I was going through.
After that call, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I was determined to heal my son and wasn’t going to give up until I did. I needed to find some natural remedies for eczema to help him.
And guess what? I did it!
It was far from easy and it took time and it was certainly challenging, but I did it. While Tristan is not completely healed, he is 95% better and for us that’s a HUGE win!
So today I’m going to share what worked for us. It may not be the answer for you or your child, but I do hope some of it will spark ideas for new things for you to try or will inspire you to take control of your or your child’s skin. The important thing is not to give up.
Here are the natural remedies for eczema that worked for us…..
Scratch Mitten Sleeves
Mitten sleeves were the very first thing that gave us immense relief. Tristan wore them at night to prevent him from scratching in his sleep and they allowed my son, husband and I to finally get some much-needed zzzz’s. When the itching was really intense during the day, he’d wear the mittens then as well. Not long after Tristan started wearing scratch mittens sleeves, his eczema became much less inflamed because he wasn’t constantly scratching his skin – they allowed his skin to start healing itself. Not only did mitten sleeves help my son, but they also quite literally saved my sanity and my marriage.
Shop for ScratchSleeves Scratch Mittens.
Wet Wraps
When we needed quick relief, we turned to wet wrapping. It was certainly a challenge to keep my 3-year-old still enough to dress him in wet garments and even more difficult to keep him still for the full two hours for the treatment, but wow. Just WOW! Wet wraps were a miracle treatment for Tristan. They worked so well at a time when nothing else we’d found provided any relief.
For more information, please read: Our Eczema Trials – Wet Wrap Therapy
Homeopathy
Our first step to healing from the inside out came from the advice of a naturopath at a local health food store. She insisted we try some homeopathic tinctures. Well, we’d tried homeopathy before and they were custom blends made specifically for Tristan, but they never worked. You can read more about that journey here. We then learned that not all homeopathy is created equal. This is the pre-formulated homeopathy that our naturopath recommended that really worked for us!
Homeodel 43 – Dry Eczema
Homeodel 48 – Weeping Eczema (We didn’t use this one because Tristan’s skin was dry, not weeping. We used the first two listed, but if you’re dealing with weeping eczema, this one may be helpful along with the R23.)
We used the first two in the list for a while and eventually were able to wean Tristan off of both of them.
Immune Booster
We’ve tried so many supplements and vitamins and we just didn’t see results. I do believe probiotics and fish oil can work well for some children and adults. In fact, there was an interesting new study about a certain strain of probiotics that have been proven to be beneficial for eczema, read about it here.
BUT, one thing did work for us and again came as a recommendation from the naturopath mentioned above, Moducare Immune System Support. We used this immune booster for a while and then were able to stop it completely without seeing an increase in eczema flares.
For more information, please read: Our Eczema Trials – Immune Balancer
Elimination Diet
While the mittens and wet wraps worked well to heal the skin, I was looking for eczema prevention. I wanted to look beyond simply reacting to a flare up, I wanted to prevent one from occurring in the first place. Although our dermatologist told us there was no way our son’s skin could be linked with food, I wasn’t so sure, my intuition was telling me otherwise. To guide me in a full elimination diet, I used the book Dealing with Food Allergies in Babies & Children. And THIS was our golden ticket. Only days after following the elimination diet in the book, we saw my son’s skin heal up by 95%. It was remarkable and quick.
Please always work with a health practitioner when eliminating food from a child’s diet.
For more information about elimination diets, please read: Our Eczema Trials: Elimination Diet (How You Can Do It Too!)
[Update 1/10/2017] The last little bit of Tristan’s eczema cleared up on the AIP diet. Read more about our experience with Auto Immune Paleo and Eczema.
[Update 10/12/2018] I really like this Elimination Diet Book by Abby of Prime Physique Nutrition. It’s worth checking out!
