Eczema Management

I believe alot of young children are plagued with this. I am concluding what have worked for Vera after having to trial and error for this 15 months anad I hope this post can help mums who are dealing with a similar situation as me.

Vera's first eczema flare was when she was 9 months old.

Two years later, a sudden flare came in December 2015. 

The flare did not completely go off and turned for the worse in May 2016 when she was supposed to start her Nursery 1.

Unfortunately, I have to hold her back from attending school as I felt that it was unfair to both the school and ourselves. The teachers cannot be giving her the full 101% of their attention like the way I do and on our side, would not want Vera to go through the painful cycle again. It's mega tiring on the adults as well, as our sleep would be badly affected for the fact that we had to stay alert to prevent her from scratching.

It has been 10 months, that her flares were under controlled and managed by totally non-invasive, drug-free and steriods-free treatments. For a period, I felt like I was stepping into mild depression. I teared out of the blue while making our way to the clinic and I teared as I watched her going through the electromagnetic wave therapy. Not that the treatment was painful but I was upset because, we have been going doing intensively ( thrice a week without fail) for 7 months, the stubborn patch on her left foot remained dry and red, sometimes with tiny blistering, refused to go off. On the other hand, I cannot say that the treatments were ineffective because after each treatment, it did helped to bring down the angry flare.

It was financially draining as well, as per treatment was pretty costly plus the time taken to travel to and fro. I felt exhausted at a point, I did thought of giving up on several occasions, I did questioned the doctor why the patch did not go away, I asked him if there were other ways or methods that may work. Thinking back, I have to be thankful that Don kept encouraging me not to give up.

What I have leart about managing eczema from this one whole year from three doctors whom Vera was brought to. For your information, all the doctors I went to, use non invasive treatments. No drugs were given to us, it's all on improving the body's energy flow and healing naturally. This is my very own understanding from them. To conclude, it's these three things that you got to note. DIET, SKIN CARE PRODUCTS & DISCIPLINE.

Let me just share on the three doctors which I went to and both their treatment were working alongside each other.

From Dr Lai @ Bai Chuan Clinic: Eczema is an auto-immune disorder and occurs when the brain stem is inflammed thus affecting the hypothalamus and pineal gland. Vera belongs to the monority who will flare up first when her immunity is being compromised before the symptoms appear while normal kids with no eczema condition will usually just have the flu symptoms.

I was also told about CerebroSpinal Fluid . When there is an inflammtion going on in the brain and spine, the flow is not smooth and the obstruction of the flow could also affect the eczema flare. This is from my own understanding, I am still trying to figure out and understand what it is about.

Lastly, nerve fibre sensitivity does affect the condition of the flare and different parts of the vetebrae are link to different part of our bodies.

These are new terms to me altogether, as there were no other doctors be it western or TCM ever did share about such knowledge.

Bai Chuan Japan Enrac Collateral Meridien Therapy
1 lrving Place
#02-05
The Commerz @ Lrving
Singapore 369546
Tel: 67379611

From Dr Diana Tan @ NAET (Shenton Clinic),it was from the energy testing. Sounds absurb to some of you if you are not into natural healing just like how Don is, until I "educated" him slowly. From the energy testing, I got to know that Vera had leaky guts (which every eczema sufferers have), which organs of hers are weaker in and what kind of food, she should be avoiding.

She was tested to be allergic to: yeast (bread and buns),cow's milk, egg whites, almond milk, Beef, Beta Carotene, gluten and papaya. I got to be thankful to my chiropractor, Dr Daniel, for recommending this doctor. I tell you, this was the turning point!

I was left with no other options but to give diet change a try. I cut away her favourite bread and Man-Tou (buns) for just a week. Remember the stubborn patch on her left foot? That enlarged patch, can be angry at times and also can be blistering. In just a week of no yeast in her food intake, that patch miraculously got better, the blisters dried up and it was no longer angry. It was just like back to the normal state but more on the dry side. You have to believe that "You are what you eat".  I have already cut her off from dairies, seafood as well as some fruits, you can read the list here. Hence, with just the yeast and some new found food allergy off her diet. I was really happy to see the huge improvement. Finally, I saw light at the end of the tunnel !! Vera was doing great with the diet change.

I was told to bring down all of the possible creams which I am using it for her for energy testing as well and phew, much to my relief, all of them passed. Another cream I used was Young Living's Boswellia Wrinkle Cream, the dry patch on her left foot was smoothened out with just two application.

Shenton Clinic
Blk 498, Jurong West St 41
#01- 464
Singapore 640498
Tel: 65654442

I have to admit that it is really challenging when it comes to preparing her meals with the limited choice of food she can take. Some mummies were exasperated when I told them to cut off dairies. Most will tell me"No, my child cannot do without milk !" Remember there are other alternatives, you have to know that dairies are acidic in nature and it will not benefit the flare at all. Go for oats or rice milk, remember to read the labels too. No added sugar does not mean that there is no sugar. Look out for Sucrose or Fructose on the label. If you did see this on the label, give it a miss. I am currently giving Oatly to Vera and got some Oats drink in tetra packs for her to bring to school.

