The Eczema Plan That Actually Works for Families

Introduction to eczema and guest background 0:00

You can have the best plan ever and the best intentions ever, but if you can't follow through, if you don't have the consistency, nothing's gonna happen. And the parents need to know, they need to know what to do and why they're doing it to sustain that consistency. Because ultimately, no matter who you're working with, you're the people that are gonna make it happen, right? It's mom and dad. And that's our goal, is to protect our kids. Hey, it's Dr. Jen. Welcome back to the podcast. Today, we're gonna be talking all about eczema, and I'm super excited for this, because this problem plugs so many of the mamas that I see in my practice and those of you listening.

So today, we're gonna be talking to an expert in this, so you guys can not fret anymore. Andra McHugh helps parents heal their kids' eczema naturally by addressing the root causes, which is so important. not just the symptoms. And she's the founder of eXima Kids and the host of the eXima Kids podcast, where she shares a practical, scientists-backed strategies for calming the skin and supporting the gut and immune system and creating an environment that allows kids' bodies to actually heal. Her work focuses on clarity over overwhelm, helping families move forward without steroids, guesswork, or extreme protocols.

Welcome to the podcast. So excited to have you. Thanks for having me, Dr. Jen. I'm excited too. Yeah. Well, eczema is like really not a fun thing to deal with or help people with because it is very frustrating. Why did you get into the eczema world? Like, what's your story? or the classic make your message story. I used to work in the dental industry. I worked at one of the biggest hospitals here in Denver. And I mentioned that because that was a lot of radiation exposure and a lot of chemical exposure.

And this is during the time when I was having kids. And so I think that played a big part in our story. And when I had my third daughter, she just was born with eczema. I mean, she just came out that way and they said, In her discharge papers, they noted a neonatal rash and that rash just grew and grew and grew and grew. Newborns are already just kind of red and flaky, but it just kept progressing and getting worse and worse and worse by the day. Simultaneously, my two-year-old, she had a little red spot.

her inner thigh and then the same thing it just started to grow and take over her body and so I went to the pediatrician because that's what you do when you have sick kids and I said oh my goodness you know this I think this is eczema from you know my basic googling I had no experience with it my husband has had hasn't had any experience with it they're like yeah this is really bad here's two prescriptions for steroids, put both on both of your kids and

How eczema began in Andra's family 3:00

put gloves on yourself because these are admittedly very caustic and, you know, throw a cap full of bleach in their baths at nighttime and hoping a prayer, hopefully they grow out of it. And I was like, wow, you know, and I was holding my newborn with one arm and I was holding the hand of my two year old with the other. And it's just like, this can't be it. This can't be our story. I can't, and I can't accept living this way any longer. I mean, we were not sleeping at all. And I just left there.

you know, a little defeated, but also empowered to find a different way. And we really did. And that's why I just know it's my moral obligation to share this stuff with other families because the suffering is so real. Yeah, and that's what's so beautiful is when we go through things that are really hard and we come out, you know, we come out stronger and we also come out wanting to help those walking through it. So I love that. So when a parent is just staring down like at this eczema that like won't go away, the itching, they feel awful, just like what you described, Like, where do you tell them to start?

Because they're already at a dermatologist or they're a pediatrician. What advice do you give them? You start in the kitchen as any mere mortal parent can because your kids have to eat and you can just start at their next meal. There's so much transformation that can happen just right there, just in the kitchen. First and foremost, focus on real whole foods and then we get into Less histamine foods, seasonal foods help a lot because then everything is just more nutrient dense, making sure everything is properly prepared.

We're lowering lectins and anti-nutrients everywhere we can, and everything is properly combined so that everything has to be digestible. It's like, first and foremost, these kids' digestive systems are overwhelmed. and impaired and they haven't been absorbing the nutrients from their food for a very long time. And so I see, I see very healthy people and we were healthy people ourselves. We eat vegetables, we're fit, you know, we're not chugging soda and still like we were dealing with this problem and that's the people I see are there too.

They've been gluten and dairy free for years, they're filtering their water and it's, they're still dealing with this and so Yeah, it's a layered approach, but that's where we start, is in the kitchen. Yeah, I love that. Well, you talked about the kitchen, you talked about anti-nutrients. Can you talk about those and how those play a role in eczema? Sure. And it's really, it's, it's a really confusing thing. I smile because, you know, I go back to, oh my goodness, you know, when you, when you are first presented with a problem like this and you don't, you start researching different paths and you don't know what to feed your kid.