Laundry Changes
For many people, laundry detergents can actually cause eczema to flare, but for others, like my son, it just further irritates an existing eczema flare up. And since causing additional irritation to my son’s skin was the last thing I wanted to do, we made the switch to a more gentle laundry option. At first we tried natural detergent and then we tried natural free & clear detergent, but neither were gentle enough. We moved on to soap nuts and now use the SmartKlean Laundry Ball, which we’ve been very happy with.
For more information, please read: Our Eczema Trials: Safe Laundry Detergent Alternatives
Shop for the SmartKlean Laundry Ball.
Bathing & Hand Washing
Overall, we found bathing and hand washing to be very drying for our son, but a few key points helped to insure his skin stayed well hydrated.
- Only use soap when it’s absolutely necessary.
- Never sit in soapy water. If using soap for bathing or hand washing, always rinse it off immediately.
- Use a gentle, simple soap. We’ve had the most luck with olive oil based and tallow soaps best.
- Use a good moisturizer after every bath, shower or hand washing. See my favorite below.
Skin Care – Organic Manuka Skin Soothing Cream
While all of the above really helped Tristan’s skin, we still found he flared up from time to time and he definitely still has dry skin. To combat this, we are devoted to our beloved Organic Manuka Skin Soothing Skin Cream. It contains simple, very healing ingredients that just work so well for my son. We apply this cream morning and night to prevent his skin from drying out.
For more information about Manuka honey, please read: Manuka Honey Benefits: Heals Eczema Naturally
Shop for Organic Manuka Skin Soothing Skin Cream.
Lastly, this online workshop for baby and child eczema is a great resource, full of ideas to try!
Looking for more ideas, check out Top 10 Home Remedies for Eczema.
That’s a list of what we use and love. What about you? What are your go-to natural remedies for eczema?
FROM: Eczema
Hello my daughter is suffering from severe eczema, she is 3, do you think you can give me your emil and we can talk about your experience?
Thank you
matilde126@hotmail.com, my name is Gabriela and I desperate
Sure, I’ll email you now.
This was an interesting read as I have been dealing with this skin disorder for years and have tried everything. I actually think the products my doctors have givin me, have made it worse. Thank you for the remedies as I am most likely going to try.
If you are using any sort of topical steroid ointment you might be making your eczema worse
Look on this website…for advice…
Itsan.org
BIE- bioenergetics
Enough said…once youngest this harmless treatment- u will not seek others.
Funny enough I’m trying this for myself right now and if all goes well, then I’ll try it for my son as well. I’d love to hear more about your experience. Please email me – jennifer@eczemacompany.com
Hi Jennifer, I’m interested to hear how you found the BIE. Was it helpful?
Hi Liz – Sadly it didn’t help me at all and was quite expensive. I wish I had better news.
Not what I was hoping to hear… my 11 month old has had one treatment ($225) and afterwards she had a big breakout of eczema (the worst I’ve seen in months). It’s been 5 days since the treatment and it’s not clearing up. Did you notice that your eczema got worse?
We’re supposed to go back in 2 weeks time (another $225) and while I want to give this a fair shot, it’s so expensive that if it doesn’t work I don’t want to waste my money…
Hi Liz – Honestly I don’t remember if his eczema got worse. But I have heard that can happen before it got better, same with a lot of treatments. What did the practitioner say, that it was normal to flare up so much? Maybe give it one more shot to see if the treatment stuck and didn’t reverse? They can test your child at the next appointment.
Well, just wanted to update on my BIE experience. 4 months, 7 treatments and $1,150 later I am sad to say that her skin is no better. It’s actually getting worse, but that’s not the BIE. Unfortunately the BIE didn’t make a scrap of difference.
The practitioner wants us to keep going, but at this point I just feel like we’re wasting our time.
Hi Liz – Sorry, but what is BIE?
