Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Sulfur Treatment

So I know I've mentioned that Squirrel has severe eczema.  We've been working for years to find something that works for her. Of course, the first line of attack was steroids, but they had little to no effect.  She was on DermaSoothe at 2 years old, off label due to the severity of her condition.  But those types of prescriptions have side effects. Steriods can cause temporary lightening of the skin, something my daughter experienced. It also causes permanent thinning of the skin and changes to the blood vessels. Skin is also more easily bruised and infected.  Squirrel's been on antibiotics for that, too.

Currently, her skin is "not that bad," which is a relative term. Our "not that bad" means that she is not bleeding or oozing. She is super dry and a bit peel-y. I took these pics on her left side.
Elbow

Wrist and hand

Ankle and foot

Knee

But still smiling!
Recently, we've been trying to treat her with non-prescription, homeopathic therapies.  After much experimentation, we've found Exederm, a line of hypoallergenic skin care.  She's been responding very well to it.
After we apply it, we cover her worst spots (knees and wrists) with plastic wrap.  It's pricey, $15 per item but hey, we have to do what we have to do.  The only problem is we can't find it locally.  The only other commercial product that seems to work for her is Natralia Skin Nourishing Oil, which is even pricier. It's about $15 but for half as much product, meaning it costs twice as much.
I was reading one of my favorite blogs Everything Birth and they mentioned a study on homeopathic treatments for eczema using 30c sulfur.  I read the study and decided to try this particular therapy on Squirrel. I'm going to go to 14 Carrot, a locally owned natural food grocer,  to get the sulfur and we'll start it tonight. Dawn from the blog started her daughter on it yesterday and has seen improvement today. Her daughter also told her she isn't itchy today.  I may also try calendula 30c, per this article.

***Update: I sent Lettuce to the store to get the sulfur and they didn't have it. He did get her some Bodyceutical calendula oil. I will start the oil tonight and I'll get the sulfur tomorrow when I'm on a different side of town.***

Have you tried homeopathic remedies for any conditions?  Share your story.

4 comments:

  1. My daughter's skin is pale as a ghost so the inflammation looks much scarier, but to be honest, your daughter's looks like it hurts so much worse. So this will be amazing. As we go down this journey, can I quote you and link some photos back to your blog to show both girl's progressions?

    PS. Sometimes homeopathics will cancel eachother out. We can go to abchomeopathy.com and check each remedy against eachother to make sure they can be used together. It's not dangerous to do so, but might end up a wash if they cancel eachother out. I'll go look right now for the calendula and sulphur.

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    1. Most definitely! If it works for her, I'm going to want to shout it from the rooftops so no other little ones have to go through it.

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  2. OK, according to abchomeopathy they could be used together if you wanted to alternate sulphur then a couple hours later calendula...

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    1. I think I'll just do calendula exteranally (oil) and the sulfur internally. I will do them at separate times, though. Thanks for the head's up!

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