So lately we've been dealing with some mild health issues. Autumn appears to have eczema... actually we've all gotten itchy lately. I should say itchier because we all have sensitive skin and so it's just an increase in the itchiness. We already don't use anything with fragrance and our laundry detergent is this eco-friendly stuff from Germany. The detergent isn't completely free of irritants, but we've always used it so I don't know if that's the culprit. Nothing else has really changed except that we got a couple of cats, which could be it. Autumn is really suffering however. When she had food poisoning or the virus that she had (she was the only one so we don't know) and got so dehydrated that she needed an IV, they put a topical anesthetic in the crevasse of her elbow so they could put the needle in. This was covered by a sticky tape so it didn't spread anywhere else. Unfortunately they left it on for too long - and even though I was with her the whole time I was unaware of it because I don't know anything about that stuff. The nurse came in hours and hours later and realized it and pulled it off with some concerned commentary like, "Oh this shouldn't still be on here!"

Anyway it was fine for a while... her skin was just irritated there. But over time it has gotten worse and worse because it just stays itchy forever and she keep scratching it. This week it was particularly bad... and she has these two silver dollar-sized dry, itchy scabby circles. The left arm isn't so bad, but the right is tremendously difficult to keep under control. My first instinct was to dry the thing out and cover it so that the scabs could heal and maybe she wouldn't be so itchy. I put a bit of tea tree oil on it and wrapped it up. It improved a bit but as it dried out she scratched it way more and it became much worse. So then I did some more research.

Evidently eczema is a pretty common childhood thing that often shows up in these dry itchy spots in the elbow and knee crevasses. It can go other places too, and I realized that Rainn has dry itchy spots in her knees too. They are very mild but she already knows how to scratch them and I have to keep them covered up. At the same time Autumn has been scratching around her neck too, and John and I have itchy arms. For Autumn it probably didn't help that she had that stuff on her arms but it seems that we've all become even more sensitive to something, which I'll have to figure out. We will be getting rid of all of our synthetic fabrics, our detergent, and I think the cats will have to go back to their owner. I kept Autumn away from them for a few days and it seemed to help.

So after all the research I put a honey on it for a day to clean it up again, and now I keep it moist. If it becomes dry it becomes itchy and she scratches and it will get infected. I keep clean, moist cotton cloths on it wrapped with one of those fabric splints that use butterfly clips, which came with my first aid kit. It has really improved and she feels much better. The other remedy I may try is to put 1/4 cup of bleach in a lukewarm bath twice a week, and let her sit in it for 10 minutes. This is supposed to help chronic eczema because it kills whatever bacteria on the skin that is causing the problem. It is bleach though so I'll wait and see.

The other issue we deal with all the time is John's headaches, which seem to happen almost daily. It is frustrating because there is no known cause or cure for headaches, and pain relievers no longer work for him. A friend of mine recommended craniosacral therapy, and I don't know that I believe all the so called science behind it, but at the same time I can't discount the effect because I use it to help my family, in my own way. I've always given good massages because it seems like I can intuitively listen with my hands to find the source of the pain. For John's headaches I can do the same thing on his head, following the edges of the plates of his skull and applying pressure in the right places which relieves his pain and his headache goes away. Probably more research should be done on the healing power of touch, because it is the one thing that works for him.