Tallulah
This gorgeous little Bub needed some help with her skin which had been problematic since around nine months of age.
What made this treatment unique was that little Bub’s mum had already been down the path of natural skin treatment with her older son, which had been very intense and traumatising for her. The treatment involved very strict food elimination, which created lots of fear around food for mum. I hear this kind of story all the time with mums who have either been directed to or have stumbled upon food elimination on their own. They try to pinpoint what food is causing a skin flare, without recognising that often true eczema (not allergic contact dermatitis) is an internal inflammatory disorder characterised by immune dysregulation and abnormalities in the function of the skin itself.
Food is just one piece of the puzzle, and despite popular opinion, sometimes it doesn’t have much to do with flares.
There are many bubs I’ve treated who have food allergy, and their skin is definitely reactive if they consume these items even at a trace level, but they are still prone to getting skin flares even without exposure to these allergens.
Having a dust mite allergy is something I see far more commonly in the clinic than seeing food allergy (which is diagnosed with skin prick testing in bubs and requires a referral to an immunologist).
My opinion in treating infants is that food restriction can cause more harm than good, and I think that should be assumed to be the case if there is not known food allergy. Restricting food unnecessarily can cause nutrient deficiencies, dysbiosis (especially where certain carbohydrates are restricted), and fussy eating in the future due to little diversity of taste and texture in the diet.
The belief that food is 100% to blame in eczema is simply not true, and this kind of mindset means that mums are making themselves 100% responsible for any eczema flare, which creates a lot of internal guilt and frustration.
Whilst having this conversation with little Bub’s mum, you can imagine the relief she felt when she heard that I wasn’t a big fan of food elimination, and it was really important to move forward in treatment with adequate education about all the things that work differently in the skin and the gut with eczema, so mum could take some pressure off just looking at food as a causative factor.
Bub had several red flags in her medical history that can trigger eczema including c-section birth and antibiotic exposure. The eczema had started to occur at around 8 months old (often eczema occurs around 6 months of age when bubs start crawling and solids are being introduced). Mum took Bub to an immunologist to have food allergy testing done, which showed there was nothing to worry about. This gave us the confidence we needed to put the question mark around food to rest, and move forward with different knowledge around nutrition.
At the start of treatment, Bub’s skin was red and irritated but not a dry type skin and retained moisture moderately well. I used the foundations of skin nutrition including fish oil (in liquid form for bugs), evening primrose oil (for the gamma-linoleic acid that can help reduce itching). We also worked with specific probiotics and a personalised herbal remedy. We discussed the aspects of Ayurveda and the Pitta constitution, which Bub is likely to be. Pitta constitutions create more internal heat than others, and can be worse for certain things like hot weather and hot food. If heat in the skin is not controlled, it can lead to dry skin over time (heat causes dryness eventually). This is something some parents notice to be the pattern of their bub’s skin once we start talking about it.
We discussed what cooling foods to focus on, like cucumber and watermelon (which coincidentally Bub was asking for!), and how to control exposure to heating foods.
I spent some time discussing the function of the skin and what is abnormal when it comes to eczema; there is poor cell integrity, reduced ceramide production (natural moisturiser that the skin cell produces), incomplete corneocyte compaction (meaning the skin barrier can’t form properly), which all contributes to a compromised skin barrier. This increases likelihood of sensitivities, as the skin barrier can’t perform its protective function of helping to shield the deeper layers of the skin (which contain immune cells) from environmental irritants. This helped mum to understand that there were plenty of internal factors that she couldn’t blame herself for!
Bub responded very well and very fast to treatment, with only 3x follow ups required before we entered self-management. In our review consultation, I gave mum instructions around what things to pay attention to in the environment and diet to help reduce the likelihood of Pitta excess (Pitta vruddhi in Sanskrit) which could aggravate the skin. We also discussed the best long-term support for Bub’s skin to maintain the great improvements we achieved, namely being all those essential fatty acids that the skin needs to do its job, and regular moisturising, with different ones being used in different seasons.
Long story short, here is another happy and super cute success story we are celebrating over here.
If you’re a mum of a Bub with problem skin, I want you to please remember that:
Eczema is genetic and cannot be cured, only managed
There are innate factors that contribute to skin flares that can’t necessarily be prevented; please don’t blame yourself for them
There are some controllable factors like chemical exposure, nutrient deficiencies, diet and environment that, when controlled well, may help to reduce severity and regularity of flares. These are the things to focus on.
There are different kinds of eczema, and contact irritant or allergic contact dermatitis are the only sorts that are going to be completely stopped when you stop exposure to the allergen or irritant. Other types of eczema have significant internal factors that contribute to the presentation of the skin, and the healing journey is about trying to control the controllable things.
Trust your intuition when it comes to your bub
Don’t eliminate foods if you don’t have a good reason to! There’s hundreds of different foods and chemicals the average person is exposed to from their everyday diet (the numbers really add up if you’re eating processed food), and it can be next to impossible to isolate food sensitivities. Food allergies generally give an obvious reaction, but depending on the severity of the eczema, the skin may be constantly severely flared and therefore the reaction is not as easy to see. If you suspect food is a trigger, see your GP and seek help to get food allergy testing done.
If you want to talk about what’s been going on with your bub’s skin, and if I might be able to help, make sure to book a discovery call with me!
Much love,
Em (Naturopath, Herbalist, Skin-thusiast)
