Every Tuesday night the Holistic Moms Network holds a twitter party. This week's topic was eczema. The sponsor was Yoreganics and their guest panelist/expert was Dr. Heather Manley, a naturopathic doctor and writer of the educational, interactive & adventurous kid's series, Human Body Detectives.
Eczema is a fairly common condition. When most people try to treat it, they look at what they can do
topically. However, while it's important to provide relief from this uncomfortable condition, if you only look at treating it from the outside, you are just putting a band aid over the problem, not resolving it.
Eczema is an external symptom of an internal problem. The skin is flaring up for a reason and to get long-term relief you need to treat the causes. Dr. Heather says that eczema is internal and if not dealt it may lead into asthma and other chronic illnesses, so be sure you're treating it internally.
Here are some great tips from the twitter party on treating eczema internally:
- Look for food allergies or overgrowth of yeast. These are definitely triggers for eczema. The inside coming out through eczema.
- Add a high quality probiotic made from organic fermented whole foods that contain all 12 major strains of bacteria. Often eczema...and the food allergies that trigger it are connected to poor bacterial balance in the gut. Once that bacterial balance is restored both eczema and food allergies are often reduced or gone all together. Probiotics will restore your intestinal flora which can allow for increased nutrient absorbtion, reduce yeast, improve your immunity and your digestion. This may not only improve your eczema, but your overall health as well.
- For babies, rub a bit of probiotics inside the babies mouth, especially if the baby isn't nursing and unable to get it from Mom
- Eliminate gluten from your diet, as this is often one of the biggest triggers (but be careful, as many gluten-free products may have more sugar in them than conventional)
- Eat a colorful, organic, whole foods diet and eliminate processed foods
- Minimize stress
- Reduce or eliminate sugar
- Take omega-3 oils. For nursing babies that have eczema Mom can take the omega-3s and baby will get it through the breastmilk
- Take Vitamin D3
- Change out your laundry detergent, stain removers, etc. to eliminate toxins and irritants. Organic soap nuts, such as those from Yoreganics, are the safest option. They also have a great nontoxic stain remover and their Brightens & Whitens for whites and tough stains.
- Avoid taking scalding hot showers & baths that strip the skin's natural protective oils
- Moisturize with natural products such as coconut oil or shea butter immediately
- Watch out for wrinkle-free fabrics, especially bedding & cotton clothing which are often treated with harsh chemicals that can release formaldehyde. Be especially sure to avoid treated fabrics during excercise as sweat mobilizes the formaldehyde in the fabric and can cause irritations where the skin comes into contact with fabric, most often in underarms, back of knees, waist
- Read labels every time you purchase, even on products you've been using and trusted for many years as reformulations happen often and may not be announced, or be obvious if they didn't change the rest of the packaging
- Switch to certified organic personal care. This is the only guarantee you have that your products are free of nasty chemicals, pesticide residues and genetically mondified ingredients, all of which can not only harm your health, but irritate your skin
Cherlynn Thomas
said on January 31, 2012
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