What helps eczema : customers talk about products and diet

If you’ve ever been handed a slip for prescription steroids for you or your child’s eczema, you’ll likely have one of two reactions:

1.) HOPE “If this will make my skin stop hurting, I’ll take it!”  

2.) ANGER  “Is this the best you can do?”

I’ve had an ongoing conversation with a customer, Kim, the past few days.  She’s getting some relief for her extreme eczema, but I wanted to hear her story, so I asked. (She left a message for me that I’ve included below, and it’s what triggered my questions about her diagnosis.)

When Kim was handed the slip by her dermatologist, she was upset.

“My dermatologist told me my eczema was not related to my diet, that it was genetic and that there was no cure. The only thing that would ‘help’ it is antibiotics.  He could not understand why I would choose to suffer and not just take the antibiotics.  I am not suffering.  My body is giving me signals.  It is talking to me.”

My body is giving me signals. What a really wonderful perspective.

Kim is going the functional medicine route and has a professional whom she’s working with. They are having her undergo some tests, and I’m sure what she consumes (or doesn’t consume) will be a big part of the overall treatment plan. If you want to do what Kim did, look for a functional medicine practitioner in your area.  

If you’re willing to listen to your body, you might notice some ways your body will respond when you make certain changes to your diet, your lifestyle, and your environment.

To find out what other customers were doing to get to the root of the problem, I asked on Facebook. Here are some responses:

Jennifer: We had to cut out dairy and all those crazy scented kid shampoos and soaps. This was ten years ago. It’s old hat now, but felt gigantic then. The biggest trick was learning that we needed to remove things, not add things…

Let me repeat what she said:

“The biggest trick was learning that we needed to remove things, not add things…” Brilliant!!

Cheri: Sugar is what I gave up to clear up my skin.

Kirsten: The change that made it actually go away was cutting dairy.

Shelley: I suffer from Dishydrotic eczema, there are lots of triggers from nickel to sunflower and stress, I have made many changes from watching what foods I eat to what I touch as that is all I need to do to have a reaction. I only use soaps that my friends make that I know are safe for me. I have basically removed all skin products from the house as most have sunflower in them as it is supposed to be so healthy and healing, but not if it causes problems which it does.

Kym: In addition to all the foods we cut, we change my son's bedding frequently, replaced the toxic cleaning chemicals, brought in multiple house plants, use salt lamps, wet wraps, extra showering, and moisturizing all became our new lifestyle. We honestly stopped going very many places because it's too risky.

Becki: Baking soda as a scrub. Saved my face and my self esteem. Can't go without it or the eczema comes back.

It’s not easy, for sure, to try to figure out what our bodies are telling us.

Take baby steps and do what you can.

For topical treatment help, we’re here to provide relief for skin that’s trying to tell you something. Look for our unscented products like BeeSilk lotion bars for dry skin, and our unscented goat milk soap.

Listen to Kim’s experience with using lotion bars to help with her eczema.