Eczema is a skin rash that is defined by very dry, red and itchy skin that does not heal with normal skin treatments. It can show up at any age but is especially common in babies. When eczema affects a baby, is it particularly difficult to treat because all treatment must come from the parent and it is up to the parent to keep the baby from scratching at itself. Around 20 percent of all babies have eczema to some extent. Most cases of childhood eczema are diagnosed before the age of 5 and 65 percent are diagnosed while still an infant. But you will be relieved to know that for most infants with eczema, the condition usually improves by age 2 and only 60 percent of cases continue on into adulthood, usually with less severity. Knowing that your baby will outgrow eczema can be a comfort, but most parents want to do anything they can to eliminate eczema for baby while they do have it.
The exact causes of eczema remain somewhat of a mystery to doctors. Genetics certainly play a role, so if eczema or undiagnosed skin conditions are present in your family tree, there is a larger likelihood eczema for baby will affect your child. Fortunately, even with genetic eczema, the most intense part tends to occur in the first few years of life and them tapers off in severity. Eczema is also more widespread in people with asthma or allergies, so again, if these run in your family your baby is at an increased risk for developing eczema.
Genetics are certainly not the only factor, many things present in a child’s lifestyle can lead to eczema. Clothing, food and environmental factors play huge roles in eczema for baby and these are the causes that parent’s can control. Once diagnosed, a doctor will often prescribe some sort of topical cream or ointment to help relieve itching. While these products can work magic in decreasing symptoms for the time being, they do nothing to try and solve the skin condition. Besides, lots of of these creams do not offer long lasting relief and there is a limit to how often they can be used, so while it is nice to have these “quick fixes” around, you should concentrate on what triggers your baby’s eczema in the first place.
Once you have made it a priority to cure eczema for baby, you need to find out what is causing the condition in the first place. Fabric is touching your baby’s skin almost every second of the day from the clothes they wear, to the towel you dry them with to the blankets they sleep on. Conventionally grown cotton is genetically modified and treated with fertilizers and pesticides. This form of farming has allowed us to produce fabric cheaply but with the consequence that these fabrics can cause skin problems for some people. And what’s more, cloth is often dyed and put through a chemical bath to create soft and vivid fabrics that appeal to consumers.
Consider buying organic cotton clothing and bedding for your baby. Organic cottons are becoming simpler to find and are the the best fabrics for breathability. If organic cloth is too expensive for your family, you can experiment to find what brand of regular clothing works best for your baby. For 5 days, dress your baby in only one brand of clothing and make no other changes to her lifestyle. An increase in eczema flair-ups means that brand of clothing is an irritant and should be thrown out. But if eczema symptoms seem to decrease, then you know you have a keeper. And when washing clothes, try a mild detergent without the harsh chemicals that most conventional brands offer, laundry detergent left in clothing is a very common skin irritant. Using the rinse cycle an added time will help to eliminate additional laundry detergent from clothing. And be certain to wash anything that you buy first before putting it on baby. Dyes and chemicals are at their strongest in clothing before their first washing.
You should also seriously review what is in your baby’s diet. Allergens can be a big cause of eczema and food allergies are the biggest among them. Breast feeding is a great way to avoid eczema and build up your baby’s immune system. But mother’s who breast feed need to evaluate their own diets The foods mom eats end up in the milk baby drinks. A common way to determine if a breast feeding infant is affected by a food allergy is for the mother to limit her diet. Go on a strict diet removing all foods that are common allergens for one week and then slowly introduce foods back in. If after eating a certain food your baby’s eczema gets worse then you have discovered the food allergen. Also, improving your diet and eating more fruits and veggies will also improve the health of your baby. If you baby is not eating solid foods, try administering the same “elimination” test as discussed above for nursing mothers. But cutting out everything that could be an allergen and slowly introducing foods back in you will be able to verify if your baby has a food allergy that is causing eczema.
When it comes time to give you baby a bath, the selections you make can have a big influence on a child’s eczema. Make sure you are using nothing hotter than lukewarm water, anything warmer will dry the skin out rapidly. One irritant that is rarely considered when people have skin problems is the water they wash with. But water high in chlorine, minerals or pollutants can be very dangerous to skin so have your water tested and consider installing a water purifier. Choose an unscented organic soap or a traditional fat based soap (like one made with olive oil), these soaps are gentlest on skin while still cleaning effectively. Immediately after bathing, apply a gentle unscented lotion on your baby, especially in the area affected by eczema. A general rule of thumb is to never use scented and dyed products on a baby with eczema in order to minimize flair ups.
Making changes to your baby’s clothing, diet and bathing routine can yield big results in the battle against eczema for baby. Here are a few more actions you can take to reduce eczema in your child. Keep a home clean of dust and pollutants by cleaning floors and dusting on a regular basis, and whenever possible, do not use harm cleaners. To minimize scratching at night, look for pajamas that cover your baby’s hands and feet so that she cannot use her nails to scratch while she sleeps. Don’t let your baby get sweaty and sit in non-breathable clothing. An older person is able to walk around in order to cool down but your baby is trapped sitting in his own sweat and this can cause rashes. Using cloth diapers instead of plastic ones greatly reduces rashes from sweating and friction. Though they are a more costly initial investment, over time cloth diaper are more economical.
0 comments:
Post a Comment