Eczema and Other Skin Problems Main Info Page

What Are Eczema and Other Skin Problems?

Skin problems are very common in children and may even be evident at birth due to some exposure or infection in utero. The early infant/toddler years are a risk period for diaper-related skin problems, thrush and many skin disorders that develop due to many environmental exposures and immune related issues that young children may experience. About 20% of children with eczema will continue to have it as an adult.

Some common childhood skin problems may include:

• Acne
• Fifth disease
• Hives
• Ringworm
• Rashes from bacterial or fungal infections
• Rashes from allergic reactions

What Your Doctor May Tell You About Eczema and Other Skin Problems

If your child’s skin problem is serious enough, your child’s doctor will likely tell you to see a dermatologist (specialist) who will be able to identify and treat difficult cases. In most cases, your child’s doctor will view your child’s skin problems as a skin issue in isolation to anything else going on with your body. The treatment protocol may be topical creams or lotions and may require some removal such as warts or cysts.

In more serious cases, your child’s doctor may suggest steroid (cortisone) or antibiotic creams to eliminate the problem topically. In the case of a rash developed from an allergy, your child’s doctor may tell you that your child has “contact dermatitis”, which is the general name when the specifics are not understood. An antihistamine will likely be recommended.

Another Way of Thinking About Eczema and Other Skin Problems

The “Atopic March”

Before treating skin symptoms with a steroid (cortisone) cream or other treatments that suppress the immune system, consider doing a little detective work to identify the root cause of the symptom or symptoms. Please note that skin problems such as eczema can lead to the development of asthma if the skin problem is treated with a steroid (cortisone) cream. Steroids suppress the immune system, thus driving the disease process deeper. Eczema, allergies and asthma are known as the “atopic march” or “atopic triad”, and up to 76% of children with severe eczema as children will go on to develop asthma. According to Ana-Maria Temple MD, 60% of children with eczema develop seasonal allergies and 30% develop food allergies.

Skin as an Indicator

If toxins can’t come out through the skin, the lungs may be the next organ of toxin elimination. Problems seen on the skin usually indicate one or more underlying imbalances that need to be addressed.

The skin is the body’s first line of defense. It is also a major excretory organ that your body uses to eliminate toxins. If you see skin symptoms, it is a good indicator that the body is trying to eliminate something such as a toxin (chemical or microbial).

It is also very common for heavy metal toxicity to show up on the skin. For example, arsenic contamination can result in keratosis pilaris, which shows up as yellow calluses on the feet and hands, split skin between the toes, or marks on the skin. Mercury poisoning can cause red rashes.

Viral, bacterial and fungal infections can cause various types of rashes or may show up at the end of an acute illness. If a rash is persistent or is recurrent, it could be a chronic infection such as strep, Human Herpes Virus #6 (roseola) or Lyme disease and other vector-borne illnesses such as Bartonella, Baabesia or Erlichia.

Persistent rashes are not normal and underlying causes should always be explored.

Multiple Causes

There can also be multiple causes for any given skin symptom. For example, peeling skin on the feet is often associated with a fungal infection, but it can also be a sign of a chronic strep infection, which occurs when the immune system is overburdened and dysregulated.

In order to eliminate skin problems, it is important to address toxicity, yeast overgrowth such as Candida, fungus, mold, parasites, viruses, bacteria, nutritional deficiencies and other imbalances that may be going on with the immune system.

Precursor to More Serious Diagnoses

Eczema is a common soft sign that precedes more serious diagnoses such as anaphylactic allergies, autoimmune disorders, mood disorders such as anxiety, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, PANS/PANDAS and autism. In a study of over 69 million children, 13% had eczema. Of these:

• 11% had a learning disability such as ADHD.
• 11% had memory difficulties.
• Children with eczema were two to three times as likely to have a learning or memory difficulty than children without eczema.

Other studies (see Sources & References, below) have documented that children with eczema have a higher prevalence of anxiety and other mental health issues. One study in particular noted that 15% of children with eczema also had ADHD; the researchers theorized this might be due to more night waking due to the itchiness of eczema.

This increaesd prevalence is likely because, as noted above, the skin is the first organ to declare that there are underlying imbalances that need to be addressed. All of these more serious diagnoses often share many of the same underlying root causes, although each child has his or her own unique genetic makeup and total load burden that controls how or if these root causes are expressed. Think of eczema and other chronic rashes as the tip of an iceberg. Only the tip is seen above the water, but there is often a larger amount that cannot be seen.