Due to the distance, arranging time to go all the way down to lakeside for further tests seemed is pretty challenging as Vera has now started school. It is impossible to complete all the tests in just one hour as they are broken up into different segment.

What I did next, was again through reccommendation. I brought her to Naturopathic Therapies Clinic and had her hair sample sent it for an allergy test. Dr Saravanan gave me the report 2 weeks later and part of the findings were, she was indeed tested positive for some allergens of which some of them were already off her diet. Vera could benefit further with the following health support tips he gave.

- Improve Digestive Health
- Promote Detox
- Improve Immune Health
- She may progressively avoid all food that are tested positive.
- Avoid all foods and supplements that may contain yeast.

Apart from food, Vera was also found to be allergic to Echinacea, house dust, dust mites, certain chemicals in antibiotics likes Trimethoprim, Erythromycin, Acetyl Salicylic Acid, Lovebird and Parrot feathers. Even droppinngs of certain animals and two ingrediets commonly found in beauty products like Ethylene Oxide & Formaldehyde. Again, this reminded me to read the labels !! Even sugar and the type of oils were being tested.

I was told to use Rice Bran Oil / Coconut Oil/ Ghee clarified butter. She was tested positive to be allergic to: Peanut oil/ Canola oil/ Peanut oil/ Sunflower oil / Palm oil and Olive (Refined) and to give Vera Molasses if she has to take sugar. For these half a year, sugar has been omitted out from her diet. I usually gives her fresh fruits and her meals to be cooked using fresh ingredients as much as possible. To be exact, she is on a Vegan and Sugar diet (Gluten free, Dairies-free, Egg-free and Wheat Free) This is one of the meals I have cooked for her using Quinoa.

Dr Saravanan had also taught me how to remove the  food allergens graudually by block. First, list down the list of food to be removed from the diet. One block is equal to seven days. For a start, you remove one food for a week and slowly add on the second food on the second week. at the same time, you continue to wean off the first. You add on gradually as such that the body will not go into a state of shock if you remove all at one go.

Getting to know and removing the food allergens out from the diet, requires great deal of discipline and determination. Frankly, it's not easy but it is DOABLE! I saw the improvement personally otherwise, she would not have been able to start school in January!

Naturopathic Therapies Clinic
1 Coleman Street, #03-20
The Adelphi
Singapore 179803
Tel: 68365615

Basically, if you are searching for a non-invasive and drug free solution, you may wish to go to these 3 doctors. Do share with me if you have recommendation of other doctors who are into natural healing.

You have to know that healing by food is from inside out. If you think that by just using good skincare products, that is only providing external support. You have to start from working from within the body. If you have no clue about what are the food allergies your child might be having, these are the few which certainly make a difference; Yeast, Dairies (cows milk, butter, eggs), Soy, Seafood and Sugar.

Next, let me share a little on Skincare products. If you recalled reading my bloody and weepy post ?

La Roche-Posay Cicaplast, remained as my top favourite. It is non-steriodal and I highly recommend it for skin with open wounds. The only cream which soothed her open wounds without stinging and it really heals broken skin fast.

Creams which I bought and I will usually read the labels first. For sensitive skin like Vera, I prefer to go for skincare that are:
- Hypoallergenic free
- Fragrance-Free
- Alcohol-Free
- Colorant- Free
- PH balanced
- Parabens- Free

Apart from my own concoction of oil blends, I bought Curel Moisture Gel Lotion to moisturize her dry skin too. I like the cooling sensation and it is non oily. It does not leave the skin feeling sticky or uncomfortable given the humid weather in Singapore.
If you are sleeping in an air-conditioned room daily, Curel Moisture Cream is much thicker. I would think it is great to bring it along if you are travelling to a cold country.

Curel body wash too has became part of her daily skincare. If you have watched on TheAsianParent Facebook Page as well as on Curel Singapore Facebook page on production of a mum fighting eczema, yes that's us.

Before we were selected to shoot the ad, I have already finished using a number of bottles for Vera. It has integrated into part of her daily usage. I am glad that I am able to share my experience with them. It was our first time doing a shoot and the experience was awesome!

Thank you for reading through this lengthy post. To the parents out there, be it your child or you, yourself is suffering from eczema, I really do hope that this post is of use to you. Remember, it will get better if you are discipline enough to step out and make the first change in the diet. Don't give up ! 

Share this along with anyone whom you think may benefit from it. Am not an expert, am still learning along the way. It's also a trial and error phase for me until I came to this stage where I finally know how to manage it better.

Do share your eczema management with me too if you are also into natural healing. I will be so glad to learn more about it.

Thank you for reading and if you would like to stay tune for future updates, do follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram !