Tips for Living with Eczema is a paid collaboration with Neutral 0%.
Anyone that has been following my blog for a while will know that Maxi suffers from Eczema and has since he was small. He is now 13 and I like to think that we have his skin condition under control, however, he still has flare ups, in fact, he went through a particularly nasty one a couple of weeks ago.
I had become complacent and decided to try a new laundry product and POW – poor Maxi suffered the consequences of me trying to make the change and this was when to Neutral 0% stepped in. Neutral 0% is a premium range of laundry products designed for people with allergies and sensitive skin. It has 0% perfumes, 0% colourants and 0% optical brighteners. Originating in Denmark over 25 years ago Neutral 0% is a household name in Scandinavian countries and is designed to reduce the risk of skin allergy reaction and irritation without compromising on performance. We are going to be working with Neutral 0% over the coming year and they asked us to share with you our tips for living with eczema.
Tips for Living with Eczema
As a parent, I have always made sure that I have followed the medical instructions given to me for dealing with Maxi’s skin condition but have found other ways to make living with eczema much more comfortable for all of us. Obviously, I am not an expert and these are just what works for us and will not work for everyone.
Be consistent – This is our key to everything. Making sure that we consistently apply creams and treatments. We found the right maintenance regime and we stick to it. It took some time but we found out which products worked for us and which ones didn’t.
Know the triggers. We kept a diary and soon realised what triggered Maxi’s breakouts. This included being generally unwell, central heating, parabens, certain washing powders, weather changes, chlorine, certain sun protection cream and wind and also lack of sleep!
Moisturise. When you find a moisturiser that suits your child skin then use it often and generously. This can be a challenge when skin is a good condition. especially with a teenager, but he has learned this the hard way.
Wearing natural and breathable clothing without seams that irritate was key for Maxi. He found labels and certain fabrics made his eczema worse. I also always make sure that I use laundry detergent and fabric softener that is kind to sensitive skin. Neutral 0% is designed for sensitive skin and has both the Allergy UK Seal of Approval and is recomended by Netmums.
Use distraction – Sometimes we have to realise that our children just feel the need to itch and it can be so demoralising for them to keep hearing you say “don’t scratch” or “stop itching”. For us, this is where fidget toys often come in. They can be a great way of keeping those hands busy and stopping the constant habit of itchiness.
Be prepared for age to change things – this is something we have learned. We were hoping that Maxi would grow out of his eczema, however, that isn’t the case, yet! Hormones have effected maxi’s triggers.
Be careful with anything that touches your child’s skin. For Maxi, this means no products with SLS, SLA or Parabens including shampoo (which rinses off on his skin). This also means washing things such as scarfs, travel pillows etc using products such as Neutral 0% which are free from perfumes and colourants. We even take our own linen for Maxi on holiday. We have been caught out with things like school football kit which gets communally washed in the past, so he wears underlayers to protect his skin.
Neutral 0% Giveaway
To celebrate Allergy Awareness Week, I have teamed up with Neutral 0% to giveaway Neutral 0% products. Just complete the entry below:
To find out more about Neutral 0% visit www.neutralsensitiveskin.com and to purchase Neutral 0% visit www.sainsburys.co.uk, www.ocado.com or www.amazon.co.uk and search for “Neutral Sensitive”.
Sounds like me and Max have a lot of the same triggers, central heating is a nightmare for setting mine off as does the change in weather. So with the snow, sun and then snow this past month it’s been hell.
Staying away from perfumed products and moisturising regularly helps.
I have found taking probiotics daily has really helped with my eczema.
It’s strange how different kids have different triggers isn’t it? I have to buy my girls different suncreams – boits own brand is brilliant for Marged but sets Anwen’s face off (seems to be ok on her body) the only ‘suncream’ that she’ll let me put on her face now is my Oil of Olay moisturiser with spf15. But not the one for sensitive skin! That brings her out in blotches!?!
Be aware of triggers. Moisturise. Cotton clothing and bedding tends to be most appropriate.
Putting gloves of my daughter before bed as she always scratches at night,
My grandson has bad eczema and we have tried so many products – the best tip I can give is it is a process of elimination and finding the right product to help you – sometimes a stronger prescription medication is needed….Cool clothing, and stop itching as much as possible. You can buy some great anti-scratch clothing too
This is such a great post and so important too. I had eczema REALLY bad when I was in my teenage years myself – at one point? Both of my hands had to be bandaged up due to being so bad {nby my GP}. So, a great post – thanks so much for sharing!
We avoid strawberries and raspberries as they seem to effect the problem
Mine was really bad when I was working in a bar and restaurant. The manager even tried changing the soap in the dispensers to see if that helped. As soon as I started in an office, it all cleared up.
Ive been using the childrens range in boots, it has been very helpful in curbing it, childs play is the name….
