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Welcome to the Simply Pediatrics Podcast simplifying holistic health care for infants and children. We're so glad you're here. Join Jennifer Zeffner, holistic pediatric Nurse practitioner and holistic mom of three on a mission. Listen in as she shares the answers to the most asked questions from parents in her practice every day and offers parents practical strategies and actionable steps to support their child's health and well being. Enjoy this insightful, delightful episode of the Simply Pediatrics Podcast and stay tuned for more information at the end of the podcast. Today's Episode Eczema
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hello and welcome. I'm so happy to be here with you today. Today I'm talking with you about the basic questions to ask your provider when your child develops x Eczema Eczema is one of the hardest illnesses to treat holistically. It really is just treated by a dermatologist with steroids. They'll often do allergy testing as well, but for the most part the treatment is steroid cream and once you stop the steroid cream, the eczema returns. So it is quite a vicious cycle. Holistically, it is difficult to treat and it's also very difficult to figure out what is causing it. It is true, true detective work. We can do the allergy testing that can give us some insight, but many times sensitivities for children don't show up in a blood test. So we start with, we go backward really. We start with births. Were they born C section? Were they exposed to antibiotics? They this put you at higher risk for eczema? Were you breastfed or were you bottle fed? Did the eczema start in the first year of life? In the first six months of life before your child started eating foods? This is important. If it started before six months, that really decreases a lot of the variables because then we're talking about formula or we're talking about mom's breast milk. And then we go in there and we look at the ingredients of the formulas and what's in mom's diet. Take out some of the common allergens such as casein, the protein found in dairy, eggs, corn, nuts and any other family allergies are taken out of mom's diet to see if we can figure out what's triggering the eczema. So that's our under six month children. Children who develop eczema after six months may still be having a sensitivity from something mom is eating or from their formula. But now we've started introducing foods into their diet. So you have to look at the food you've introduced. Also our 6 month old is starting to get around. They're sitting, they're often on the floor. So now they may have more exposure to whatever's in your home. So that's household cleaners, pets, mold, potentially. There's other factors in the household that have to be taken into consideration for the six months and over child who develops eczema. And also that includes shampoos and other body care products. Many children have been vaccinated multiple times by the time they're six months old. And if you can correlate eczema starting or exacerbating after an injection of a vaccine, that's important because there are many adjuvants that are added into the vaccines that could be triggering and or worsening the eczema. The part of the body where the eczema is is also very telling. If you have a child who only has eczema, for example, on a specific part of the body, for example their face, which is very common, but nowhere else on their body, then that really does limit us to what is that child's face often being exposed to. And that's going to be fabrics, colognes, perfumes, their bedding, their mattresses, anything toys that they're putting near their face, anything that's coming close to their face and their head. You want to really look into that and change things around. Because if you're only having eczema on the face or on the head, then that kind of tells you this is an exposure that's causing the eczema and not necessarily what they're eating. If the eczema is on multiple parts of the body, arms, legs and trunk, then probably this is something that the child is ingesting that is leading to the eczema exacerbation. Parasite cleanse definitely need to be taken into consideration when we have a child with eczema, especially if they have traveled or if they have pets in the household. Because a parasite in and of itself will cause all sorts of skin irritations. Parasites are much more common in the United States than any of us really understand. There are gentle parasite cleanses that are herbal, or you can also get a prescription as needed. Keep in mind when you're on your eczema journey to understand why this is happening is that our microbiome, our gut health, is very strongly linked to our skin. So if our microbiome is off, for example, you have a child who is constipated, not having regular bowel movements or having diarrhea, then chances are they're using their skin as well to rid the body of excess waste and that can come out as eczema. So when we heal the gut health, we often heal the skin. So a good probiotic, along with the other detective work of the environment and the diet is mindful. And certainly a probiotic is not going to harm your child. So adding a probiotic into the diet of a child who has eczema can often be very helpful for them. Remember that so many of our foods, if you have a child who is now eating food at six months and up, are exposed to so many chemicals. You know, our fruits and our vegetables, if they're not organic, have been exposed to pesticides. Our meats as well have been exposed to our meats and our dairy products are exposed to pesticides and to hormones and to many other chemicals that can be irritating to a child's skin. In my practice, when I see children with eczema, I do always go all the way backward, regardless of what their age is. I start backward from birth and work through that to try to do the detective work to figure out the why, the why this is happening and what we can do to assist with easing up the eczema. Other specialists that can help your child with their eczema will be herbalists, homeopaths and chiropractors. These are all specialists that I would encourage you to see outside of your dermatologist, who again, for the most part is really just prescribing a steroid ointment for your child. Eczema is really tricky. It can be debilitating for families. I really feel for you if you have a child with eczema. I hope some of this information is helpful or reassuring and helps you to continue on your journey to figure out the why my child is having eczema rather than just patching them up with a steroid and not trying to figure out the cause. Parenting is a journey and you're doing an amazing job. Stay curious and keep learning and I'll see you next time.
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Thank you for joining Jenny on the Simply Pediatrics podcast. We hope that the valuable information she shared in this episode will inspire and empower you on your holistic parenting journey. If you would like to learn more about Jenny, her Simply Pediatrics practice, or anything that she spoke about today, please check the show notes that accompany this podcast and you'll find all the links and resources you need. You can also sign up for the SimplyPediatrics mailing list so that you receive Jenny's weekly newsletters packed with vital information and holistic Parenting journeys. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please consider giving this page a like and subscribe to the channel so you don't miss any episodes. Don't forget to connect with us by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below. Follow simply Pediatrics on any and all of the social media platforms. And if you're interested in an in person or a virtual appointment with Jenny, please see the contact details in the show Notes. Stay tuned for more episodes packed with a wealth of powerful information to support you on your holistic parenting path. See you next time. It.