Any family who has to deal with a child with eczema knows that often, the physical symptoms are the easiest to combat. We’d been struggling to deal with my six year old daughter’s inflamed rashes, itchy breakouts and burning red skin patches for months to no avail. However, when she came home crying because friends at school had commented about her appearance, and wondered why she wasn’t “normal”, the challenge to ease her emotional discomfort became even more critical than easing her physical ailments. Fortunately for us, a great dermatologist and a wonderful product did both.
Eczema is due to a hypersensitivity reaction in the skin, which leads to longterm swelling and redness of the skin. People with eczema (or atopic dermatitis) often have allergies and hayfever, but the eczema is rarely caused by allergies. It can start in infancy, and children often outgrow the symptoms.
After many requests of her pediatrician, I finally had her referred to a leading dermatologist, who outlined some very simple, but critical changes to how we treat her. We wash her clothes and bedding in perfume-free detergent. We limit her exposure to chlorine during flare ups. Most importantly she has a ten minute bath every night. Every night. It seems counter-intuitive to make someone with dry skin endure more frequent bathing, but these are lukewarm baths, often with oil, and always followed by moisturizing lotion.
We’ve been using La Roche-Posay’s Lipikar Balm and it has been a miracle cream for her eczema. Twice daily use over the past few months has almost completely eliminated our need for prescription creams. La Roche-Posay is the number one dermatologist recommended brand in Canada, and I’ve become a big fan not only of the product, but also of their social media outreach. Their Facebook page has great advice for individuals and families dealing with eczema, and on Thursday April 19 they’ll be hosting a Skin Expert Q&A session, so you can get your own questions answered. You can also follow the Canadian families in their “Our Journey” program, as they deal with the challenges of eczema.
As a mother, I know how rare it is when we can find a cure to the challenges our children face. I’m so thankful for this product and for the La Roche-Posay Lipikar line that I had to share our experience.
Trend Watch is written by me; all opinions are my own. While I am sometimes given free products to review, this is not a sponsored post.