Expert: Melanie Vonzabuesnig - 11/2/2009

Question
My daughter is 8 years old and suffers from severe eczema all over her body from head  to toe. Since August she has lost a lot of her hair and has itchy oozing that dries up on her head and leaves patches of brown/yellow flakes that I pick every day for over 2 hours.  I've tried t- gel, selsun blue, hair fungus medicine, olive oil, mineral oil, baby oil and other sulfur based products that claim to treat itchy scalp- nothing has worked to say the least.  She comes home with large pieces of floating skin on her hair which rises up from her scratching.  She's taking a biotin pill everyday- please help she has changed so much and I don't know what else to do.

Answer
Hello Shirley: Eczema can be very difficult to treat. You mention hair fungus so I'm wondering if she has been diagnosed with fungus? Tea tree oil is a very effective essential oil with anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. It can also greatly relieve the itching and dry the oozing. Tea tree is one of the few essential oils that can be used neat (undiluted) on the skin in very small amounts. I know it is very difficult not to scratch when itching is so prevalent, especially for small children. Learning some relaxation tips to get her through the itching attacks may be helpful.
It is important to identify allergens and food sensitives so they can be avoided. Avoiding sugar very is also important. An anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal diet may help. Supplementing with certain nutrients such as zinc, vitamin C, essential fatty acids, beta carotene, etc. can also help this condition. Spirulina and chlorella are excellent choices as they are natural (not synthetic) food sources. They include many valuable nutrients for healthy skin and overall health. They also help to build up the "good bacteria" in the system to ward of invading germs. They come in powder form, tablets and capsules. At her age the powder form may be easiest to take (unless she is used to swallowing tablets or capsules) although she may be resister to this form as it is green and the taste would probably be unfamiliar (therefore unpleasant) to her. Taking these supplements (either or both) may be very beneficial to her condition.
Mineral and baby oil do not have healing properties for eczema and may make things worse. Olive oil is not bad but there are better choices such as pure, virgin coconut oil or jojoba. Dabbing the tea tree (neat) on the spots may be most helpful at first due to the weeping and oozing.
The fungus may indicate candidiasis albicans (internal yeast infection) in which case eliminating sugar is most important.
Please let me know if I can help you further.
Sincerely, Melanie Vonzabuesnig
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http://www.vzbotanicals.com/aromatherapy%20for%20hair%20loss.html
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