Itch Busters to Help with Scratching and Discomfort

Eczema skin is itchy, very itchy. Eczema is often referred to “the itch you can’t scratch”. While, scratching is a natural reaction to itching, it can make complications more likely and the itching worse. Also, scratching can leave superficial wounds on the skin that may become infected.

Unfortunately, it is near impossible not to scratch because scratching generates another sensation of pain and heat that suppresses the feelings of itchiness temporarily. The problem is that once the other sensation subsides, the itch returns and you feel like scratching again to relieve yourself.While still following a good routine, here are a few itch busters that help minimize and stop the terrible itching:

Apply an ice pack or cold cloth on the itchy and inflamed areas. Be sure to wrap the ice pack in a cloth so its not directly on the skin.

Take a warm bath in baking soda, dead sea salt or epsom salt, 10 minute max and apply moisturizer right after. We love Thena Natural Wellness Products for Eczema because of their amazing ingredients as well as their super helpful customer service.

Another natural way we found that was very good at soothing itchy skin, was taking a leaf from an aloe vera plant and applying its gel on the itchy spot. Be sure to leave it on the skin for a few minutes to get instant relief from itching.

Prevent scratching! Although it is impossible for baby not to scratch, especially at night, it should be prevented as much as possible. Scratching the skin will make the eczema worse, open the skin and possibly get infected.

Getting a few or more of ScratchMeNot sleeves should be on the top of your list for baby eczema essentials. They can go over any top and best of all the mittens are made out of natural silk that is super soft and gentle on baby’s sensitive skin.

One of the most obvious ways to stop babies from scratching is to keep their nails as short as possible. It’s best and much easier to cut the nails of a calm or sleeping child. And if you’re going for cutting your baby’s nails while they’re asleep you’ll need to wait until they are deeply asleep so that their fists can be uncurled without waking them up and make sure that the light is good.

Most importantly, get a pair of nail clippers that minimize the chance of cutting baby’s skin. Fridababy Nail clippers have “a safety spy hole” allows you to see exactly what you’re clipping and have scissor-like blades, eliminating the risk of cutting baby’s sensitive nail beds.Wet wrap therapy is also another effective method that has been proven to help heal and provide immediate relief for itchy areas. It can be done for a few hours at a time during the day or overnight.If baby hasn’t been sleeping well because of constantly trying to scratch, overnight wet wraps may be the best option to help baby and parents get a good night’s sleep. Follow the instructions here for wet wraps.

Load of up on Vitamin C, and other natural antihistamines. Antihistamines block your body from releasing histamines, a substance that produces an inflammatory response in your body. During allergic reactions, it is the histamines that activates the “itching” nerve fibers.

Since citrus fruits are considered highly allergenic, a perfect alternative are papayas. Papayas are considered an “eczema safe food” because the enzymes found in papaya can help regulate inflammatory response in the body and its very rich in vitamin C. Synthetic drug antihistamines can’t be broken down by the liver like it can with those naturally occurring in food. This additional stress on the liver can also then exacerbate conditions like eczema and create a vicious cycle. You can learn how to cut up and eat a papaya here.

Distract, soothe and de-stress baby. Eczema symptoms can get worse when baby is feeling stressed and anxious. This could be from teething, separation anxiety, sleep regressions or developmental leaps.

Baby massages, baby wearing, going for a walk and warm baths are great ways to help baby get into a calm and happy state. Also check out my blog Top 15 Must-have Products for High-need Babies that we actually use and can’t live without.