Infantile eczema is a common condition that affects many babies. Typically we see the face and the creases / joints of the body affected, but it can appear anywhere on the body. IE can be a distressing condition for babies and their parents. Your child is itchy, restless and irritable. We feel helpless as parents to ease their suffering.
One of the things I have learnt in my years of treating infants (children and adults) with eczema is that steroids only bring temporary relief. They are a bandaid, a short term easing of the skin, the eczema is suppressed by the steroid. But many times this process of suppression causes the skin to express the eczema elsewhere. I have lost count of the amount of times a parent says to me that they are literally “chasing the eczema around the body” and that it is “popping up in new places it’s never been before” this is the action of the steroid. Eczema comes from within, no amount of a topical agent on the skin will “cure” the condition – we see this from the failure of steroids. It has to be addressed at its root case. Often we see a family history of this atopic triangle – asthma, eczema and allergies. Babies are born with a susceptibility to developing eczema. Most often I find the problem stems from the gut. Babies born by cesarean section, or for whatever reason were not able to be breastfed, or who were put on antibiotics either during delivery or after birth. Obviously if there is an infection or a risk of one we may need these life saving drugs, the gut however is impacted by them. Since we populate our gut at birth, when we come down the birth canal, a cesarean does not allow for this. Breast Milk is full of gut friendly, immune building nutrients, any one of these can be a reason for a baby developing eczema. Commercial baby body care products are mostly laiden with skin irritants, some of the most trusted household names in baby care are actually full of toxic ingredients that do little to promote healthy skin and do a lot to add to the problem. (download the app ‘Think Dirty’ to do a quick analysis of your skincare products) Food allergies / Intolerances can be a cause of eczema (which links back to the gut) CMPA and dairy intolerance can cause eczema, especially on the face of little ones. Often we see hives and a sudden change in the skin with ingesting allergen foods or coming into contact with environmental allergens (pets, dust, grass etc) Maybe an allergy test ruled out an allergy? This does mean that a food is not affecting the skin, a negative allergy test just shows the immune system is not involved in the process, we can be severely intolerant and reacting and a test will say there’s no issue. This is always hard to monitor in breastfed babies as they are affected by what is coming through the breast milk. In short, eczema is a systemic issue and modern medicine will simply look at the skin, not the individual, not the other body systems involved, just the skin. We are all more than our skin. A prescription for increasing strengths of steroids (and emollients – don’t get me started on those!) is never going to sort the problem. So how can you address this issue? I have been working with people of all ages for many years to help address the underlying cause of skin issues. I am well experienced in eczema, I work with you as an individual, I use homeopathy to balance the gut, supporting the organs of detoxification,calm the skin and wean off of the steroids. I have seen too many babies on immunosuppressive drugs, too many cases of topical steroid withdrawal and red skin syndrome. This should not be happening and I aim to get every child in my care, off of steroids and out of suffering. Modern medicine may say eczema is a lifelong affliction, I say otherwise. Modern medicine may say that homeopathy is not effective, but I refute this. I see eczema healing every day in my practice. Modern medicine cannot explain how or why we get eczema, yet it can decide what is and isn’t effective? I am always happy to talk to anyone about skin. I am passionate about homeopathy and holistic healing. I am proud to be on the faculty of teaching staff at the South Downs School of Homeopathy, I work online with people all over the world via Skype, and other online services.
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