My first daughter was blessed with amazing skin. I NEVER put lotion on her as a baby and her skin was always beautiful and soft. My second baby seemed to get hit with everything: bad baby acne, cradle cap, and some eczema on her legs. I was excited when I got the opportunity to try Cheryl Lee Products on her skin. Although it worked amazingly, I was hesitant to share on my blog because I don't consider her case to be “extreme,” and I didn't want to tell other moms to try it unless I knew for sure that it would help the most severe cases. So I asked 2 of my friends who both have sons with severe cases of eczema if they would try the creams and give me their honest feedback. They were both desperate to find something that wasn't a prescription, that wouldn't sting, and would actually work to heal their son's skin.
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Since I'm pretty sure I have to put this disclosure on anything medical related, here it is: I am not a doctor, nor do I offer medical advice. This post is written from the personal experience of others.
UPDATE: to read about my continued experiences with these products over a year later, see this post.
This is Kelly's eczema experience:
My son has had pretty severe eczema his entire life. We have always used prescription creams to keep it clear, but he dreaded the medicine because it burned and stung whenever we used it. Non Prescription creams have never been able to touch it.The last 2 years his condition has been very mild – the doctor said he had probably grown out of it. A few months ago it appeared again out of the blue and it was worse than ever. I was given TrueLipids® Eczema Experts™ Anti-Itch 1% Hydrocortisone Barrier Cream by Kristina. I was super skeptical, because I’ve never had a non prescription cream work, but I was so happy with the results. The biggest plus for my son was the fact that it didn’t sting or burn when he put it on! We were diligent and used it every day. After day 2 I could see a huge difference. After a week the eczema was gone, leaving only the usual scarring from his itching behind. We used it for another week just to be sure, than began using the TrueLipids® Relieve & Protect Ointment. It has stayed clear and he hasn’t had any recurrences.
This is Ami's eczema experience:
Camden is 8 ½ years old and is a very active little boy. Eczema has been a problem of his since he was a baby. I first noticed a problem when he was about a month old. I had just given him a bath and put some scented baby lotion on him. He instantly cried and it wasn’t a normal cry. I knew then that it was irritating him. It wasn’t until about a month later that dry patches started to appear. Camden’s pediatrician told me he had infantile eczema and that he would likely outgrow it. His eczema primarily affects his ankles, the backs of his knees, and the inside of his elbows. Occasionally, he will have it on his hand and between his fingers. I have noticed that his eczema gets worse when the seasons change and when he is around a lot of dirt or gets sweaty. Camden is very active so keeping his skin clean and dry is a challenge. His skin itches all the time and I catch him itching the problem areas a lot. When he has flare ups, his skin gets very dry and red. It usually gets so bad that he will scratch the area until he bleeds and gets an infection. Since he has had this for most of his life, his ankles now have scars on them.
I have tried anything I could think of for treating Camden’s eczema. The doctors have prescribed me numerous oral and topical steroids. They have told me to give him Benadryl at night to help him to not itch while he sleeps. He has been given antibiotics to clear up the infections he has gotten by itching as a result of the open sores. I hated giving him so many different medicines. I have tried essential oils. We have always used Vaseline to try to keep his eczema under control. None of these have ever worked long-term. With any medicine I was given in the past from doctors, I felt like his eczema would look better for a little bit, but never truly healed. I knew it would be only time before it was back. He has a hard time with anything scented on his skin. Sunscreen, bug spray or certain laundry detergents really bothered him. He still suffers from eczema and is old enough now that it really frustrates him. He feels different from his siblings and wants to have “normal” skin just like them. When he has had outbreaks in the past, kids at school have asked him what is wrong with his skin.
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I was very excited to try the Cheryl Lee sensitive skin care system. I have heard about it in the past and hoped it was something that would work for Camden. This is by far the best product I have used for him. We used the Eczema Experts morning and night. I tried to use the ceramide + cream and the skin protectant at other times during the day. After the first week, I saw significant improvement. The eczema on his arms and behind his knees cleared up. His ankles looked a lot better too. It’s hard to see from the pictures though. Before trying any of this, his skin was very rough. The skin on his ankles were especially rough and thick. After the first week, his skin was very smooth. I hadn’t remembered his skin feeling that smooth in a very long time. His ankles have been damaged by years of eczema and it was the fastest improvement I have seen. I know that his eczema is an ongoing problem. Summer is an extremely busy time for our family and I wasn’t as consistent as I wanted to be after the second week. I have seen with Camden’s eczema that if I don’t stay consistent, it usually comes back pretty quick. We had a couple of really busy weeks with baseball and it was hard for me to keep up on the creams. Camden was on three different baseball teams throughout the summer so the meant a lot of sweat and dirt. This would have been a disaster with any other cream I have tried in the past. I noticed that even if I missed a couple of days with the Cheryl Lee MD sensitive skin care system, I could put the eczema cream on at night and his eczema looked significantly better in the morning. His eczema never flared up to the degree it has in the past either. It seems much more manageable now. I feel like the one mistake I really made was by not putting the skin protectant ointment cream on Camden before he played baseball. I think this would have protected his skin from the dirt and sweat he encountered during baseball.
Baseball is finished and I feel like a life is getting back to more of a routine. My plan for the future is to put the eczema cream on his ankles a couple of times a day until it’s cleared up a little better and then maintain his trouble spots with the ceramide + cream during the day and the skin protectant ointment at night. At this point, I only have to put the skin protectant ointment on his knees or elbows every few days and it’s mostly to prevent anything from coming back. I really feel like the longer I use any of the Cheryl Lee products, the less I will have to use them. I really feel like I will be able to maintain Camden’s eczema with the Cheryl Lee products. I have recommended the Cheryl Lee MD products to friends and will continue to use them myself. My only complaint would be the cost. It’s something that I will have to really budget for. I think it could be hard for a lot of families to afford to try unless they really knew it was going to work. I’m thankful I have finally found something that’s helping Camden’s eczema. He’s not a self-conscious about his skin anymore.
***NOTE: FALL IS THE TIME to try this stuff if you haven't. They always do 25% off for Eczema awareness month. Use coupon code FALL 2016***
Although both of my friends used the creams for Eczema, they help with lots of different skin conditions. Check out their website for more info! The products are:
Truly Hypoallergenic
Truly Non-Toxic
Truly Therapeutic
If you want to try any of the products, click on the banner below (it automatically updates with any blogger special/discount currently going on)!
