Treating Eczema - Vinegar, Vaseline and no dairy!

It looks like we are finally; knock on wood, seeing some progress on this ever-worrying and frustrating attempt to heal Bean’s eczema.  It first appeared significantly on his back when he was between four and five months old.  The doctor and the dermatologist pushed cortisone which has been the mainstay of our treatment but which never fully helped in some areas.  He has just turned two and so he has had a rash to varying degrees for about 20 months now if you can believe that L

First, The Solution - What has helped enormously to get this under control?  Three things:

• Apple cider vinegar (a quarter to half a cup) in the bath every night, AND
• Vaseline – slathered two or three times a day over every sore place, including his forehead, mouth, chin, ears, back, shoulders, sides, back of knees, elbows and side of feet.  Vaseline!  Go figure!!  Thank God!!
• No dairy (almond milk only)

I am telling everyone about our terrific find, and after my GP saw the results, she is now going to tell people too - yes, we inspired our GP.  Such is life.

I don't have much time to blog these days, but I have made the effort to write this post because I found this solution on somebody else's blog and I believe so much in this method of sharing and how helpful it is.  After all the professionals I consulted and all the expensive creams, these things have been the most helpful and I found it because of somebody's blog.  Tell everyone you know!

After Vinegar and Vaseline (four days later -
Friday and things are now even better still)

Before (Monday and at its very worst)

Here are the professionals I have consulted about his condition:

The regular doctor - four times starting when he was four months old.
Three different pharmacists
A naturopath - three times and scheduled for a food intolerance test next week.  She got us off dairy, yay!
A dermatologist once and due for another visit in three months (that’s how long it takes for a re-referral)
An allergist – scheduled for an appointment next month

Here are the creams I have tried:

Cortisone – three different kinds, yikes.
Cetaphil lotion and cream
Cerave lotion and cream
Neem cream
A herbal cream (can’t remember what was in that)
Glaxal based cream
Polysporin eczema cream
Polysporin antibiotic cream
Cannesten anti-fungal cream
Penaten diaper rash cream
Skin fix eczema cream
Shea butter
Coconut oil, continually throughout the day
Calomine lotion
Aloe vera gel
Baby oil in the bath and directly on the skin afterwards
Oatmeal bath lotion
Raw oatmeal in a nylon in the bath

Also tried:

Goats milk instead of regular homogenized milk
Almond milk – currently we are on this
Antihistamine (liquid) at bedtime - currently we do this on the very bad, itchy days
Probiotics and Quercetin added to food
Fish oil as often as I can get him to take it, otherwise fish a couple of times a week