And that's what makes things so, so stressful, but like an omnivore dilemma, like say, You know, eat good food, not too much, mostly plants. But then, then you start to research lectins. You're like, oh my goodness, but plants are poisoning us. And so right, so lectins and anti-nutrients, there's like these, these proteins that are designed to poison us, right? Like the, like the plants babies are seeds. Yes. And so as they do what they can, like evolutionary wise, to make sure that those seeds, you know, proliferate the species.

So they slowly poison us. So there's ways though to mitigate it because then on the same side, same coin, different side, beans and these fiber rich foods are like the healthiest foods that we can have. And it's like, well, how can that be? How can both be true? So you do have to mind these things.

Starting healing in the kitchen 7:00

And for thousands of years, the way that people traditionally prepared these foods, beans and grains and so forth is they soaked them and they sprouted them. And pressure cooking has been a thing for a really long time. That's another like really, you know, an instapod is like a really easy tool to also lower that, that lecting count. So it's going through that kind of process, which is really not that hard, but, but still abiding by that same philosophy that I just talked about is like mostly plants eat good food, you know, and then, yeah.

So that's kind of how that. Yeah, to put it practically, I mean, this is really important, you know, even I remember like 10 years ago, I found out that you should be soaking your rice, you know, for before you cook it to give to your family, you know, and yes, the instant pot, the pressure in that heat, it breaks some of that down, you know, even spinach, I cringe because I used to put spinach, I mean, this is like over a decade ago, into my healthy smoothies, and that's packed full of oxalates, which are very little sharp chemicals that poke your insides, but cooking spinach decreases the oxalate.

So little things like that, that an overwhelmed mother like, yes, I mean, we could find out all this on our own what to do with our kids for their eczema, but it's super overwhelming. And there's a lot of bad information out there. So what are some like misconceptions that you have found with eczema over the years? Well, the first one is that this is a skin problem, right? It presents like a skin problem and then... Oh, yeah. And that's why they go to their dermatologist. Go to the dermatologist first and they're the skin people.

And so, you know, that's just... And then you're still researching after you've tried the steroids and the antibiotics and then nothing's gotten better. And that's because it's not a skin problem and it's a gut issue, you know, and it's a lymphatic flow issue and it's a detoxification issue. and a nutrient absorption issue. So there's just so many things going on there. It's well below the skin. And yeah, and I think a lot of, you know, like what we were just talking about, a lot of people believe like it's food triggered.

They're like, oh, if I could just find the food that's triggering this, I don't know, they had peanut butter like last week, maybe, and now they're in full body hives. You know, that's not it. Like we should be able to have peanut butter and run through a field and know, even the occasional birthday cake and not go into a full body flare, right? So if that's what's happening, it's not the food. Eczema doesn't exist because gluten. It's because the terrain isn't prepared to handle it. Yeah, it's so many things.

And I mean, not that dermatology is a scam, but it kind of is because Oh, because it's like hurt so many people and they've been to the finest. Like, you know, they're like, oh, I went to the Cleveland Clinic dermatologist and I'm like, it's a mold exposure. Oh, and then it's cleared up. But not that they're a scam, but for certain things they are like eczema and hives and acne, you know, go to your dermatologist to take off your skin tags or make sure you don't have skin cancer. But that's about it.

You know, I mean, I just think that We in conventional medicine, we can compartmentalize all these different specialties when really it's all root cause oriented gut. That's why we have people like you and you got the secret sauce because the system failed you. I have to say, I interviewed a dermatologist a couple years ago on my podcast and it was a really fascinating interview and it did really well and she basically admitted, or she did admit, is like, well, yes, we just go down the steroid route because it's cheaper, right?

That's why it's not good for anybody. It doesn't help anybody. Yeah, but sometimes they put them on really expensive biologics. Yes. Yes. Yes. Like, yeah, your copay is $20, but the drug company is getting hundreds of dollars for these biologics that basically suppress the immune system at the skin level. But your skin is freaking out because it's like, hello, I'm trying to tell you something. Red flag. I know. I know. And then they put two-year-olds on it with no have to stop. It's so sad. And it doesn't work.

No, it doesn't. Save your money. Save your money. So what are the inflammatory perfect storm conditions that create eczema in the first place? And you talked about how diet can help reverse that at home, but what is this perfect storm? Well, I mean, I think it starts with a dysbiosis and, you know, my kids were born via cesarean. That's a huge knock against them, right? Like that's just, that's starting before the, the starting block.