My tip is to icrease the Omega 3 oils in the diet, and to avoid refined sugars and white flour also. I have found this to help with the inflammation issues that can make matters worse.
Moisturising is the one thing that has really helped my son’s skin! I used to suffer as a child but seem to have outgrown it now but hate seeing my son suffer ☹️
No allergies or eczema here, but lots of psoriasis! Just have to keep moisturised as much as possible & try not to get stressed!
Taking Vitamin B has really helped my skin
For my daughter i find when I bath her every night her skin gets really sore so we bath every other night and this has made a huge difference!
i’ve found that honey helps with my hayfever
Cold weather is nasty 🙁 but wearing cotton clothes really helps, good luck all
When you have eczema, how you wash your skin is important. Take a short, warm (not hot) bath or shower every day. Use a gentle cleanser instead of soap and don’t scrub your skin. Pat it slightly dry. While it’s still damp, apply moisturiser within 3 minutes to seal in the hydration. An oatmeal bath can help control itching, too.
sounds odd, but i iron literally everything both side and inside out, a tip my gran told me
We are pretty sure that our eldest has eczema and has flared up pretty badly this week, so this would be perfect! x
Just using gentle / natural products and keeping the skin as moisturised as possible.
Be aware of what triggers it and use a good natural moisturiser
I love the Child’s Farm Moisturiser to keep my eczema under control
For me it is moisturising! If I do it I can just about keep eczema away apart from the occasional little flare up so it is worth sticking with it!
Buy none fragranced products
Find a good moisturiser
Go for cotton based products. It seems to be so much softer on skin
I suffer with eczema so try to avoid heavily perfumed products and stick to gentle laundry products.
watch your diet and avoid trigger foods, get enough sleep, drink pleanty of water. Use emoillient to wash skin and mositurise every day. Keep products perfume free. Relax, manage stress levels and get some fresh air.
Just the laundry pack I need
Find a good cream/moisturiser and ensure it is for delicate skin!
We try and avoid as many harsh chemicals and strongly scented products as possible. Lots of simple moisturiser.
We live in an old property and the best investment I made was a dehumidifier. It’s done us all a world of good x
To lessen the impact of allergies, always try to choose products which help
I always find with my son that if i use cream on him even when he hasnt got a breakout he suffers a lot less
i use propolis cream on my skin when i have a flare up!! magic stuff!! x
find out what makes it worse, then avoid it at all costs. put the cream on out 15 mins before going to bed, it gives it chance to soak into the skin, not get rubbed off
we found that when my son’s eczema flares up we give him lemon drinks i give him evening primrose capsule and use a natural cream i had made up containing blue camomile and lavender i also use soap nuts to wash all his clothes and bedding in and use vinegar instead of fabric conditioner and the only time he gets flare up is when he visits his dad’s
I’ve found that often one allergy is linked to another. So when our little Leo developed eczema we began looking at things he eats, wears, etc. We’ve found he is slightly better if we don’t give him too much dairy. So perhaps an idea for other eczema sufferers is to consider whether there could be other factors that link to the ‘flare ups’
Cotton clothes and bedding, moisturiser and gentle products for our washing.
Keeping you’r skin as supple as possible by regular moisturising can help allieviate the symptoms x
cotton clothing and sheets make a huge difference (also for some reason if we dry sheets on the line they actually affect H – we wondered if it was due to pollen but alll hers need to be done in the dryer now)
Always carry anti histamines for allergies, and cover the bairns in E45 twice a day s
Plenty of moisturiser and avoiding scented products
Find products that work and stick with them if you can
wear the gloves that are for wearing to put moisture into hands, they look like scratch mittens at night. This will stop you scratching when asleep
Keep cool, dry and plenty of moistener
I always use natural chemical free products whenever possible and I find that really helps.
I think that keeping a diary of what triggers allergies is a really good idea.
Try to learn your triggers so you can avoid them where possible. oat baths can be brilliant for soothing sore itchy skin
This would be a lovely relief to my itchy skin
Oily fish seems to help my son and lots of moisturizer.
We have tried to identify what causes my girls eczema to flare up. So we never have the heating on as it turns them into an itchy mess. We also try to avoid all artificial fragrance etc in toiletries. I have never heard of this brand . Have always used fairy for their clothes. This looks so much better
Bath every other night helps x
Wash in natural ingredients
Stick to brands that are tested to be safe for eczema
Keep moisturiser in your bag wherever you go, I never leave the house without it for my daughter x x x
Baths and creams me and my daughter Sheriah have eczema I can’t use fabric conditioner when I wash my clothes or I itch for days
I use emollients in the bath and moisturise regularly throughout the day. I agree that once you find one that works buy lots of it especially when it’s on a deal! Heating, air con, changes in temperature, the weather, most wash powders, some soaps/gels and certain materials are all a nightmare!
Coconut oil on my hands in gloves always really helps with my flare ups x