My update and post on eczema has brought on many comments from parents who understand and who are going through what dealing with an eczema child is like. Through parents from various countries who share openly about the difficult situations they are coping with and finding parallel in many areas of coping and handling eczema, it brings to mind that we are not alone in this ‘fight’ against the eczema beast.

I have dedicated most of my time and effort since my last post on helping the Angel with her eczema. No effort or time is spared to ensure that we achieve eczema-free days. We keep to a daily regime of routine and attention that have brought us so far to our mostly eczema-free days. The month of April was the sweetest time of our lives since our return!

There are still bad days when our quality of life is severely affected but those have been the occassional days rather than the norm until recently!!!

Fighting the eczema beast in Singapore has been a steep learning curve at times but through love, patience and karuna (and constantly asking for more of these three qualities in my life), we have managed to bring life to a normalcy.

I throw my life out of tangent, socialise only with those who understand my constraints, do the minimal required in a day, and focus entirely on the Angel.

Having not kept up with blog reading, I recently read a post from Mel (Perspective of Life in a Different Pasture) who has very kindly dedicated a post on ‘Coping with Eczema‘ to me when I asked about how she coped with her eczema child in Singapore. Many, many thanks for such a generous gesture, Mel!

I cope with the Angel’s eczema (sans steroid, sans medication) through a few simple ways :

1) Carrot juice - the juicing continues! All I can say is that, the daily carrot juice does its own wonders on the Angel’s skin. Two sticks of carrots and an apple a day. Trust me, but they are the mainstay to eczema-free days!

2) Fish oil - the Angel is back on fish oil. According to Dr Hugo, it is in the Angel’s filggarin that is causing all that dryness. Whether or not fish oil is helping, I know that the carrot juice is doing its bit!

3) Stress-free - I see how stress brings on the onset of the itch-scratch cycle. I keep away from stressful situations (there are just some places that create a lot of stress for either of us) and plan the day carefully, especially when going out of the comfort zone of home. I learn to say ‘no’ when it is better to stay home and I learn to do less but yet achieve more (when you have eczema-free days, you have achieved loads!) in a day.

4) Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize - the Angel is kept moisturized daily (I’m currently using Aqueous Cream and QV but most moisturizer works) and I found the most effective sunscreen that works and which we use even when at home (Avene Sun Protection for Children 40 SPF)! Expensive but worth every penny of our money!
5) Time and attention - Almost all of my time and attention is dedicated to the Angel. Without the time and attention, the simple understanding of the habit of the mind of my eczema child, it will be almost impossible to achieve eczema-free days. It is also CRUCIAL that people who spend time with your eczema child knows how to handle it as well. I have seen how others can perpetuate the scratching habit and make achieving eczema-free days REALLY an arduous journey.

6) Herbal Rinse from Weeds (picked from fields in Singapore) -  My parents conscientiously pluck a certain wild weed growing at open fields in Singapore and attest to everyone that it is the daily herbal rinse from this particular weed that is healing the Angel’s skin. I do agree that the weed has a cooling effect on the skin and also provide the Angel a mental deposit to overcome her scratching but I cannot ascertain that it is the reason for her beautiful skin.

While I’m writing this, the Angel’s skin has recently been quite broken and badly scratched up. The circumstances leading to her scratching really deserve another post of its own but for now, parents who are dealing with eczema children in Singapore, I’d suggest the above to achieve more eczema-free days!

Categories: Where We Live, Eczema
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One of the reasons for keeping this blog is to talk about eczema, but I have put it off for a long time. Having to explain how I’ve come to help the Angel cope with eczema brings a lot of horror to me.

For many of you who have met the Angel in Singapore, you will understand the true meaning of her acute eczema. Frankly, I do not wish to re-live the horror, both for her and me, of the suffering she had when we were in Singapore. No one can really understood the trauma I went through. I faced a lot of stares, questions, disapprovals, advices from people who did not understand and who made me feel like I was the worst mom in the world. I not only had to cope with a very difficult and distressed child, I had to cope with the mental and emotional strain. In the end, I holed up myself and the Angel in the house until it was time for us to leave for UK. Either we both didn’t handle it well or it was the weather that added to the already mutilated skin. All I can say is that, for the one month we spent in Singapore last year, the first three days were heavenly before the onset of acute eczema resulted in uncontrolled scratching, broken skin, from the face to neck to hands to legs, pretty often soaking in blood.

Having gone through all that, I now learn that eczema can be controlled in many ways. One way is probably medication, or steriod, either in the form of cream or orally. Both of which we have avoided.

When the Angel was about a month old, she developed a bad rash all over the face due to being too bundled up in the sultry Singapore weather. In the UK, she developed a red rash on the neck which wouldn’t go away, and then it spread to her face and eventually, other common places, like hands, legs and neck. That happened when she was about four-month old.

