Bleach and Eczema

Bleach and Eczema

These two words are hardly seen together. But, as a desperate mommy like myself, trying to find relief for my baby boy who scratches almost all the time from eczema, I had to do some research to find out for myself.

When I first heard about it, it was at our friend Luis’ place, on our way out the door. He said, “I know this sounds harsh, but my sister has been using bleach in her bath water, and it has helped her eczema.” I remember walking out the door thinking, that may be good for her, since she is an adult, but I would never put bleach on my baby, that’s just too extreme, especially for a baby.

I ran into her a few months later at a BBQ, and she told me that it has really helped her. And it was noticeably apparent when I looked at her skin. She told me that all her life she has been dealing with eczema. And have consulted with various experts and alternative healers, dermatologists and doctors. Somehow, the bleach baths that she takes once a week, has done wonders for her skin. She says that the bleach somehow kills the top layer that causes eczema. “Think of it as being in a swimming pool”, she said.

I’ve tried putting a small amount in my baby’s bath water, and honestly have seen a huge difference in his skin. Although he still scratches at night and during the day, the skin does look a lot better. His skin seems to get better for a few days, then gets bad again. It comes and goes.

If you’ve had any experiences finding comfort for babies or toddlers with eczema, we would love to hear from you.

Does your baby have Eczema?

Both my kids have it, and as a mommy who doesn’t have eczema, I have had to do a lot of research about it, so that I can help bring some relief for my kids.

When my daughter (who is almost 3 years old now) was a baby, she would scratch all the time and keep us all up during the night. We would constantly need to put lotion on her skin to keep it lubricated. We also had to cut her nails quite often, and she would always need gloves on her.

My son who was born recently, also has eczema. His skin for some reason, is even worse, than my daughter’s. For several months, he would scratch so much that he would have an open wound on his cheeks. We would have to put him in a swaddle blanket at night, put gloves on him all the time, lubricate his skin constantly, and hold his hands to prevent him from scratching almost all the time.

When he was about 4-5 months, after breastfeeding him at night, I would have to hold him until he fell asleep on me, to keep him from scratching.

When he was about 6 months, the swaddle blanket no longer worked, because we would find that he was strong enough to break free the Velcro from the blanket. My partner would also have to tie a blanket around his wrist, so that he would not be able to put his hands towards his face at night.

At about 6 months, we went to our normal pediatric appointment for his shots, and his skin was so bad, that our pediatrician recommended that we have him tested for food allergies. After the tests came back, we discovered that he was allergic to dairy, wheat and soy.

So, as a breastfeeding mommy, who did not have any food allergies, I had to cut these items out of my diet. Its only been a few weeks since, and it has been an eye opening experience to eat anything these days. I have to be more conscious with reading labels and asking for specific items when dining out  and grocery shopping.

This whole experience has resulted in many sleepness nights and a lot of heartache seeing my babies suffer. I have reached out to other mommies for advice and help. Some have suggested different creams, one mommy suggested putting breastmilk on my baby’s problem areas, one mommy suggested giving him 2 baths a day, another mommy suggested giving him a bath every other day, the suggestions keep coming.

I have tried so many different “remedies” so far. Nothing seems to be working long term. My son’s skin would get better, and then get worse again the next day. He still scratches at night. It is mainly his ankle area, and his cheeks. When I give him a bath, and take off all his clothes, he can’t seem to stop scratching his chest area. Again, I have to hold his hands to prevent him from scratching. There were a few times that he would scratch his chest so hard that it bled. Ouch!

Last week, I talked to a friend who has been suffering from eczema all her life, and her skin looked so good. She told me that she had finally found the remedy, and it was bleach, yes, Clorox Bleach. My initial reaction was, that may be good for you, but I’m not going to put bleach on my baby’s skin. She then went on to tell me that, its almost like being in a swimming pool. Bleach does something to the top layer of the skin of a person who has eczema.

Hmm…what if bleach cured eczema? Does anyone know anything about this?