Acupuncture or naturopath for toddler with eczema?

Yes! We literally had the same experience with our son. My heart is with you. Our son is now almost 5. At 3 years old, we took him to Nancy Rakela OMD LAc, Berkeley Acupuncture. She performed NAET + Acupressure on him. It turned out that the root of his issue was cow dairy, which she helped identify through NAET and treat with Acupressure. He no longer has eczema. I would be so happy to talk to you. 

I don't know a naturopath in the area, but have autoimmune skin conditions, and have been having success bathing in borax over the past 2 months. You can look it up online. I did take my son to Dr Marcey Shapiro, who is a local MD who uses natural medicine, so maybe she could help, or give you names. I agree that long term.use of steroid creams is not the answer!

I'm sorry to hear you and your son are going through this. I lived with eczema throughout my childhood and young adulthood.  After a while, for me the symptoms moved beyond physical and became emotional as well - avoiding swimming, shaking people's hands, etc. The obvious rash was treated with steroid creams, and to no avail. Underlaying causes were never addressed.  You are a good mother to be taking this seriously and working toward a solution.

I don't have current recommendations for you, but I can tell you what eventually worked for me.  In my late 20's my immune system became increasingly out of control with low-grade allergies, symptoms of which included increasingly painful eczema rashes (literally skin peeling off in sheets).  I did two things that seemed to help immensely. First, I eliminated as much as possible exposures to every day chemicals - reduced cleaning products to baking soda and vinegar, used very natural personal care products, laundry soap, significantly reduced plastic, added dust mite covers to mattresses and pillows, etc.  EWG.org Skin Deep is an excellent resource.  They now rate cleaning products as well. Second, I eliminated foods that seemed to be triggers.  For me, it ended up being dairy.  I was vigilant about both of these for 2-3 years, until all symptoms cleared and I was off all allergy and steroid medications, then slowly let my guard down.

I now eat anything I want (although I do tend to avoid processed foods, limit myself to small amounts of dairy, and eat organic as much as possible). I continue to be cautious with everyday chemical exposures (but can now sleep on hotel sheets and not wake up with a rash).  I have not had an eczema outbreak in a decade or so (other than very limited due to identifiable exposure).  I'm convinced that the steps I took reset my immune system.  During this time, I worked with a very good allergist at PAMF in Menlo Park, Dr. Boccian, to control other symptoms and be tested to better understand my triggers so I could better focus my efforts at controlling them (not very helpful quite honestly due to high false positive/negative of the various tests).

Both of my children had limited outbreaks of eczema early in their childhoods, but have been eczema free since middle school and into their teens (now 16 & 18).  We treated outbreaks with the creams, when necessary.

I don't know what will work for your son, but be diligent in your search and approach. Relief is out there, I'm sure of it, it just may take a while and a lot of hard work. Good luck to you.

I have very dry skin and am constantly battling psoriasis, eczema, and rosacea. I've given up on doctors and medication. Here's what I do to keep things under control:

1. After every shower or bath, I immediately put on CeraVae lotion. If I don't have time to put the lotion on the skin, I don't bathe at that time (and I get the hose again). Your choice in lotion is really important. I only use CeraVae, Eucerin, or coconut oil. You don't want to use one of the thinner scented lotions that go on easier because they have alcohol in them that dries the skin. Buy the good stuff and use it every time.

2. I never, ever, ever go in hot tubs anymore. Between the chemicals and the heat, I'm guaranteed to get a really bad flareup that can last for months. It sucks when everyone else goes in the hot tub after skiing and I can't but it just isn't worth it.  Really hot baths are also a problem.

3. I use only unscented products, including laundry detergent, and no dryer sheets or fabric softeners. No bubble baths or anything like that. I put coconut oil in my bath and that seems to really be helping.

4. I'm  very gentle with my skin, especially places where I have spots. I've found that if I scratch one of them I end up in a lot of pain for a long time. If the spots are undisturbed they don't really bother me other than their ugly appearance.

