For those living with the discomfort of eczema — an inflammation of the skin manifesting in itchy, red patches all over the body — unfruitful over-the-counter treatments are standard and creative at-home remedies are commonly a last line of defense against the challenging condition.
One mother in Scotland, as Health reports, took her toddler’s eczema treatment into her own hands with an, um, creative, DIY remedy — a soothing soap made with her own breast milk. And it worked.
Twenty-month-old Finlay had itchy eczema patches all over his little body since he was six months old. After trying doctor-prescribed steroids, creams and over-the-counter treatments with no success, Finlay’s mother, Joy Evans, a breastfeeding peer support worker, was ready to try something different. With her professional experience, it was a no-brainer for Evans to combine her knowledge of the benefits of breast milk with an off-kilter eczema remedy she discovered online.
The result was a luxurious-feeling breast milk-based soap, not dissimilar in texture to expensive oil-based soaps lining retail shelves, that was the answer to her son’s skin care woes.
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Evans documented the endeavor on Twitter, and told the U.K. publication Metro:
"We just got to the point of wanting to try anything. I had some old expressed breast milk that was too old for him to drink still in the freezer and just decided to give it a go."
After a month of daily use of the breast milk soap, Evans was amazed to report that her boy's eczema had cleared up. She'll continue to keep breast milk soap in supply to continue treating Finlay’s eczema and other skin issues that may develop as he gets older, Health reported.
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Sure, this may not be a realistic — or even plausible — approach for everyone’s eczema struggles, as breast milk sourcing may be difficult for some, but this story carries a strong message: get creative to find what works for you. Sure, this could have turned out to be a very different news story about a weird woman coating her son in her breast milk. Instead, it’s a story with an albeit odd, but happy ending.