Eczema Endeavors

Abby has had eczema since she was a few months old. All the doctors have been able to do is give us prescription creams to slather on her when it flares up. One of them was making her skin really thin. I have tried things at random from switching laundry detergents, soaps, going with flouride free toothpaste, etc. I even tried making my own homemade laundry detergent. Nothing has really seemed to make a difference. Well, about a week ago, I read an article in a magazine about using more eco friendly cleaning supplies. It had a brief 2 sentence blurb about one woman who had eliminated all "detergents" from her home and was only using true "soap" and other natural cleaners like vinegar and baking soda to clean and it had really helped to almost completely cure her son's eczema. So began my week of research.

Aparently with a lot of eczema situations, there isn't one particular trigger, but more a buildup and exposure to lots of different household cleaners and then that one extra dose sends it into flare up mode. So, for right now, I am switching to homemade laundry detergent and trying to eliminate anything with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in it since that is on of the big iritants. I finally found a toothpaste sold locally that doesn't contain it: ProNamel Kids. Aparently they put SLS in just about anything that needs to bubble from dish detergent, to shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, and a whole miriad of other things. Hopefully eliminating as many chemicals from our home as possible will help now that I know it is a combination of things, not one particular cleaner.

So far, our favorite bath product is Johnson's Buddies bar soap b/c it is real soap or to use one of my handmade soaps for her. I make my soap from scratch using the cold process method. This is great b/c I can hand pick the oils that have the best benefit for eczema. Avocado, Evening Primrose, and Sweet Almond Oil are all great for eczema relief and dry skin in general.