Our Holistic Approach to Healing Eczema
I think sometimes you see “wellness people” on blogs or social media and view them as “healthy” or symptom free. Sometimes there is this illusion that they have it all figured out and their days of struggling with symptoms are behind them.
Let me re-assure you— that ain’t me.
Over the past few months my family has been battling eczema. As this deals primarily with my daughter, I've chosen to keep many of the specific details confidential. But I will share the holistic approach that we have been taking and seeing results with. I will also be sharing some of my favorite resources for more information because there is just so much that goes into eczema and I am hardly an expert.
With that, nothing in this blog is medical advice. I am just sharing my family’s personal experience and the holistic approach we are taking, in hopes that it can inspire or educate or equip you as you navigate something similar.
What is eczema?
Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a common skin condition that causes the skin to become inflamed, itchy, and red. It’s more than just dry skin—eczema is a chronic condition that is associated with inflammation throughout the body. The exact cause of eczema isn’t fully understood, but it’s believed to be related to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. For some, it might be triggered by allergens, irritants, stress, or even weather changes. There are literally hundreds of things that can set off eczema— which makes it really tricky.
The symptoms of eczema can vary, but they often include patches of dry, scaly skin, intense itching, and sometimes bleeding or oozing (especially if scratching causes open wounds to the skin). These symptoms can appear anywhere on the body but are most common on the face, hands, and inside the elbows or behind the knees.
The Holistic Approach We are Taking to Heal Eczema from the Inside out
As with all things health-related, you have to look at the full picture. With so many factors playing a role in skin health and potentially triggering eczema, we have decided to really come at it from all angles. Here are all the different facets we are trying to puzzle-piece together to hopefully find some healing.
Diet
We have always eaten pretty clean. We prioritize whole, nutrient-dense foods and choose the best quality that fits into our budget. This looks like lots of local grass-fed meat, organic eggs and produce, and limiting processed foods and drinks.
But since really trying to tackle all this eczema stuff, we have cracked down and been a lot more strict. For us, we have chosen to eliminate gluten, dairy products, and any added sugar. We will probably stick to this plan for 3-6 months and reevaluate her symptoms at that point. I am not a fan of elimination diets long-term. I think they are far too restrictive, BUT they can be extremely beneficial for a season of lower inflammation and fostering an internal environment for your body to heal.
As my son is also struggling with a milder case of eczema, and also still breastfeeding, that means I am doing an elimination diet too 🙃
gluten free
mostly organic
dairy free
eliminating processed sugar
If you are familiar with Whole30, it’s a popular elimination diet. And while much stricter than what our family is committing to, it’s been a good resource for meal ideas and recipes!
Prioritizing Gut Health
While a healthy diet is primarily the way to a healthy gut, there are some additional things we can implement to support healthy digestion. Some of the things we are doing include:
a high-quality probiotic
including pro-biotic rich foods in our diet (sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented pickles, coconut yogurt with active cultures)
supporting daily bowel movements
Supplements
I am a big fan of testing and not guessing— we arbitrarily can throw supplements at symptoms, hoping they’ll work. But really we have no idea what our body actually needs by taking that approach. I scheduled my daughter an appointment for some basic lab work, as well as a few micronutrient, vitamin and mineral tests.
We are also doing a stool test to check out where her intestinal microbiome is and if there are any infections, parasites, etc. that needs more specific support.
Topicals
This is maybe the hardest part for my mama heart— trying to find products to help heal and support her skin, without being painful. And if you have ever put a lotion or cream on your baby’s eczema and they start crying because of the stinging and burning— you know 😭 Here are some of the ones we have tried and how they’ve worked:
Earthley Soothing Skin Balm- clean ingredients, comfortable to apply on my daughter, but a bit on the oily side in my opinion. We keep it in the rotation 😅 code NEWTOEARTHLEY saves you 10% off your order
Butter Me Up Organics Shea and coconut lotion bar— love how easy this is to apply since it’s basically a lotion in a stick! It’s a bit more firm but I have found if I hold it against my skin for a minute, it will soften up and be easier to apply. code KAELYN will save you 10% off your order!
Whipped Tallow by Smear- I will either make my own but lately have been purchasing tallow body creams. This is one of my faves to recommend because it is simple, quality, and Clean (literally, that’s the name 😅)
Roe Biome Barrier Cream- I saw an ad for this somewhere, purchased it, tried it a couple of times, and have mixed reviews. My son has more mild eczema and doesn’t seem to be bothered when I apply it. And his skin is notably softer and less red after using it.
On the other hand, my daughter hates when I have pulled out this one— it really is irritating to her eczema, especially in the spots where it is more irritated and inflamed. So for us it’s a no-go after I finish the serum and cream I currently have. I’ll finish it on my son but stick with one of the other products in the future.
Environmental
I try to keep our home relatively toxin-free, and fragrance-free, and prioritize more natural fibers than synthetics— I am by no means 100% on it. Honestly probably more, 80/20 like with most things. But since going down this eczema journey, I’ve really tried to make sure even more so their little bodies have a supportive environment without any triggers.
With that said, I do what I can and what fits into my family’s budget. But I also do not stress about it when we are out and about. I don’t want my children to live in a bubble and I want their bodies to be resilient to the world. So I do what I can and hold the rest with grace. Here are some of the things we prioritize for a clean home
AirDoctor - we just bought our second AirDoctor air purifier for our home. You can read all about my experience with them here and why we have chosen this specific brand.
water softener
water filter for drinking water
Some of my Favorite Eczema Resources
I personally have never struggled with eczema. (Instead, if my skin acts up its keratosis pilaris and historically, bouts of cystic acne).
So when my kids began struggling with rough, flaky patches I just figured i’d throw some moisturizer on it and call it good. Needless to say, I had a lot of learning to do! Here are some of my favorite books by people who know far more than I do on the subject, and that have really helped me to create a game plan:
As you can see, it’s been quite the journey our family is on (and will honestly be on for the foreseeable future). Unfortunately, we live in a time where our bodies are bombarded with a lot of junk. Prioritizing healing for ourselves and our families is not always easy. If you are sometimes overwhelmed by trying to support your family in wellness- just know this is my job and I still feel overwhelmed by it at times.
You’re not in this alone.
Kaelyn