Update on Burt's Bees for Eczema

Not too long ago, I posted about how I have started using Burt's Bees Apricot oil for Gus's eczema. Now that I've been able to observe the results for a couple of weeks, I wanted to point out a couple of things.

It seems to work really well for mild to moderate cases of eczema. For more severe cases, it does help and has greatly lessened the latest flareup, but there is still a little bit of a rash trying to take hold. So my guess is that I'll be using the steroid cream, but much less than I normally would.

Another interesting thing I'm noticing is that the parts of Gus that have been covered at night (i.e. his legs since he's been wearing long pajamas with short-sleeved pj shirts) are doing better than the uncovered parts - arms and hands in MM's case. For Gus at least, this presents a slight problem, because the hotter he gets, the worse the rashes get, so I can't cover his arms as it gets warmer. Pretty soon, he'll be wearing shorts as well, so I'm curious to see how the backs of his legs do then.

I still stand by my opinion that the apricot oil is working better than anything else we've tried, but it does have its limitations.

Burt's Bees for Eczema?

I may have mentioned in the past that Gus suffers from terrible eczema all summer long. Our recent brief heat wave caused a lovely, bumpy red flareup and he has been itchy ever since. I think I have tried about everything possible over the years: steroid creams and ointments, petroleum jelly, pure aloe vera gel, sesame oil, diet, oatmeal baths... You name it; we've tried it. We've typically had the best results with a combination of Aveeno lotion and petroleum jelly over it, but for a number of reasons I've kept searching for something to relieve the eczema that isn't petroleum based. I believe I may have found just the thing.

At one of the natural markets in our area, I had a conversation with a couple of the clerks about the situation. Initially I went in looking for Vitamin E oil. The problem we usually have with oil formulations is that many of them contain some sort of almond or other nut oils, which Gus's skin reacts to (he can eat nuts, just can't wear them). So I was leery about the Vitamin E (with almond oil). The clerk suggested Burt's Bees Apricot Oil and said that it worked wonders for her grandchild's eczema. It was pricey, but I thought it worth a shot.

I've used it only a couple of times on Gus - right after his bath at night and I've been amazed. Both times his skin was almost completely clear by the next morning. But since the weather also cooled off, I didn't want to get too excited. Then I tried it on MM last night. Because it cooled down, her rashes suddenly flared to the point that she had broken the skin on her wrist from scratching at school yesterday (yeah - the flareups come that fast). I rubbed her down with the apricot oil last night and the spot she'd scratched raw was not completely healed, but it was much, much better. The rash on the backs of her hands - almost completely gone. I'm convinced!

The only minor downside, and this is only for Gus, is that the oil is quite sweet smelling. Pretty is an appropriate description. The smell isn't bothering him; he just smells...pretty. But I'm confident that my 8 year old is secure enough in his boyhood to handle it, especially if it stops that darned itching without the greasy feeling of the other stuff!

Have you tried this oil for eczema? How has it worked for you?



Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link.

Thursday Thankfulness

Sorry about being MIA so much. There's been a lot to do with birthday preparations and nice weather and spring cleaning. Fortunately, there have been some things to be thankful for this week, like:

1. 1. I am thankful that Gus earned an academic achievement award from school for the third quarter! And he did pretty well at the assembly when he went up to receive it. And his music teacher gave him a respect award as well.
2. I am thankful that Gus is learning to read music at school. I remember music class as a kid and it never involved learning a single notation. We just sang. Now, Gus is learning to play the recorder and he's telling me notes by sight already. It's a skill that every kid really should have access to and I'm glad he's enjoying it.
3. I am thankful for the little taste of summer we got last week! Not many people enjoy such hot weather, but for me it was indescribably great to not have to wear layers or socks or anything heavy. And now I'm equally glad for the milder temps were getting again, mostly for Gus's sake because of those eczema flareups (which magically went away when it dropped to 60 degrees).

So, what are you thankful for today? Sorry to be so brief, but Gus's bedroom is going to be the next spring cleaning victim...er, recipient. Hey! I'm thankful that Gus is the one member of this family who doesn't get upset over getting rid of things!

Have a great day!

Hot Soccer

Yesterday I got to take Gus to his soccer game! It was awesome, in large part because we had an almost 90 degree day yesterday, so in the morning, the temperature was perfect for hanging out watching a game. I saw some of his teammates from the fall season and a couple of additions. And apparently there is now a special needs cheering squad! Way to go girls! They were too cute!

Gus had to take several water breaks, but he did very well during his field time. They did a drill that involved zig-zagging through some cones and then dribbling in the same pattern. I'm not sure I could have done it without hitting any. But he did it and later made 3 goals.

Gus taking a little break on the field.

In the afternoon, we thought we'd go for a hike up the Appalachian trail and then maybe spend some time at the playground. First, 90+ degrees is only good hiking weather during the actual summer (not this prank summer we're currently experiencing) after the trees have bloomed completely. We figured the trail is normally nice and shady. We're normally on the trail in July, not April. So the hike was quite short. We lasted longer at the nearby playground because the kids found some nice shady spots to hang out in. What did they care that we had to share a 2 foot by 8 inch patch of shade between the two of us?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the heat. If it decided to stay this warm through the end of the summer, I'd be a happy woman! Gus on the other hand...heat and the resulting eczema are not really his friends. He was up in the middle of the night, which I suspect was also related to the heat, but he insists he was doing research on Pokemon steel types. Makes perfect sense to do that kind of research at night - they might have melted in the intense daytime heat, right?

It was a lovely, laid back Saturday, and if I can get my act together, tomorrow I'll post about how we managed to beat the intense warm weather for Manic Monday!

Funny Boy

Gus asked about his allergies and eczema last night. In the process of explaining exactly how each affects him so that he wouldn't worry (the anxiety was very evidently building) I forgot my good grammar skills and this is what came out of it:

"Every season, your allergies just make you a little itchy and runny and stuffy and cough-y..."

"Coffee? I'm too young for coffee!"

He then exploded into giggles. I've got a real wise guy on my hands. I love it!