My battle against eczema

Shaloah Skincare began with sacrifice, struggle and a fight against eczema. Our story – my son’s and I – began with childhood eczema. Take a look at any list of symptoms for this condition, and I can tell you – they don’t even come close. At 3 weeks, his skin wasn’t like your typical baby’s. It wasn’t smooth, soft or silky. At three months, he was officially diagnosed with eczema.

Eczema psoriasis natural treatment moisturising cream

Shaloah Skincare began with sacrifice, struggle and a fight against eczema.

Our story – my son’s and I – began with childhood eczema.
Take a look at any list of symptoms for this condition, and I can tell you – they don’t even come close.

At 3 weeks, his skin wasn’t like your typical baby’s. It wasn’t smooth, soft or silky.
At three months, he was officially diagnosed with eczema.
At four months, it spread – from his cheeks, to his face, to his scalp, arms and legs.
At four months, two weeks, his entire body was covered – top to toe – his hair fell out.

It was like wildfire. Unstoppable. Prescription after prescription – appointment after appointment, nothing helped, nothing even made so much as the slightest difference.

Queue months of weeping scabs, continually cracked, angry skin, redness, rashes and raw, sore skin – his crying was almost non-stop. While other mothers are doing battle with a sleep routine – reading blogs, forums and pondering the input of friends and family, there are no manuals for coping with severe eczema.

What could I do?

I put him in his cot – and his face would stick to the sheets.
I would swaddle him – and he would rub his head on the sheets – until his face would swell and eventually weep.

Far beyond the sleepless nights (and days), no one talks about the fact that pain replaces the milestones – the giggling, laughing, interacting (missed milestones that made me wonder – would this affect his development?). His hands were constantly in scratch mittens – he wasn’t able to explore and discover the world the way babies do and should.

These were dark times – a nightmare that didn’t end come the break of the morning light. It was never-ending.

The real-world symptoms of a mom to a baby struggling with eczema (perhaps you can relate?)

It starts with exhaustion and forgetfulness, then moves on to headaches, and parts of the body becoming numb. Your vision may blur, in turn leading to disorientation. You begin to drop things, and then the pins and needles set in.

Those are the physical symptoms. But, as with any condition, chronic physical stresses lead to chronic mental strain – stress leads to anxiety, anxiety to depression. Pressure mounts on your relationship – you’re both exhausted, overwhelmed and desperate (which, as if you didn’t have enough to deal with, leads to arguments). Finally, you isolated and alone, hopeless and helpless.

These were my symptoms, as a mum to a baby son suffering from eczema.
It was torture. And I thought that it would never end.

The next few months were a hazy blur of doctors, dieticians, allergy departments, and dermatologists – the answer? Steroid and paraffin-based creams. Answers that have some nasty long term side effects. Not the answers I was looking for.

A link between eczema and allergies?

Through my own research I became aware that often allergies and eczema were closely related so I exclusively breastfed, eliminating all possible allergens in my diet – dairy, eggs, wheat, seafood, nuts. Convenience foods were impossible. Cooking with a crying baby even more so. I was famished. Slowly, we became used to what triggered his eczema and allergies, and I carefully avoided those.

Darkness.

Every, single, night, I’d sit in darkness from 6pm onwards. Every, single, hour, he would wake. One (as it turns out) fateful day, my husband arrived home with an iPad – a connection to that light world out there. And so the research began – research that could have stopped with the Eczema Society website (as every other online source of eczema information seemed to be a carbon copy). Still no real answers.

But I was adamant that I didn’t want to use steroids.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
– Romans 3:5-6

When I felt like giving up – I typed in “Eczema Jesus help me”. And I discovered a lady with the worst eczema condition I have ever seen – her skin was literally falling off. I read her story – I learned that steroid cream had awful side effects – that ‘topical withdrawal’ leads to eczema ten times worse. I was right about the steroids (something that sleep deprivation has recently had me doubting).

Ultimately this woman would self-heal with herbs, flowers, diet and supplements. I was inspired, determined, invigorated – I knew then – it would be nature’s remedies that would help my baby boy. Yet the ‘natural’ remedies out there, were anything but natural – promise after promise, product after product, each was empty, ineffective.

“I will make an all natural eczema cream myself”

Spurred on by the screaming in the dark, I ordered plants, waxes, flowers and herbs. I researched the healing properties of plants. On the rare occasion that I could catch up with sleep, I didn’t. Instead, armed with a saucepan and nature’s contributions, I began creating in my kitchen. And that is exactly where our first cream began – Calendula Cream – a cream hailed as “a miracle”, “a wonderful cream” and “a little jar of wonders” – a cream that brought my nightmare to a close.

Click here to find out more about our Calendula and Borage Soothe and Repair Cream.

This story (and yours too) is set against a glittering backdrop of perfect lives lived out on social media. In this social-media driven world, images are projected that don’t reflect real life – images that form a sparkling reel of best bits – filtered, fake, fraudulent. Struggle is part of life today that’s hidden away, yet it can and does build character, it could and should shape who you are. This picture-perfect social world of ours leads us to believe that struggle represents our doing something wrong, thinking wrong.

I don’t believe that to be true…

I don’t believe we are God. I don’t believe we have that power or control. I believe that we should embrace struggle and persevere. In the darkest times, I remember repeating these words to myself… they did help.


“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
Perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Romans 5:3-4

 

So, what’s your story?

Up and down the country there are estimated to be 15 million people feeling the very real struggle of eczema – 1.5 million of whom are children. 70% of these children will go on to develop an allergy – to eggs, nuts or airbornes, such as dust.

If you find yourself amongst these statistics – know this:  you’re not alone.
And the story of Shaloah Skincare is as much ours as it is yours.

