Writing about Eczema might seem like a complete u-turn in the content I ordinarily write but my blogging roots are in a) health and beauty (hello, Beach Bum Beauty Blog circa 2009), and, b) writing about what I’ve gone through (hello, The Blurt Foundation 2011 – 2022) first-hand or through parenting.
So, Eczema, then. Eczema is a skin condition which can cause inflammation in the skin, making it sore, itchy, and dry.
What causes an Eczema flare-up?
Basically, lots of different things have the potential to cause a flare-up. The products we use, foods we eat, hormones, changes in temperature like cold weather, allergens, and stress.
We’ve swapped out a lot of products over the years and that’s worked amazingly well (more on that in a jiffy). The two biggest causes of flare-ups in our home seem to be wintertime and stress.
There’s not a lot that can be done about the weather other than keeping skin moisturised with natural products. Stress, though. That’s something that can be changed. As a family, we work together as a team. We take a proactive approach and try to see what, if any, changes can be made to remove the stressor(s), even if it’s a shift in perspective that’s needed. Talking through things helps immensely as does asking for and accepting help.
While we can’t always pre-empt when stressful situations might arise, we can learn coping techniques to help our nervous system reset when our fight-or-flight mechanism has been initiated. We put into practice a lot of the techniques I wrote about in my book ‘Everything I Wish I’d Known About Stress: A Hopeful Toolkit‘.
Limiting Oxidative Stress
When we talk about stress, there’s the stress-stress that we all know and have experienced but there’s also oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the stress caused by an imbalance of free radicals and the antioxidants available to fight them. This imbalance is a trigger for a lot of inflammation and ill health.
Free radicals are created when our body is subject to things in our environments which can cause disease, illness, and ageing. Sources such as pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke, chemicals in our beauty and cleaning products, and processed food, all cause free radicals in the body.
A diet that’s rich in vitamins and minerals will produce lots of antioxidants. Antioxidants neutralise the effects of free radicals.
We’ve made a concerted effort to both reduce free radicals in the products we use in our home, place on our skin, and pop in our mouths, and to increase our antioxidants. It’s a work in progress and we don’t always get it ‘right’ but we have noticed that Eczema flare-ups are fewer and further in between the more tweaks we make.
We use a lot of Ecover and Method products around the house and have swapped out skincare and make-up to ones where we have looked at and understood the ingredients. Where possible we completely avoid anything that contains alcohol, lanolin, sulphates, or preservatives.
The Hero Products
Aside from the incessant itching, an Ezcema flare-up can create rough, red, sore, angry patches on our skin and we can feel so blimmin’ self-conscious of them.
Here are the two hero products which seem to reduce and heal Eczema flare-ups relatively quickly for us.
1. Light Therapy Face Mask
Years ago, I purchased a Peppy LED Face Mask which they no longer produce. (This Silk’n LED Mask has received good reviews on several different websites.) The mask has three settings; a red light, a yellow light, and a blue light. I bought it to help reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation on my face – using the yellow and red lights.
When I was researching Eczema, I found this study which evaluated the efficacy of blue light in dermatology (Phototherapy). The findings show that blue light can reduce the severity of itching, increase sleep quality and quality of life, and reduce disease severity. We didn’t need any more convincing that Phototherapy was at least worth a try.
We place the face mask over the affected areas (because it’s a face mask rather than an LED wand, we cover a larger patch of skin in one go) and you can almost instantly see a reduction in the appearance of the skin after use; it’s less angry, less itchy, and less red. Every day, for 10 minutes on each flared-up area, seems to do the trick.
2. Weleda Baby Calendula Nappy Cream
We knew we wanted to avoid getting some steroid cream from the doctors because we’d read several cases that said the cream worked a treat but as soon as you stop using it, Eczema flares back up. That’s not desirable, not at all. Instead, we wanted to find a skin-friendly cream which could be applied liberally as and when needed. Trying to find said cream was easier said than done! So many of the suggested creams you’d find people talking about in forums would sting on application. They would seem to work slowly and on further investigation into the ingredients, we weren’t at all confident that they were as great as first appeared.
Enter Weleda’s Baby Calendula Nappy Cream. A cream that’s ultra-thick and creamy which means you get great coverage. That also means it can feel a bit sticky for a while until it sinks in. We apply it in the evening after a shower, after the blue light therapy, and before bed.
The cream immediately relieves itching and soreness. It softens the skin and is so effective in healing it too. After trying so many different creams, this one felt like a ‘hallelujah’ in how quickly it made a difference. Weleda is a company I highly rate; their Skin Food is a tonic for my dry and dehydrated skin during winter months. All of their products are natural and cruelty-free.
It’s been a continual learning process that’s led us here, there, and everywhere. Eczema can, in itself, be a cause of acute stress and I hope this whistlestop guide on how we handle it, helps you too.
