The Battle with Eczema

We have had a tough battle with eczema with James, a little with Katelyn and a lot with Lilly.  If you have ever had to deal with this you know how frustrating it can be.  With James we took the traditional route of going to our Dr, getting a prescription for a steroid cream and months of applying the stuff and hoping for it to go away.  Eventually I stopped using the cream with him because of my concerns over using a steroid on such a little baby and we continued to battle it with OTC lotions and creams.  Eventually it went away.

When Lilly started to get it all over her face and neck my heart dropped.  I love her and think she is so beautiful but she just looked horrible and people wondered what disease she had.  :(  I knew I wasn't willing to smear a steroid all over her for months so we didn't even bother going to the Dr.  In desperation I prayed for help to know what to do.  Heavenly Father's willingness to help and the guidance I receive never ceases to amaze me.  I felt prompted to use apple cider vinegar.  I did a little research to figure out if anyone had tried this, what kind to use, if it should be full strength etc.  

Here is what I found out:   Many people have successfully cured eczema with it by topically applying regularly.  They usually use 1 part water to 1 part vinegar.  It should be unfiltered apple cider vinegar "with the mother".  

So off to Sprouts we went.  For $2.50 we bought a pint sized bottle of miracle working stuff! 

 Don't believe me, see for yourself:

Before:

(

After:

The second picture was taken 11 days later. (I forgot to take a picture sooner)

The details:  because she is so little I used 2 parts water: 1 part apple cider vinegar.  I applied by dipping a paper towel in it and wiping it over the affected area.  I then would top it with Mary Kay's Extra Emollient Night Cream.  I did this about 5 times throughout a 24 hour period.  

And for those of you who used creams for months. like we did. with little to no success,  this took 4 DAYS!  I am amazed and so grateful to my Heavenly Father for listening to my pleadings and answering my prayers.  I am thankful my Lilly is back to beautiful again.  We have also used this on extra dry hands from winter weather and it worked great!  So if you too have been battling eczema, give it a try!

**As a side note, we have also finally figured out what started the eczema to begin with--a simple change in laundry detergent is what did it.  We are working to quickly get everything rewashed in "free and clear" detergent now to avoid another outbreak of eczema.