The Reasons Why I Stopped Using Topical Steroids.

3 years ago when my son John was diagnosed with eczema, I had never even heard of this skin condition, it was completely unknown and new to me.

In my family the word of a doctor was sacred, so when I took my son to the doctor to find out what was happening to his skin, I trusted 100% what the doctor told me and prescribed.

And there it all started to go wrong, topical steroids should not be applied like any cream, otherwise there would be many side effects to deal with. Many doctors don't usually warn about this, even the doctor who prescribed them to my son never alerted me to this, although it was a very important thing to warn about.

Prolonged use of steroids can lead to suppression of skin function and other very serious problems, but that wasn't the only reason i decided to stop using them...

Here are 5 reasons why steroids are not the solution for eczema relief for me:

The side effects 😫

The list of the effects of topical steroids made me panic the first time I saw them: thinning skin, redness, irritation, itching, dryness, changes in skin pigmentation, inflamed hair follicles, secondary skin infections, sensitivity to sunlight, etc.

And the list seems to go on and on, there are really too many consequences in the medium and long term. 

TSW ⚠️

TSW (Topical Steroids Withdrawal) is a syndrome that occurs in people who have used steroids for a long time or have overused them in the amount applied.

Many people who stop using steroids can see a significant worsening of the skin, the symptoms of eczema seem to intensify, if with eczema the skin itched with TSW the skin burns.

My son had to go through TSW, it is a terrible process that I do not wish on anyone. If you are going through TSW the only way to treat it is to have an anti-inflammatory diet, avoid triggers and use non-steroid products to help soothe your skin during that process.

It is not a long term treatment ✖️

With the above information you can realize that it is not feasible to treat eczema long term with topical steroids.

Eczema is treated from the inside, of course, it is also important to treat it externally but it is better to choose products that do not compromise your health.

There are safer alternatives 🥰

If there were no alternatives for treating eczema I probably wouldn't have made this list. Eczema can be treated holistically and for me that is the safest and most effective way to do it.

The skin reflects our inner health so diet, daily habits, gut health, emotional well being and atriggeer identification are key.

My son's skin started to clear up when I focused on his overall health, when I started paying attention to his overall wellness and not just putting some cream on his skin.

Many times we choose steroids because it seems the easiest way to treat eczema "if I just apply this cream everything will be fine"... Nothing could be further from the truth!

Starting to use steroids brings consequences, the skin takes its toll when subjected to such aggressive treatments.

So if you are thinking about using steroids I ask you to leave it as a last option and if you are already applying it, do your research, check our blogs and our Instagram posts, maybe you can rethink the way you are going to recover the health of your skin.