Hi Jennifer, BIE is Bioenergetic Intolerance Elimination (you said in your comments earlier, December 2015, that you had tried it but it didn’t work). I just wanted to leave my feedback here in case other people are looking for reviews on it. All the reviews I read were so positive, and I can’t help wondering if they were actually real. The two “real” people I’ve made contact with (yourself and one other person) have both said it didn’t work for their children.
Liz – Yes, it was something I had tried for myself. Like you, I’ve heard good things about it. We all know there is no miracle cure that works for everyone, or we’d all be screaming about it from the rooftops 🙂 I do believe things like that can help, but not for everyone sadly.
My 2 year old daughter has been suffering from dry eczema for more than a year now. Reading your journey made me cry because it’s exactly where I’m at. I weep seeing her frustrated by her itchiness and not being able to swim in the pool with all her sisters or her friends because the chlorine will dry her skin out more. She has already missed out on so many things I did for my older two at this age due to her severe eczema. I will thoroughly look into all your recommendations and try them out. I’ve tried so many creams, lotions, ointments, etc. I’m feeling defeated and heartbroken for my otherwise happy baby. I want more for her than this…
Hi, you have a lot of insightful articles here and I am still reading through them. I already linked to your site to share the goodness:) You may want to visit my blog to check out some of the eczema supplements that may be useful for your son. Cheers.
My 14 month old daughter has eczema on her cheeks and what has helped her the most is drinking bone broth (made from chicken bones, then made into soup with roast chicken and squash). I realize this post is older. I hope your son is doing well!
Yes, great advice! Bone broth is very healing. Thanks for the suggestion!
I just wanted to say thank you very much for posting this, I have been suffering eith eczema for as long as i can remember, i would definitely try some of these. I also found emulsifying lotion works for me.
How did you get the homeodel products? I used your link but it only will give the options to ship to Canada, France, and Belgium.
I actually live in Canada and they are easy to find at any natural store here.
Hello, I have a 7month old baby who is suffering horribly with eczema. What steps do you think I should start with?
I’ve tried every cream and oil, bathing every other day, scent free (clean) detergent. I’m at a loss of what to do, where do you suggest I begin?
The Sodium Laurel/Laureth Sulfate in body washes, shampoos and laundry detergent makes me itch and exacerbates my eczema. I switched to sulfate free dish soap, body wash and laundry detergent. My hands flare up when I use the liquid soap in public restrooms – so I am thinking of carrying a bar of soap with me to wash my hands. Watch the labels on the Free and Clear laundry detergent, they may not contain dyes and perfumes but most of them contain sulfates.
I am almost 60 and just now breaking out with eczema on my hands. I appreciate all the information on natural treatments. I refuse to use the steriods that the dr’s insist on prescribing instead of helping you find the root of the problem. I was really interested in trying the Manuka Honey but your link: Manuka Honey Benefits: Heals Eczema Naturally must be broken. Can you provide more information on using Manuka Honey?
Hi Stephanie,
I just wanted to reply as my eczema started at age 65. First on my face, then neck… arms & legs. I won’t go into everything I tried (Manuka Honey was one), but finally, after almost two years, a few dermatologists, naturopathic /homeopathic doctors, and many products later, I discovered Karen Fischer’s books, who writes about eczema and Salicylate sensitivity. I was on an anti-inflamatory diet, which also turns out to be high-salicylate foods. Within weeks of changing my diet, the itching was gone, in a few months my skin was healed. Recently I started to experiment by adding a few salicylate foods, encouraged I added more- and guess what? Eczema returned in a small patch on my scalp and cheek. I’m in the process of eliminating those foods.
I realize everyone’s eczema journey is unique, but I wanted to offer an approach similar to the elimination diet, but focused on a specific chemical.
Good luck!
Robin
Every link I click on says it’s non existent. Can you check it and fix it pls? I am very interested in your whole journey to heal eczema. Thanks
Hello Iveta. Thank you for letting us know. I believe we have corrected the links.
Do you have the link for the dry eczema above?