skin irritation from taking the term "bleach bath" a bit too literally!

omg!! My 5 yr old was given that 2 yrs ago for her exzema and the dr told me to put minimal steroid cream on, but aqueous was fine to smother loads on!! Ive used it on and off since, AND I used it on my 4yr old as a newborn instead of soap after the midwife told me to!!!!

BTW has your GP, practice nurse or midwife ever spoken to you about trying a low glycaemic index, anti-inflammatory diet? That is another highly effective treatment for eczema/ hayfever/ asthma that rarely gets a mention.  *say*

nope never mentioned it, I have 2 daughters with exzema, one on scalp one on the body, the one with it on her scalp has allergies like hayfever etc, and my other daughter is an asthmatic and no-ones ever mentioned that

nope never mentioned it, I have 2 daughters with exzema, one on scalp one on the body, the one with it on her scalp has allergies like hayfever etc, and my other daughter is an asthmatic and no-ones ever mentioned that

Sadly I'm not surprised, I see clients with health issues that would respond really well to diet or lifestyle modification all the time, but very few get given the tools to help themselves. It makes no sense: nutrition and dietetics are mainstream science with a solid evidence base, if people were able to help themselves it would save the NHS a fortune and many people years of discomfort or even pain!  *ill* Let me know if you don't get the support you need from your GP and you think I can help - lifestyle healthcare is what I do for a living (not trying to get a private client or anything dodgy, it's my passion far more than my career).

This makes so much sense for my other daughter, 2 yr old and has quite nasty eczema which goes crazy after hand washing, she gets bloodshot eyes after hair washing and spots everywhere like she's infected with lurgy if she sneaks into my other daughters bath with bubbles! Gps should explain this better!

Firefox, may I pick your brains? A friend of mine is due to have a longed-for baby in June and I've been planning to put a big gift basket together for her; one suggestion that everyone has endorsed is hand cream because of lots of washing etc. She suffers with very bad exczema (my god how DO you spell it?!) so I was wondering if there was a nice cream you could recommend, or at least what I can look out for to avoid the nasties?

(Or is it different from person to person? I am the world's most inert person wqhen it comes to reactions so I don't know anything about this sort of thing.)

Firefox, may I pick your brains? A friend of mine is due to have a longed-for baby in June and I've been planning to put a big gift basket together for her; one suggestion that everyone has endorsed is hand cream because of lots of washing etc. She suffers with very bad exczema (my god how DO you spell it?!) so I was wondering if there was a nice cream you could recommend, or at least what I can look out for to avoid the nasties?

(Or is it different from person to person? I am the world's most inert person wqhen it comes to reactions so I don't know anything about this sort of thing.)

So pleased the longed for baby is on its way!  8) I am in two weddings this year; both couples would like a to start a family ASAP so I shall be doing the same as you some time next year.

Allergies vary from person to person but irritant ingredients to avoid are more constant, as are the key components of the skin which benefit from replenishing in dry or eczematous skin. I haven't yet found my holy grail hand cream unfortunately, but a couple of products that are on my 'to try' list come to mind: Weleda Skin Food or Balneum Cream (not Balneum Plus). Weleda products are all natural, more gifty looking and probably more luxurious feeling - my skin loves their baby face cream! - Balneum is a pharmacy cream formulated for skin barrier disorders.

Firstly for the occlusive/ emollient (fat/ oil/ wax) fraction arguably the king for protection and hydration is lanolin - refined/ medical grade which is hypoallergenic not the unrefined natural stuff which can contain allergens and tends to be sticky. This supplies cholesterol and saturated fatty acids which are naturally found in a healthy skin barrier. Second choice/ alternative is shea butter which contains stearic acid (also in the skin  barrier) plus a raft of healing components if the UNrefined form is used. Shea has a strong track record of use in eczema: you would want shea to be the main lipid source or 'equal partners', whereas lanolin is effective in much smaller amounts.

A lipid should always be combined with a humectant (attracts water) and my first choice would be 5% urea. This is naturally found in healthy skin but research shows eczematous skin to be deficient and it can be drawn out of the skin by repeat wettings. Second choice/ alternative would be aloe vera which has scientifically proven healing and anti-inflammatory properties; this should be high up the ingredients list for the concentration to be effective. AFAIK all four can actually be used on babies so should be safe for a new mum to use, I *think* they are even all edible if baby was to suck a finger. Please check this before purchasing since I am child-free by choice myself! Other decent hydrating ingredients include ceramides, lecithin, olive squalane, borage oil, hyaluronate, lactic acid 5%.

Exercise caution with any anionic surfactants (especially the sulphates SLS, SLES, ALS, ALES, etc), essential oils, paraben preservatives, chemical anti-bacterial agents, drying alcohols, astringents, artificial fragrances and oils which are rich in oleic acid (eg. olive, avocado). A *little* alcohol denat. is acceptable IF it is there as the carrier to proven plant extracts such as calendula. Obviously bacteria will be a concern when the baby comes: gentle yet effective antibacterials include zinc oxide, lauric acid (coconut oil, palm kernel oil, babassu oil are all ~45% laurate) and castor oil. I also choose to avoid mineral oil and petrolatum because these simply form a barrier they do not nourish skin at all and because they are primarily included because they are cheap ingredients!

Does mum eat plenty of oily fish, take a high strength fish body oil supplement or a marine algae extract for long chain omega-3s (DHA and EPA)? These O-3s have powerful anti-inflammatory properties and can significantly reduce the symptoms of atopic eczema, help with baby's brain development and reduce the risk that baby will have the same skin problems if mum is able to/ chooses to breastfeed. Some cases respond well to also supplementing the essential fatty acid GLA in borage oil: this is the only omega-6 with anti-inflammatory properties, and the genetic fault which means some of us cannot/ poorly convert the LA in our diet to GLA has been implicated in a number of dermatological disorders.  *off*