Let’s keep the horror story short. In a nutshell, the eczema started from there, and by the time the Angel was to be weaned at 7-month old, she was found to be suffering from multiple-food allergies. Again, it was another uphill for me, to learn how to cope with all that food alleries and still feed her well. My greatest support and help came from a health visitor, L, who totally understood the problems I was facing, came faithfully to visit us and referred us directly to the RVI and specialist clinics (immunologist, dermatologist, dietician). She really saved me from a multitude of heartache, headache and gave me confidence to go on, and grace to handle very hopeless and helpless situations.

I started with steriod cream, gave up when the eczema didn’t go away and was given even stronger steroid cream. When I managed to calm the skin without the use of steroid (although the doctor thought I did as I was prescribed yet another stronger steroid cream), I knew that steroid was not the answer.

Today, I have found some remedies that work wonderfully well on the skin. The true problem I have to cope with, though, is a psychological problem of an Angel who turns into an uncontrolled monster when it comes to scratching - she turns to scratching when she is tired or bored. We have come a loooooong way from coping with the scratching. It used to be much worse, such as during meal times. I had to threaten to throw away the food before it stopped over night. I am still working on the habitual scratching (Recently, I think she needs to have her fingers chopped off!!!! I admit, there are days when I think, “Why me?!”)

I strongly recommend these almost ‘natural’ remedies that seriously work.

1) Dream Wash and Dream Cream from Lush - Children with eczema suffer from such dryness of skin that when washing, the layer of oil is gone, too. Using washing lotion that is oil based works miracles for the skin, I used to use epaderm or balenum or oilatum. They do keep the skin moist but they do not cope with the itch.

I now swear by Dream Wash and Dream Cream (they don’t call it DREAM Wash and DREAM Cream without a reason =)) from Lush. Tried and tested in the hot and humid weather in Shanghai last year, the Angel did not suffer like she did in Singapore because of Dream Wash and Dream Cream. When we returned 48 hours later than we were supposed to, due to flight delay, I ran out of Dream Wash and the horror began!

Dream Wash smells really good and has the prickly heat (similar to the snake powder brand) ingredients. It somehow calms the skin a lot and takes away the itch.

After using Dream Wash, I will apply Dream Cream as a base. Because Dream Cream is not a grossly oily cream, I then apply epaderm which is so super oily to keep the Angel’s skin moist. Dream Cream, again, works as a barrier to prevent the itch but it is absorbed so quickly, doesn’t help entirely with the moisture. Without using Dream Cream, the itch returns.

Incidentally, I was advised to use Dream Cream and Dream Wash by a kind lady in Ireland last June. It was the best holiday I have had - Ireland remains my favourite place (the Wicklow mountain being the place of immensely dense isolation) and I received the best advice ever to help the Angel cope with her itch.

2) Carrot juice! This is the MIRACLE an acquaintance here advised me to try. It has worked WONDERS! The Angel drank carrot juice everyday for about a month and I have not seen her skin so beautiful for a long time (except when we were in Norway which got me thinking that eczema could be due to environmental issues).

I, the blur alternative mom, burnt the juicer and did not manage to make her any carrot juice for a month! Because we are not keen to accumulate more things before we pack our lives in boxes again, I thought we’d wait. However, the skin cannot wait. I bought a juicer last week and I’m bent on getting her skin back to being supple and beautiful. To date, her skin is beautiful but it is the habitual scratching that is the barrier to clear skin.

Even the Angel knows about the goodness of the carrot juice. On days that she has been scratching, she will tell me, “Drink carrot juice! I will get better!”

Another friend did recommend boiling carrots and apples and drinking it. I tried it before and it helped, too. But the effect from freshly blended carrot juice is almost immediate(results can be seen within two days).

3) A daily dose of fish oil helps to keep the skin from breaking up. In the initial stage of eczema, a homeopath happened to see Angel’s skin and adviced me to give fish oil. When I started fish oil, I haven’t used Dream Wash and Dream Cream yet. By not giving fish oil for a month, I realised that the scaly, flaky skin returned. I started with Equazen and have never changed it since then.

There you are, just those wonderful remedies and eczema is kept at bay. The combination of the above three combats different but important issues - itchiness (Dream Wash and Dream Cream), suppleness (carrot juice), elimination of scaly, flaky skin (fish oil).

I strongly discourage the use of steroids (sensibly) and would encourage parents to read, read and read labels and question doctors and discuss with doctors when prescribed such creams or even medication. It is very important to be an informed parent when it comes to medication. My encounter with a pediatrician in Singapore (almost two hours waiting time and less than five minutes of brisk consultation) left me wondering if doctors prescribe just ‘quick-fixes’.

By trying to be as organic as possible, I think we can save some problems later on in life from side effects or unknown effects.

I’m interested to know or disucss eczema issues with other parents or anyone who has experienced it. I’d be glad to answer any questions or hear from anyone who has tried any other remedies that work.

Categories: Eczema
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