With the rising cost of day to day items like moisturisers, I was wondering how people in developing countries managed eczema on much lower budgets and probably a lot less access to the the many varieties of moisturisers we have here!
After a wee bit of internet research through medical journels and such, I’ve found that sunflower oil is by far the cheapest and most effective moisturiser / emollient out of anything else one can get access to. Plus, it’s all natural!
So, we’ve been bathing our children in organic sunflower oil everyday for the past 7+ months rather than melted emulsifying wax, etc. My eldest daughter’s skin is so much more moisturised and healthy looking that we don’t need to use moisturiser on her body anymore apart from her hands/wrists, on her face and neck (basically the areas exposed to the elements), and behind her knees (still wondering why here…).
Here is some of the medical research for your reading:
ONE, Living Proof, Progress towards Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, http://one.org/livingproof/en/article/progress-towards-mnch/
Topical emollient therapy— application of sunflower seed oil to improve the function of the skin and prevent infections—decreased hospital- acquired infections in very preterm in- fants by 40 to 50 percent, and newborn deaths by 24 percent in one trial in Bangladesh.
Acta Paediatrica, Impact of topical oils on the skin barrier: possible implications for neonatal health in developing countries
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2002.tb03275.x/abstract
Pediatrics (Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics), Effect of topical treatment with skin barrier-enhancing emollients on nosocomial infections in preterm infants in Bangladesh: a randomised controlled trial
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/121/3/522.full.pdf
Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, Opportunities for Improving, Adapting and Introducing Emollient Therapy and Improved Newborn Skin Care Practices in Africa
http://tropej.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/05/10/tropej.fmr039.abstract
UCL (University College London) Centre for International Health & Development (CIHD), Exploratory study to guide the design of an emollients trial in Africa
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cihd/research/research-themes/postnatal/emollients-study/emollients
Study to evaluate the impact of topical application of improved oil and/or improved skin care practices on neonatal mortality – A community based cluster randomized controlled trial in rural India
http://inclentrust.org/page.php?id=256
Eczema 101 