What is eczema?

According to MayoClinic.org, eczema is a condition that causes inflammation and itchiness of the skin. Eczema is a chronic condition with no cure that is common in children. It may be accompanied by asthma or hay fever. Although eczema does not have a cure at the moment, there are things you can do to treat it.

I am not claiming to have found a cure for eczema, but I am sharing what I did to help my son’s skin become exponentially better than it was in the past.

The Healing Recipe

One thing I noticed about my son’s eczema is that it did not get better by eliminating foods. His flare ups seemed random. Of course, when I took him to the pediatrician, this was one of the things they suggested along with prescribing a topical steroid cream. I did not like the idea of having to use a steroid on his young, delicate skin, so I looked for other options. I tried several different lotions, creams, and oils.  His skin was generally very dry, but the patches of eczema were particularly bad. They were so bad that some people would often mistake them for burns.  I didn’t need that drama in my life.

When he had flare ups, he would scratch the patches of eczema until they bled.  He would be miserable and so would I. I hated seeing him so itchy and I didn’t know what to do about it.  There were times I would give in and use the steroid cream, but I hated the idea of thinning out his skin. I even tried to make sure he only wore long-sleeved tops to prevent him from making his skin bleed. Well, my son’s body temp is a little warmer than your average baby (he’s like his daddy in that way), and long-sleeved shirts just made him even more itchy.

So, I read several more articles and visited more “mom boards” to see what was out there on the topic and to find out if anyone had any success healing their eczema. I remember reading a testimonial from one person who said she just always had to keep her skin moist and seal that moisture in with oil.  I remember thinking, “Duh! I do the same thing with my hair!” Then one day I was scrolling through Instagram and someone mentioned how soft shea butter made their skin. And just like that, all the pieces fell in line. I decided that I would order some natural whipped shea butter.  After trying the whipped shea for about two weeks, I didn’t like how it would sit on top of his skin without a bath. His skin would be so dry that I needed to apply something, be it lotion or cream, to his skin 2-3 times day. Again, looking for a solution outside of harsh topical creams, I remembered that the Cetaphil lotion I had used on him before acted a bit like water. The only thing I did not like about the Cetaphil is that after application, approximately two hours later, his skin would feel dry again.  So, in an effort to mimic giving him a bath without having to baptize him 4 or 5 times a day in the tub, I decided to use the Cetaphil as a moisturizer and the whipped shea as a sealant. If his skin was particularly dry that day and it wasn’t bath time, I would lightly mist water over his skin, apply the Cetaphil, then the whipped shea. I repeated this routine 2 or 3 times a day and after about two months, I saw significant improvement in the feel and appearance of his skin.

Today, his eczema is totally smooth. The patches still appear darker than the skin around it, but they are flat and a million times better than they used to be. He hasn’t had a flare up since we started this routine. He is no longer clawing at his skin and making himself bleed, and even on the days where I forget to moisturize his skin more than once, his skin is still not dry and itchy.

The whipped shea that I use is from a small, black-owned business that I found on Etsy: Elysium Naturals Co. They did not ask me to mention them nor am I being paid to mention them. I happened to find them during my search and their product worked for us!

Do you have any experience with eczema? What has worked for you?