5. I try to frequently expose my skin to the sun for short periods of time. For my psoriasis, sun works better than any other treatment. However, you have to be really careful not to get burned.

6. I've accepted that I'm a spotted human and try not to let my spots slow me down. It can be hard. I have a cousin who loudly asks me every time I dare wear a pair of shorts or a skirt around her why I won't go to the doctor. The last time she did it I lost my cool and asked her if she really thought that I was so stupid that it wouldn't have occurred to me to go to the dermatologist for help. She got really offended and I don't have a whole lot to do with her anymore. These are the same cousins who would tease me for the fact that my skin didn't tan like theirs did. It was really hard growing up in California and not having a tan. It's even worse to not have a tan and have pink spots. It sounds like a minor issue but it's pretty big to a kid or a single person. I've dealt with this in therapy and try really hard to love myself exactly how I am. But people stare and sometimes worry that it's contagious. It's not. So I try to just joke about how my skin has polka dots. 

I'd also try limiting wheat and dairy products and see if that helps. Bottom line is that I'd only use the medications to clear a serious flare up and then I do everything in my power to stay moisturized and hydrated to prevent future flare ups. Stress also causes bad flare ups for me.

Good luck to you and your son. 

Try an allergist. Try an elimination diet or rotation diet. Make sure the environment is free of toxins such as perfumes, laundry detergent with fragrance, fresh paint, new carpet, etc. 

Root and Stem on Grand Avenue in Oakland has amazing acupuncturists...highly recommend both Erin and Jessica.  My son also has eczema which we treated with Lansinoh’s HPA Lanolin. We applied it 2-3 times a day for 2 weeks and it all went away. Good luck!

Sorry that your little one is going through this. I haven't seen any data that suggests that acupuncture is likely to help with eczema (although maybe there is a study or studies I just have not seen)...also would probably be hard to do acupuncture well on a small child.  I'm sorry your son is going through this.  My baby had a little bit of eczema, but nothing like what you are describing...he seems to be growing out of it, and especially the eczema on his chin got better as he has been getting older (1.5 yrs old now) and drooling less since he's not teething any more.  I had a lot of recommendations about which cleansers to use (including special ones for eczema, special baby ones, etc.), but for me and my son, I actually found that unscented Dove beauty bar seems to do a good job of cleaning without drying the skin or irritating it, and then I got a small round tube of Aveeno ointment at Target (less than $3 I think)...not the eczema cream, this was a heavier less watery ointment that comes in a small round container.  it sounds like your son has a much bigger problem so I'm not saying that will help...just what helped us.  My brother, who has a ton of hay fever (not food allergies though) and is very fair complected/light, apparently had terrible eczema when he was a baby (per my mom), and diaper rash, etc., but he did grow out of it.  There are certain ethnicities that are more prone to eczema, and of course even among the same ethnicity there is a lot of variation - there are some studies showing that there are (not surprisingly) genetic predispositions to getting bad eczema. 

My experience with Kaiser is that it's very hard to get to even see a dermatologist there because they often don't even have one on site, and even if you do see one, they are likely to turf a lot of the management back to the primary care doctor (which is basically how the Kaiser system works).  This is OK for less bothersome problems but it must be troublesome in your situation when the problem isn't improving.  Also, since Kaiser knows the eczema isn't going to kill anyone it is probably not high on their priority list (though very very bothersome for you and your family), and they are more focused on people who have melanoma and other more dangerous things.  I'm not saying it is right, I am just saying...

  The problem with eczema is there is no quick and easy cure or treatment that works super well for everyone.  There is actually a new prescription cream (that is not a steroid) called Eucrisa which was recently approved to treat eczema (I believe can be used for people aged 2 or older but you'd have to check on that).  I don't know if you are open to using a different medication but it might be worth a try, although my suspicion would be it will hard to get through Kaiser - I'm assuming it could be a bit expensive because it is new, and Kaiser tries to keep their costs down with generic meds, etc.

