You can’t help but have noticed that Summer is well behind us, with winter rolling in and the temperature dropping. Any parent whose child has eczema will know this often means those annoying winter flare-ups that cause itchiness, irritation and tears.
Not everyone gets eczema during cold weather, as many find the warmer months of the year impact their child’s atopic dermatitis more severely. However, the good news is that there are some things you can do to minimise the problem when there’s a chill in the air.
Eczema is an issue that affects roughly double the amount of children (20%) than adults (10%), so it’s pretty common. However, we aim to provide some relief from the problem here as we offer up some useful winter eczema tips to help your kid’s skin stay healthy.
Avoid Hot Baths
While it might feel like a good idea to crank up the temperature of your child’s bath during cold weather, it’s the last thing you should be doing for eczema-prone skin. Hot water can severely dry out the skin, meaning that you should use warm water instead.
The baths your kids take shouldn’t be too long either, as spending longer than 5-10 minutes in the water can worsen symptoms. Also, be sure to avoid drying their skin too vigorously afterwards, particularly if your towels are dry. Using a patting motion instead. Finally, always use a light coating of paraffin free cream to soften any dry skin caused by bathing.
Avoid Certain Fibres
When it’s cold outside, it’s natural to reach for warmer clothes, however, you do need to be careful about the fibres that are placed next to your child’s skin. Nylon and wool are two of the materials that can cause overheating and itching for eczema-prone skin.
To avoid troublesome winter flare-ups, you should look for breathable materials like cotton that don’t have the same effect. Ensuring your son or daughter doesn’t wear too many layers when going outside will also allow their skin to remain comfortable.
HappySkin - Helping Skin to Recover
Use a Humidifier to Hydrate the Air
When the heating goes on over the colder months of the year, the hot air created can be very drying and irritating to eczema-prone skin. The trick to preventing this from causing problems for your child’s eczema is to hydrate the air with a humidifier.
Modern humidifiers are very reasonably priced and can be used to add the required moisture to the air circulating around your home. Just be sure to regularly change the water and maintain the machine so that its output remains clean and bacteria-free.
Make Sure Your Child Drinks Enough Water
The next of our winter eczema tips focuses on keeping your child hydrated properly. 4-8 year olds should drink 5 cups of water a day, which increases as they grow. Doing so will ensure they get sufficient hydration from the inside for the skin to benefit.
Also, make sure they get plenty of vitamin D in their diet, as it’s shown to help alleviate eczema symptoms. Cod liver oil, salmon, dairy and orange juice contain high levels of vitamin D, or you could choose to boost their levels with supplements.
Use HappySkin Garments
Our last tip is something that can be used to control childhood eczema regardless of the time of year. You see, HappySkin eczema clothing offers cutting-edge Dreamskin® Polymer coating technology that allows your child’s skin to regulate its temperature by stimulating the skin’s sensors to start managing moisture, which in turn controls body temperature and reverses flare-ups.
Restoring the skin’s natural ability to sweat when it’s hot and retain moisture when it’s cold, our garments create the ideal conditions for recovery. Worn next to the skin, our range of super-comfortable TENCEL/cotton bodysuits and leggings provide ongoing relief.
Year-Round Support For Eczema-prone Skin
Winter can be a difficult time for eczema sufferers, however, by following our winter eczema tips, you can ensure that irritation and misery are kept to an absolute minimum. What’s more, HappySkin garments can offer a path out of the cycle that traditional treatments allow.
So, if you’re looking for the fastest treatment for your little one’s atopic dermatitis, why not give our garments a try? Shipped direct to your door, our super-soft innovative clothing needs only to be worn next to the skin to offer significant results.
Click below to find out more about us and what the technology behind our products. Alternatively, to chat with a member of our friendly team about your needs, call us on 01707 260 505 and we’ll be happy to help.