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Over the past month or so, I've been sharing on the topic of eczema, and how to naturally and holistically approach it in order to bring both relief and healing. If you missed any of the past posts, here they are:

Eczema: What is it and what causes it?
Bringing Relief to the Discomfort
Solving the Underlying Causes, Part 1

4)
Try Food Eliminations

Eczema as a reaction to a food
allergy or sensitivity is very, very common. Some of the most common
food suspects are: Wheat, eggs, dairy, soy, shellfish, tomatoes,
strawberries, and citrus, though there can be other culprits as well.

Often, these are not true allergies, but
rather something that the body has become sensitive to through poor
digestion, improper preparation or simply an inability to properly
assimilate that particular food. By removing these foods temporarily
from the diet, and working to heal the digestive system during that
time, many of them can safely be reintroduced with no further problems.

If you have access to a good Naturopath, I would
highly recommend a visit to one. They are able to provide
detailed food sensitivity testing (such as a Vega or other similar test), and this often highlights
sensitivities that you might not have otherwise considered. An
alternative would be to have conventional allergy testing done.

If none
of these options are available to you, or you would prefer to just do
it yourself, you can do an elimination diet (see this
for a fairly good explanation of how to do an elimination diet). The
basic idea is that you eliminate all common allergens for a period of
time, and then slowly, one by one, reintroduce them and watch carefully
for reactions.

While undertaking a diet like this, it's important to strengthen the body and the immune system, and some good ways to do this are to: avoid all refined grains and sugar, take a probiotic supplement (such as acidophilus, or even better, one that contains several different strains of good bacteria), focus on eating nutrient-dense foods and also on getting plenty of fiber and water for good elimination. All of these things will help to heal a weakened digestive system.

5) Consider Detoxification

Though
we are unclear of exactly where the toxins have come from, this seems
to be one of the major issues for my son. We do our best to avoid
toxins in our home, but we are still continually exposed to them
through the water supply, the air, the foods we eat (we don't eat
perfectly, 100% organic, and even if we did, there are still traces of
pesticides and other chemicals from the environment that we can't control), etc. His body
seems to have a particularly hard time flushing those toxins out, so
that has been our main focus in his treatments.

Supporting the
liver, gallbladder, and digestive system are very important, which we did using homeopathics and probiotic supplements. We've also used
blood detoxifiers, which included more homeopathics and certain
foods that aid with this (especially leafy greens, anything with chlorophyll and also chlorella). We've taken out foods that he was reacting to sensitively,
to allow his gut to heal, and to give his body one less thing to have
to deal with while trying to flush the toxins.

When you have to
take this approach, know that it usually gets worse before it gets
better. We've been working at it for about 3 months (less intensely in the last month), and we've seen it
flare up much worse during that time. Now it's starting to calm
down a lot more, but we also realize that the toxins aren't all gone
yet. We've recently started him on a couple of new things and are continuing on
again with some previous ones, so (as I expected) it briefly flared
up again, but I am hopeful that we are starting to see it heal more thoroughly.

**Just
a note on this- If you are unsure of what you are doing in either food eliminations and especially with detoxification, and quite
frankly most of us are (myself included), I would work with a trusted naturopath,
certified nutritionist or herbalist, or naturally-minded doctor on
this, especially when it is with an infant or child!

This was the last of the series on eczema. Obviously, it's not going to answer every question or concern, and is not completely comprehensive in offering solutions, as it is only from my own personal experience and study. I hope, though, that it's given more food for thought and perhaps some ideas for next steps to take. Thank you for all of your wonderful feedback throughout the series!

Any thoughts on these last two underlying causes? Have you dealt with either of these in particular, and what was the route that you took in addressing them? Was it successful?

More from Keeper of the Home

• Eczema: Solving the Underlying Causes, Part 1 | Keeper of the Home
• Eczema: Bringing Relief to the Discomfort | Keeper of the Home
• Frugality with Food, Revisited- Part 2 | Keeper of the Home
• My thoughts on sunscreen, Part 2 | Keeper of the Home