  Also, you might find some helpful information on the National Eczema Foundation web site. https://nationaleczema.org 

I feel for you as my son had the very same issue - food allergies that he outgrew and horrible eczema that would get infected from the scratching and ointments the only offered temporary relief. We tried eliminating certain foods too that people said could be triggers, namely dairy and gluten. Nothing worked. Then our insurance changed and we went from a private practice to Kaiser and saw a pediatrician at Oakland Kaiser said that new research showed that very diluted bleach baths (the same level as chlorine in a swimming pool) can eliminate eczema as it kills the bacteria that causes the itching/infection. My son was around 7 or 8 years old  at the time so it had been many, many years of trying all sorts of things. Every other day we filled the bathtub with warm water and 1/4 c bleach and he would submerge all but his head for about 5 - 8 minutes. To keep him from moving about we'd read him stories.  Within about 2.5 months the eczema was gone. Completely gone. He'd occasional get a small flare up (not all over, just in an area and nothing like he used to experience) and we'd do the baths for a bit till it went away but then at some point it just stopped happening. He is now almost 16 and occasionally will start to get some itching but as long as he keeps it moisturized it usually does the trick, or if it progresses a week of an ointment clears it up.

Looking back this treatment made sense. He had been off of dairy and gluten for about 6 months without any improvement when we took a trip to Mexico when he was about 2.5 yrs old. There he was eating diary and gluten as it was just too hard for us to manage avoiding it but yet his eczema started to clear up within days. The doctor said it was probably because of the salt water from the ocean and whatever it was in the pools was having the same effect as the bleach baths. As soon as we got home the eczema was back until we started the bleach baths. 

Here are some links about this treatment, including a bleach bath instruction sheet from the National Eczema Association. 

https://nationaleczema.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FactSheet_BleachB…

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-24940406

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atopic-dermatitis-eczema…

My daughter had terrible eczema when she was young and I did a few things that helped: 1) goat milk instead of cow milk 2) probiotics for kids from Whole Foods and 3) chinese medicine and 4) elimination of certain foods. I am not sure which helped the most but it did help. I did not want to use steroid creams unless terrible outbreak.

Sherry Yang is who I took my child to while she was suffering from major depressive disorder. I’m uncertain if she’s ever treated eczema but Sherry is a mother and extraordinarily kind and caring. She has a website listed at www.sherryyang.com. The other place I took my daughter to was the Hahnemann Medical Clinic in the medical building next to the El Cerrito Plaza. 400 Evelyn, Albany. The woman who runs the clinic is very knowledgeable and caring and may be able to either help you or point you in another less invasive direction. 

Best of luck to you and your child. 

Hi, my daughter had horrible eczema until she was about 2, all over her face and body.  She ultimately just outgrew it.  I don't think it was food allergy related, although she does have a peanut allergy (possibly caused by the eczema, as that is one current theory of peanut allergies in children) and she did test positive to being allergic to eggs (but she never ate them), which she eventually outgrew.  We tried steroids, all kinds of different of natural remedies, and I half-heartedly did some elimination diets (she was nursing).  We did acupuncture and some Chinese salves that seemed to help a little.  The most useful thing that we did was to put dead sea salts in her bath - that was the the most dramatic improvement we saw in her skin.  We bought high quality bath salts in bulk, bathed every day, and slathered her with CeraVe after baths.  I don't know why it helped.  The salts might have had a similar disinfectant effect as a bleach bath, or maybe the minerals were somehow balancing and healing.  She's now eight and a kid with dry, sensitive skin - she is prone to getting rashes and eczema from pools, scented lip balms and sunscreens, etc. - but it's totally manageable.  We use cetaphil for soap and still use CeraVe and hydrocortisone for flareups.  Good luck to you and your poor kiddo.. it's so frustrating.