Over the course of 9 years I’ve heard many stories just like ours – as well as customers who recount their own experiences in their reviews. What began as a simple, natural eczema cream has progressed to a platform – a place of support – of light, tips and advice, rants and discussions.

If you’re a parent to a little soldier with eczema (or an adult sufferer yourself)…
We all want to hear about your battle.

 

Share you story, right here. Tell us your tips – what’s worked, what hasn’t. Get things off your chest – the advice that you’ve been given, time and time again, that hasn’t worked. The products you’ve been prescribed, over and over, which have had little to no effect.

And last but not least, perhaps the most important question of all…

Tell us… how are you feeling?

Mum, dad – this is one of the few places where fellow-parents understand your struggles.
Adult sufferer – there’s support and friends here.

Leave your comments, and let’s start a conversation.

Comments

  1. Jui Reply

    Reading your story to the creation of you skincare brand I can totally relate. I’m finding it difficult at the moment with my 15 month old son who has eczema and multiple food allergies. The constant itching and crying is exhausting. While I breastfeed him I’m constantly searching for a cream that may suit his needs. I’ve given up on steroid and paraffin based creams as these are doing more harm than good. I am looking to heal my baby not suppress him. I hope to purchase your product and God willing it may actually help him.

    April 24, 2024
    1. shaloahorganics Reply

      Hi Jui,
      It sounds as though you are going through a very similar situation to what we were. First of all can I encourage you and say that it does get easier! I think you are heading in the right direction by focussing on healing rather than suppressing. I’d encourage you to keep a food diary of what you are eating (if you aren’t already) – this will help you to determine what foods might be causing your son to have a flare (via your breastmilk). Also, always make sure you thoroughly wash your hands before applying any type of cream, if you have traces of food that your baby is allergic to on your hands and you rub that into your son’s skin along with the cream it will make his skin flare. (This might seem obvious but something I totally missed in those early days!) I’d like to encourage to you to read this blog post I wrote with some more guidance how to treat eczema naturally – it includes things such as diet, how to wash clothes, allergies etc… I hope you find it useful.

      Any questions please do reach out. I usually get back within a few hours on working days.

      http://www.shaloahskincare.co.uk/eczema/10-ways-treat-eczema-naturally

      April 24, 2024
  2. Marlena Manning Reply

    Our daughter Mia who is 4 years old suffers with Atopic Eczema and several severe allergies. She has 2 saltbaths a week and eats completely dairy and wheatfree. We keep an eye on histamine levels in fruit and veg but try and keep a wide range as much as poss. She can have eggs in cake etc but a boiled egg is still not possible.

    She looks well generally this year after last winter but this may be due to the mild weather. We have installed a humidifier at home and have no carpets anymore. This all may sound random but I am just trying to point out any further ideas how to combat eczema, never giving up the search for the reason of skin reaction. Mia has just finished a course of homeopathic remedies which mainly cleaned out her digestive system. Still we encourage her to drink teas neutralizing her body from acidic food intake (although very difficult). Tea such as nettle, sage, dandelion, especially effective from fresh garden herbs.

    We are hoping she grows out of most the allergies which have been confirmed. Looking forward to see your business grow, we totally support your ethic of using natural ingredients only!

    After using your Calendula and Borage Soothe & Repair Cream for our daughter I can highly recommend this lovely cream! I apply it mainly on face, neck, around ears as it feels to be such a special and delicate cream and I observed after about 2 weeks of using this cream daily a particularly healthy glow in Mia’s skin.

    We enjoyed it’s beautiful fragrance and luxurious quality when applying. Mia would hold still as we both felt this cream is special and applying it is like a treat. What is actually a healing cream or remedy feels very much like a spa moment. We are glad to have stocked up on it again as we really missed the cream. Whilst we use Weleda Calendula baby oil for Mia’s body we only know very few creams to use for the face, neck, around ears and chin.
    Your skincare reminds me in its quality also of Neals Yard Remedies which I also adore!

    My very best wishes to you!

    Marlena, Mia and Scott

    August 14, 2023
  3. Katherine Anne Lecomber Reply

    Hi there,

    Feeling down and fed up. I have contact dermatitis, rosacea, keratosis pillaris, psorasis, heat bumps and poly morphic light eruptions. Recently had a patch test and I’m allergic to nickel, rubber, Linalool and linalin and propylene glycol. I’ve been given steroids which contain propylene glycol in!! Like a sick joke. So I’m using calamine and aqueous mix for time being to soothe the blistered itchy red reactions on my back.

    July 24, 2023
    1. Shaloah Skincare Reply

      So sorry to hear you are struggling at the moment, it sounds as though you are really going through it. I’d like to direct you to this blog post which has lots of advice on how to treat ezcema and allergies naturally. I hope it will give you some pointers and help you on your healing journey. Please do stay in touch and let us know how it all goes.
      http://www.shaloahskincare.co.uk/eczema/10-ways-treat-eczema-naturally

      August 23, 2023
  4. Ally Reply

    I suddenly developed a allergy to the horses hay which led to having a form or eczema around my eyes they were red sore and itchy I was fed up of people asking me if I’d been crying or eww what’s wrong with your eyes !! I probably tried near on £ 100 worth or different products some I put on and made my eyes burn so badly I had to wash it off but nothing quite worked. On seeing this product pop up on face book I thought I’d give it a try again thinking it would end up on my already huge pile of products but I was really desperate. I put it on and no stinging which impressed me. Within 3 days my eyes were less dry and sore and within 2 weeks it had completely cleared up I still am careful when dealing with hay and keep my cream handy just incase. I can’t rate this product highly enough a miracle in a jar I say made me look human again. I can’t thank you enough. xxx

    June 27, 2023

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