Hitting the Snow Enraged My Son's Eczema
My husband and I spent most of our early life in the snow but sadly had to move to the big smoke in the lowlands for work. Due to this we take as many trips to the mountains as we can in order to reconnect, however the first time we took our son, a sufferer of eczema, it ended in disaster. Thankfully, we found a way to counteract the inflaming effects the thin, dry, air has on his skin.
WHAT IS ECZEMA?
Eczema is a common skin condition which is triggered by an allergic reaction. It is regularly labeled as dermatitis, a catch-all term for inflammation of the skin, although some experts use the term 'eczema' for specific types of dermatitis, such as atopic dermatitis in children.
Irrespective of the fact there are different causes of dermatitis and eczema the effect is usually the same: when the skin is inflamed it gets red, swollen or blistered, and intensely itchy, leaving those with the condition in a severe, constant state of discomfort.
HOW DOES ALTITUDE AFFECT ECZEMA
Generally, the higher the altitude the more extreme the climate and the greater effect it has on your skin, as was the case with our vacation to Aspen. Due to the high altitude the air was considerably thinner and without moisture. To add to this, the elevated climate's temperatures shifted drastically from warmer days with high UV levels to bitterly cold nights compensated for by hot, dry air in the mountain lodge.
As you can likely assume, this had a considerably negative effect on my son's sensitive skin. The considerably drier air sucked all of the moisture out of his skin leaving it extremely dry, irritated, and red, essentially inflaming his eczema to unbearably high levels.
Because this was our first experience of such inflated eczema we had no idea how to counteract it so we eventually cut our trip short in order to provide him with relief. Not wanting to allow eczema to limit my son's enjoyment of the slopes we came ready on our next trip.
After consulting a skin specialist we were told to bring a natural nourishing lotion that could replenish the moisture extracted from his skin. To my son's delight, the simple remedy was extremely effective as his skin stayed hydrated, his eczema was kept at bay, and he could ski comfortably for the full two weeks.
With brief experimentation we have found the best natural skin care balms to be those which contain Helix Aspersa Muller glycoconjugates and rosehip seed oil, such as BIOBALM. These two components are the closest natural substances that parallel the biological complex of human skin, allowing them to hydrate the skin more effectively than chemicals, essentially making it an excellent treatment for eczema. Moreover, putting on BIOBALM every day acts not only an outstanding eczema and dermatitis treatment, it is also a fantastic protector against sunburn and a variety of other skin conditions and allergies. Needless to say, we don't hit the mountains without it!
Published April 23rd, 2009