Can Ayurveda help to manage Atopic Dermatitis or Eczema in children?- Dr. Chetali Samant

Jan 10, 2018

Atopic dermatitis or eczema is a very common childhood illness as it is an autoimmune disorder. It can be hereditary. The signs cam vary from child to child and even in an adult the signs can be very different. Some of the common signs are grey reddish scaly patches sometimes circular or oddly circular sometimes seen in the neds of the elbows or bends  of the knees. Sometimes seen on the foot also, on the ankles, on the neck or the nape of the neck, on the folds of the eyelids, sometimes around the mouth and around the neck. The most irritating symptoms that bothers the children with atopic dermatitis   is itching. There is uncontrollable itching which most of the times may be due to food, the skin is extremely dry and most of the times it may be associated with food. The skin is extremely dry and no matter how much moisturiser you tend to use does not help does Ayurveda help in atopic dermatitis? Yes, there are several ways to approach atopic dermatitis in children with Ayurveda. One of the most common ways we do is to start using the Ayurvedic herbs which purifies the blood and which strengthens the immune system. Hence manage the body to manage the autoimmunity which is triggering rapid destruction if skin cells for the chid., There are emollients, Ayurvedic  moisturisers and creams to keep the skin moisturised and to keep the skin moisturised  and to reduce inflammation and these creams are non-steroidal in nature. Most of the Ayurvedic herbs that are used to treat the skin conditions like eczema etc are extremely bitter. How can we give these medicines to children? Thanks to modern advancement we have these herbs suspended in the form of syrups which are very safe for the body and very palatable. We have medicines to help in blood purification, medicines to help in allergy and help to bring  down the itching especially. Over a period of time the patches which appear here and there and patches which might be irritating the child and cause intense  itching can disappear with good advise and follow  up with the doctor. We advise not to continue the same set of medicines especially in children over a  long period of time. With many times, with recurrent use, the body can accept the Ayurvedic medicines as food. So do follow up with your doctor and it may be a long process to give oral medicines and get atopic dermatitis  Under control. Also the creams used in Ayurveda are not steroid based. Steroids get absorbed from the skin and they are not good for health. It demands recurrent use of steroid based creams, the moment you stop oral or topical steroids, there are high chances that there will be rebound occurrence of a larger scale and more widespread occurrence of eczema for that chid. So as long a s possible avoid using steroidal creams  unless it is unbearable to the child or if it is really widespread or if it is not responding to Ayurvedic  medicines the otheer oart of treating atopic dermatitis  ]or eczema  in a child is dietary  modification an also to the mother, if the child is  an infant most of the staple food is the mother’s  milk. Many of the dietary  advices are given to the mother,  like leaving  out foods which are obvious  triggers  for dysfunctioning or for increasing the  autoimmunity or  triggering the widespread allergies in the child’s  body. One of the things that work really well a s leaving out nuts. Although your child may not be allergic to nuts, always try to keep the consumption of nuts and proteins on the lower side. Proteins can trigger rapid allergic responses in the body. You might have heard of people having allergy to shrimp or shell fish. Leaving out nuts like groundnuts, walnuts, peanuts really help to keep the eczema and the itching under control. Another thing is leaving out dairy.  Dairy which is laced with pesticides and the antibiotics  which are fed to the cows and the hormones  which are also triggering the autoimmune reactions inside the body. Leaving the non-organic dairy helps the chid tremendously when it comes to autoimmune disorders and that is the last  advise we give to the parents and the last  advise is to leave  out gluten  or wheat products. Other thing is leaving out processed foods with artificial flavourings, artificial colours and all kinds of artificial additives. Most of the food that we buy from the supermarket need to be left out from the child’s  diet as  far as possible try to go organic if your  child is suffering from atopic dermatitis or eczema. Make sure that you use as less as outside foods as possible. So the Ayurvedic medicine and the dietary  recommendations what we give do helps  lot on the long term management and complete  treatment of atopic dermatitis in children and also in adults.