We struggle with eczema in our household. We don’t always love the prescription medications we receive for steroid creams so we’ve been on a mission to find some alternatives to treat it. Here are a few things we went through to help my 4-year old daughter overcome her eczema.
- We switched peanut butter brands. We found that eating a natural peanut butter (only peanuts) would decrease her eczema significantly. We usually buy Adams brand or Trader Joes, depending on where we are shopping at the moment.
- We avoid soaps, detergents or anything that has added scents or high chemicals. A lot of the kid bath soaps really irritated her skin. We use Everyone Soap with success and Norwex body cloths.
- Doctors orders say to only bathe her once a week. Unless she is super stinky or dirty from playing outside, we limit her baths.
- Finally, we made a homemade cream that we apply to her every night before bed. It smells good and she loves having something that is her “very own.”
DIY Recipe for Eczema Cream (adapted from Dr. Axe)
Ingredients: (I bought most of my products on Amazon with my Amazon fresh order and I personally use Young Living essential oils)
- 1/2 cup raw Shea butter
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 Tb local honey
- 30 drops lavender essential oil
- 8 drops tea tree essential oil
- 5 drops geranium essential oil
Directions:
- Melt Shea butter and coconut oil together. Dr.Axe recommends using a double broiler. I did not own one of those so I put a glass Tupperware container inside a stove top pot to create a sort of homemade one. I know, super sophisticated.
- Add honey to the container. Stir.
- Melt it all. Make sure it is blended and then add the oils.
- Cool ingredients. It will get a bit thicker but you want to make sure it stays soft so that it is easier to mix. Dr. Axe recommends putting it in the fridge to speed up the process. I did do that but I’m not sure if it made a huge difference.
- Use a mixer (I used an immersion blender) and mix until it is frothy and starts to look like lotion. You should do this every 10 minutes. It took mine about an hour to look like lotion so I mixed it 5 or 6 times.
- I stored mine in a glass Tupperware container at room temperature.
- We applied daily.
Do you suffer with eczema in your house? How have you managed it?
