Eczema ‘Cure’ Series – Chemical-Free

If you’ve been following this blog, you’d know I don’t jump into eczema (miracle) cures. I still don’t.

But as I read journeys of how eczema sufferers are cured, I realized that there are common approaches they take. These may not be THE (or even an) eczema cure but I think there’re certain situations which they may help improve eczema. I hazard a guess and this series is more about a holistic approach to controlling eczema – I suppose you can call it a cure if one approach singularly works well for you!

There are some eczema sufferers that report an improvement in their eczema after ‘cleaning’ their homes of all chemicals (no pun intended!). Personally I don’t use much chemicals at home, for instance, my floor is cleaned with water and we don’t use anti-bacterial wash every time. It can be very difficult to adopt a zero-tolerance for chemical in your life, given how they are in a lot of products, even baby wipes! I do believe though that some individuals’ skin are more sensitive to chemicals than others and therefore for them, eliminating chemicals work well for their eczema. For the rest of us, perhaps a moderated approach to limit chemicals only in certain areas. These are my suggestions!

Chemical Alert #1 – Detergent

This is likely one area you have to be careful with because detergent residue can be irritating to child’s sensitive skin and it is also worn in close contact with the skin. Detergent residue can make up 2% of the weight of a clothing and it contains irritants such as

• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
• Triclosan
• Formaldehyde
• Sodium Hydroxide
• Linalool
• Sodium Flouride

These chemicals are also present in fabric softener, bubble bath and baby wipes; read more in What and How Much Detergent to Use for a Child with Eczema

These chemicals irritant and can cause contact dermatitis. What I do is wash using a longer cycle and use a hypoallergenic detergent. It may also mean that the clothes don’t get cleaned as it would with stronger detergent but it beats having eczema. Be careful of new clothes too, wash them before wearing as they also contain chemicals (read this mom’s sharing on trying on new clothes for her eczema child).

Chemical Alert #2 – Anti-microbial Products

This is one of those oxymoron – we want to clean to be safe but the cleaning leads to more danger. Generally speaking, the concerns are:

1. Increased use of antimicrobial products (ingredient triclosan and triclocarban) lead to prolonged contact through the use of everyday products like dish washing detergent, hand sanitizer, deodorant and soap. This overtime can lead to contact eczema where the skin starts to develop rash when in contact with these, for instance, occupations that involve frequent hand washing tend to get this.
2. Exposure to the ingredients in anti-microbial products had been associated with wheezing and allergic rhinitis
3. Avoid soap and surfactant that remove skin lipids, understand more from Dr Cheryl Lee in Moisturizer and Skincare Products
4. Constantly using anti-microbial products to kill bacteria can actually lead to bacteria becoming resistant to cleaning, partly contributing to why hospitals have higher rate of staph bacteria infection although they clean the hospital often (see this study)
5. Also the hygiene hypothesis, whereby the more ‘ bacteria cleaning’ we do, the less our body is capable of dealing with foreign matters thus sometimes going into an overdrive when exposed to something harmless

Chemical Alert #3 – Fragrance

Fragrance is undoubtedly the top irritant – avoid fragrance for the whole family with a baby with sensitive skin, as advised by dermatologist Dr Cheryl Lee MD in Eczema and Skin pH, point 7 on allergy avoidance. Other chemicals to avoid are nickel, formaldehyde releasing preservatives, propolis (in beeswax), neomycin and bacitracin. For alternative names to fragrance, see the compiled list from dermatologist Dr Verallo Rowell on Sensitive Skin Products – Top Irritants.

Other common irritants for children with eczema is listed in Contact Dermatitis for your Eczema Child and nickel is one that showed up in quite a few studies. Coins and jewelry of nickel has to be avoided for those sensitive to nickel.

Chemical Alert #4 – Hair Dyes and Tattoos

It would unlikely be affecting eczema children but teens and adults should take care of the potential dangerous effects from using hair dyes (with A-List Celebrity Hairstylist Kristan Serafino on alternative hairstyling tips) and tattoos.

Chemical Alert #5 – Chemical in the Air

Chemicals that we breathe in can also affect allergic condition, like asthma. Read how dermatologist Dr Cheryl Lee avoid VOC paint and redo her home carpeting. Avoid polyaromatic hydrocarbons as well.

Chemical Alert #6 – Baby Wipes

Baby wipes are a life-saver, especially when traveling. Be careful not to use it on the face though as the skin is thinner on the face and an ingredient in baby wipe methylchloroisothiazolinone or methylisothiazolinone has been linked to cause skin rash overtime.

On the point about the air, many food allergens can come into contact with our skin from the air. Especially if you or your child has egg allergy, it’d be best to dine in a restaurant with good air ventilation instead of hawker centre where the ‘egg’ content in the air is higher (something my co-author Prof Hugo Van Bever shared in our book launch). What other chemicals are you avoiding? Share in the comments!