If your baby suffers from eczema, then their immune system is not functioning as it should.
Their immune system often overreacts to otherwise harmless substances which may give rise to allergies.
Coupled with genetic predisposition, this may manifest as eczema, asthma or hay fever depending on the most vulnerable organ in the body.
This vulnerability is often inherited or could be a result of exposure to toxins, poor diet or perhaps physical injury.
Eczema is an immune system disorder so our focus will be on optimizing and strengthening your baby's immune function as well as identifying and eliminating the major triggers that set your baby's eczema off.
The main eczema triggers may range from problematic foods, chemicals in skin care products, detergents, dust mites, pollens, washing powders to dry air, scratchy clothes, etc.
The list goes on and on which makes our detective work as parents pretty difficult but persevere we must! Identifying allergens responsible for triggering your baby's eczema is a tricky business and because of that, eczema healing takes time.
It is a continuous process of trial and error however once you recognize the main allergen(s) and eliminate them from your baby's diet / environment, their eczema will start healing rapidly.
There is no sweeter victory then seeing a baby happy and content simply enjoying their "new" healthy skin.
It is also worth mentioning that once your baby becomes free of eczema, they will have to keep avoiding the allergen for some time so that their body can heal completely.
As their system gradually matures, their sensitivity to that allergen will subside because their immune system will grow stronger.
Sometimes a longer period of avoidance is enough for the immune system to "forget" so that it no longer considers the specific substance as an allergen.
Eczema is triggered by a combination of factors however problematic foods are usually the main culprit.
Sadly, most doctors do not support the idea of food triggering eczema.
When you try to investigate why this is so, you will come to a revelation that if there is no financial gain for the pharmaceutical industry then it is not in their best interest to even commence research into this complex matter.
Another reason your doctor may give you is that it is too difficult to follow any restrictive diet for longer periods of time (such as milk, egg or gluten-free diet).
Even though I agree that modified diets may be challenging at first, the benefits of following such diets far outweigh the negatives.
Unfortunately, by following their standard practice doctors take away a choice from those parents who would prefer exploring this route even though it involves some sacrifice.
Now if that was not enough, the medical establishment deters parents from even considering this option because it has not been scientifically proven.
They claim that by following a restrictive diet, your child may develop nutritional deficiencies.
Yes, if the food in question has not been replaced by an alternative source of nutrients! What they fail to mention though is that if your child suffers from food allergy / intolerance, it will compromise their immune system to such an extent that because of this they may develop nutrient deficiencies in the long run.
In addition, applying steroid creams and taking antihistamines will only suppress and confuse their immune system.
No wonder children with eczema are more susceptible to colds or developing asthma or hay fever.
Doctors are taught to prescribe creams and antihistamines.
Such medicine has to be prescribed repeatedly since it does not cure but only treat symptoms.
Now that's what I call a business spirit! The message I am trying to convey is that sometimes we have to divert from the mainstream approach and take matters into our hands.
Unfortunately, doctors cannot provide satisfying answers.
All they seem to offer is symptomatic relief.
It is therefore crucial that we educate ourselves and share our experience with other parents in need.
That way we will be able to support each other and offer invaluable insight into curing this challenging condition!