By the power of oatmeal

For the last 3 years, for those who don't know, I have been having a battle with Pooky bear's eczema. In the summer it is bad when it is really hot and in the winter it flares up when it is dry. This winter I have vowed not to be reliant on steroid cream for relief for the eczema. I am winning this battle with the powers of oatmeal.

I have been grinding the oatmeal up in my coffee grinder (about 2 cups full) and adding it to Kira's bath. I have been bathing her nearly every day with it. (side note - if you do try this, make sure the hair stays dry during the soak and use fresh water to wash hair). After her tub, I have been using either Aveeno baby 24 hour moisturizer (comes with a navy blue lid) or a lotion I have for sensitive skin which does not have any paraben or fragrance in it. With those two powers combined (oatmeal bath and lotion) Kira has not needed steroid cream for 10 days. This is a huge victory for us. Especially when we do eventually need the steroid cream, it is only needed once and then we get back on the routine. I have noticed she flares up when we stop her routine. Lesson learnt and I am anxious to see how long we can go with out steroid cream now.

Pooky bear does not like the steroid cream at all. It burns her when it goes on, and although it relieves the irritation, it still uncomfortable for her. This summer, I got smart in using the steroid cream. I started putting polysporin underneath the steroid cream to act as a barrier for her skin. It also served for healing her skin from the cracks and scratches which occur with eczema. She now asks for the polysporin when she needs the steroid cream. (I highly recommend the polysprin for kids with acetaminophen to help relieve pain as well, however, the private label polysporin works just as well)

I have been feeling these last few months have been helpful in teaching me how to better take care of my daughter and husband's condition. I now find myself reading all I can about managing eczema. I have discovered I have to be careful in what is recommended. I have tried several creams, soaps and lotions which were recommended, but they were, for the most part, unsuccessful. I am so happy I found a routine which is working right now and not reliant steroids to relieve it.

I still read all I can about eczema to better understand what my daughter and husband are going through. Today, I actually read a wonderful article in my dr's office about eczema. It described eczema how eczema is genetic in most cases, and that on average, only 10 percent of children will have their eczema into adulthood (given my husband had it as a child and continues to, I am pretty sure Pooky will fall in the 10 percent category). The article also went onto explain how eczema can flare up in the summer and the winter. How the author put it was, think of the person with eczema as having skin which is unable to seal in the spots where the eczema is. (I thought of it like puzzle pieces not able to totally come together but leaving cracks). In the spots where the skin can not seal, is where bacteria and even sweat can get into the cracks and irritate the skin. It is almost like they are allergic to there own sweat, but the sweat is just irritating the open skin. This made total sense to me. It completely explains why Pooky has horrible flare ups with eczema on hot days in the summer.

Now, the winter flare ups make sense too, because if the areas with the "weak skin" (for lack of a better term) have the cracks and the air is too dry it would irritate it worse than normal. This is why using lots of oatmeal (which is a natural moisturizer) and lotion help prevent and treat the skin. The article's basic summary was to moisturize the skin as much as possible, bath frequently to illuminate bacteria on the skin which could cause irritation (also to illuminate sweat from the skin) NOTE: it is important to know that the article cautioned on bathing frequently using soaps and lotions which would dry out the skin and not moisturize it.

I found it interesting that I would read the article after I have already found a routine which helps Pooky, but it really helped me understand why the routine we have for her works. This winter I think will be fine for her eczema. The battle will be this summer, keeping her skin clean, cool, and moisturized. I think we can handle it though. Maybe I should by oatmeal in bulk form to help.