Eczema and Other Skin Problems Healing Checklist

Calm the Nervous System

As Tony Ebel DC explained in our expert interview of him, nervous-system dysregulation is a common cause of eczema, ear infections, and other soft signs that there are imbalances within a child’s body. This dysregulation can come about from a variety of stressors, but birth trauma is a very common cause. Remember that the body cannot heal if it is in a state of stress, so learn about the many ways to destress the body, whether it’s through structural therapies such as neurologic chiropractic care, mind-body-spirit therapies, neurodevelopmental therapies, or strategies to boost vagal tone such as breathwork.

Change the Diet

Sugar, preservatives, artificial colors, and artificial flavors should immediately be eliminated. In addition, foods that your child’s immune system is sensitive to may be causing your child to have eczema or other rashes. Gluten, dairy, eggs, soy and corn are common culprits, and you may want to trial an elimination diet of each of these (or other) ingredients to see if they could be causing skin problems.

Heal the Gut

A gut-healing diet such as the GAPS diet, Body Ecology Diet, Specific Carbohydrate Diet and the Paleo/primal diet can help to rebalance the gut dysbiosis that is common in children with eczema. These diets typically follow many of the same principles as listed above in “Change the Diet” with a few extra steps that remove the preferred food of gut pathogens while providing prebiotic and probiotic foods to helpful gut microbes. We recommend following one of these specialty diets for at least six months and keeping a food journal to see if any positive or negative changes occur for your child. You can also read our page on healing the gut here.

Avoid Antibiotics

Gut dysbiosis is a common root cause of eczema and other skin problems, and it is often preceded by the use of antibiotics by either the mother before or during pregnancy or by the child for conditions such as ear infections. Antibiotics are not always necessary for the relief of pain from ear infections. Please check out our resources here for learning about other ways to address them.

Remember that glyphosate, commonly found in the RoundUp herbicide, acts as an antibiotic. Glyphosate is found in high levels on non-organic foods such as wheat, corn and soy, so be sure to eat only organic versions of those foods if eating them at all. Many people who visit European countries often comment that they’re able to eat wheat products with no adverse affect. This may be due to the nonuse of glyphosate on their crops.

Assess Blood-Sugar Levels

Higher-than-optimal fasting blood sugar levels (typically above 85 mg/dl) can increase insulin, which can in turn, cause higher stress chemicals as well as inflammation. Chronically red skin, rashes and eczema are common outer signs that there is chronic inflammation within the body. Chronically elevated blood-sugar levels can also meaningfully contribute to gut dysbiosis, mentioned above.

Check for Mold

Mold exposure is associated with an increased risk of developing or worsening eczema. Keep in mind that exposure could be happening at home or at your child’s school. One of the best indicators that mold may be a problem for your child is if symptoms improve while away from the home or school for more than a few days. We have extensive resources on our website about how to test for mold in the home or school, which you can find here, and how to test if there is reactivity by your child’s body, which you can find here.

In our experience, if healing of a chronic health condition has stalled or plateaued, there is usually a hidden mold problem in the home or school.

Detoxify the Body

Eczema is a signal by the body that it needs help with detoxification. There are gentle ways to help a child’s body detoxify, such as Epsom salts baths, sweating, and eating cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower. You can learn more about these and other methods here. In addition, practitioners such as homotoxicologists and naturopaths can provide additional tools for detoxificaiton.

Other Items to Consider

Please review the lists in the blue box below to see if there are other diet, lifestyle and therapies to consider. Click on the small white circles at the bottom of the box to advance to the next subject.

About Maria Rickert Hong CHHC

Prior to working on Wall Street, she was a marketing specialist for Halliburton in New Orleans, where she also received her MBA in Finance & Strategy from Tulane University.

She is the author of the bestselling book Almost Autism: Recovering Children from Sensory Processing Disorder and the co-author of Brain Under Attack: A Resource for Parents and Caregivers of Children with PANS, PANDAS, and Autoimmune Encephalitis. She is a co-author of Reversal of Autism Symptoms among Dizygotic Twins through a Personalized Lifestyle and Environmental Modification Approach: A Case Report and Review of the Literature, J. Pers. Med. 2024, 14(6), 641.

Maria is also a Certified Holistic Health Counselor. Her work can be found on DocumentingHope.com, Healing.DocumentingHope.com, Conference.DocumentingHope.com and MariaRickertHong.com

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