This is probably taken for granted by many people with healthy skin, but I for one will never wish this to anyone or any parents out there. When you deal with eczema (atopic dermatitis), it takes a lot from you. Every mom or dad who has little ones with eczema can definitely relate to this and surely have my sympathy.
We ourselves have to deal with much loss of sleep and exhaustion, anxieties and frustrations and more than one occasions we felt so defeated and about to give up. Consequently with all the lack of sleep, this could also affected your daily job and sometimes you feel like you’re really under the mercy of the degree of your child’s eczema.
As you go through this experience, you probably have more questions with no clear answers. What causes eczema in babies? What triggers it? How can we manage it or is there a cure to it?
Our journey started in 2017 when our then 15-month old son started to have a patch of dry skin on his right ankle and started scratching it. The pediatrician did not think much of it and prescribed triamcinolone (topical steroid) right away.
We didn’t think much about it either and sure enough within two weeks applying the cream, the rash subsided. Little did we know, our victory only lasted for another two weeks and from that point on, we had to deal with triamcinolone again (strongest steroid we use), hydrocortisone 2.5%, and over the counter hydrocortisone 1% back and forth and only a few days of clear skin.
Going in 10 months, things got worse when his cheeks also started flushing and we did not know what caused it. Then more on his stomach and back a couple weeks later. At this point I just thought enough is enough. There must be a better way than keep applying steroid for temporary relief.
The most frustrating thing about searching around the Internet and consulting different doctors is that you almost get different answers every time. This is understandable because eczema is very personal in nature. Which means that the causes and triggers for flare-ups are different for each person. That’s where things get tough as it’s very difficult to compare notes. You try to establish a baseline with someone who has similar experience only to discover that at some point, the commonality stops and you’re on your own to experiment and find out yourself.
You almost always have to enter your own journey to learn about your own body and how to troubleshoot it. Just to add to this, it’s more heartrending to see your little ones suffer through it and you don’t know what’s causing his or her flare-ups.
We were finally able to manage the symptoms through diet:
Disclaimer: This is based solely on our experience and should not be treated as medical advice. You should always consult your doctor(s) with any medical or health concerns before starting any new diet, products or supplements.
The information on this web site is provided for entertainment purposes only; it is a general reference for healthcare consumers and providers; it is not a prescription for any individual person. It is important that you consult your child’s qualified healthcare provider before implementing any of the research discussed on this web site.
Disclaimer: This is based solely on our experience and should not be treated as medical advice. You should always consult your doctor(s) with any medical or health concerns before starting any new diet, products or supplements.
