Eczema in Children – Moisturizer

Transcript

One of the hallmarks of eczema is that your skin is extra dry. And one of the reasons it’s dry is because you’re missing something called ceramides in your skin. So the most important thing when you’re moisturizing your child’s skin is to use a ceramide based moisturizer. 9 times out of 10, the parents will tell me, “But I’m using natural moisturizer! I’m using coconut oil. I’m using this concoction from the health food store.” And if you turn the bottle around and read the ingredients, it’s got calendula and lavender and avocado and all kinds of natural ingredients. There’s nothing wrong with naturally occurring ingredients like that, but those are very allergenic. They are botanicals and they come from nature. And for children with eczema who have sensitive skin, it’s like rubbing leaves on their skin. You wouldn’t pick up a botanical out of your garden and start rubbing it on your child’s skin.

Similarly, you should not be using botanicals on your skin. So when you have a child with eczema, the best way to moisturize is with a ceramide based cream. And the best one would probably be something like CeraVe or something else that has ceramides are essential for forming the mortar between the bricks, which are the skin cells. And they form a barrier that keeps chemicals and preservatives and fragrances out. So when you use a ceramide based cream, restores that barrier function and the child can live more normally without worrying about walking by aunt Josephine who has perfume on and it’s going to get through his skin.