Lectins, anti-nutrients, and food prep 12:00

That's really, it's sad because now you don't have like the microbiome that's in the diversification that you really need to make it in this world. So things like that, that cesareans, antibiotics, lack of breastfeeding. All those things can get you off to a subpar start and really start to feed this dysbiosis. And the microbiome just isn't developing. A baby's microbiome isn't as robust as yours and I, and that's okay, that's by design. But when it doesn't develop as it should, I mean, that really that really puts you at risk for something like this.

And, you know, once I learned more about it, I was like, oh my goodness, I'm thankful it's just eczema, right? Like, I mean, as serious as it is, and it is an autoimmune condition, Goodness, you know, like this is, I believe that autism and eczema are on the same spectrum. And if you keep going down and you keep leaving this systemic inflammation unchecked, I mean, more serious things can happen. I mean, like this is how like cancer and all the things happen. It's really quite sad. Yeah. And, and to be honest, my three boys had mild eczema and I breastfed and I did, you know, regular unmedicated birth and all of the things, but they're, you know, my gut health was kind of trash.

And, you know, so if people are listening, they're like, well, I did everything right. And it still happens. And mine, like they got little eczema. Well, like right here too, cause I think they were inoculated with MRSA and all this stuff on their skin too from me working at a hospital for decades. So yeah, we worked on their gut. I continued to breastfeed and they got better, their gut healed. So it's hard because you can feel like you've done everything right. And then you start feeling like guilt and shame and your baby's freaking out and crying.

And you know, we just want those listening have hope out there. Yeah. And there is, there is, because they inherit our exposures, unfortunately. Like I mentioned, being in a dental office, not great. And of course, I had a bazillion rounds of antibiotics growing up and ate macaroni and cheese on plastic plates, like pretty much my entire childhood. birth control, all the things, you know, like it really does compound and aggregate over time. And yeah, our kids unfortunately inherit those exposures.

But yes, there is, I mean, that's why I do what I do, because there is absolutely hope. Nobody was sent here to live like this, to live in itchy, painful skin. You can 100% reverse this. Yeah. Now, you teach the parents how to rebuild their child's gut lining and the detox pathways, but what does this actually look like day to day for a real family who doesn't have a lot of time and they're very overwhelmed? Yeah. I mean, that's first and foremost, right? You can have the best plan ever and the best intentions ever, but if you can't follow through, if you don't have the consistency, nothing's going to happen.

And the parents need to know. They need to know what to do and why they're doing it to sustain that consistency. Because ultimately, no matter who you're working with, you're the people that are going to make it happen, right? It's mom and dad. And that's our goal, is to protect our kids. you know, basic things that I use as a mom before are the simple things. And, you know, you've heard of these things and maybe you're doing it and maybe you're not, but this is what makes the difference between like, you know, Chipotle or a fast food crutch versus real whole food.

And one is meal planning, right? Like I take the 10 minutes, it's 10 minutes, you know, on one day on the weekend. Write out what I need and go to the store once like one time a week. So that's that grocery shop has to count. So it's a lot and I need two carts and all the things, but it's that's what has to happen. And then you need to write out that meal plan on a week. on a board on your fridge and then you need to take those five minutes five minutes before you go to bed to think how is my family getting through the day dietarily right and does that mean i need to take something out of the freezer does that mean i need to soak some beans you know it really just isn't hard stuff but just doing those two things alone is makes a huge difference Yeah.

And this stuff is habits, like just different habits. You just need to start, you know, and it's not going to be perfect every time, but you know, a little bit is better. You know, it's, it's hard. And I like how you said, you know, just planning like ahead is going to decrease the, the overwhelm. How do you deal, this might be a little personal, but how do you deal with family members that are resistant to this strategy? How did your family react when you were like, no, we're actually done with these conventional doctors and dermatologists,

Why eczema is more than a skin problem 17:00

we're gonna heal my kid's eczema? I mean, that was, it's still, it's still, I mean, my kids are doing thankfully so well and they have been for, for years, but my outside family like thinks, I mean, I'm crazy, which is fine. You know, like they love our kids and, and they, you know, we see them a lot and it's great, but it's very different than how that how I was raised and what my parents believe. My mom was a nurse. My stepmom is in the dental industry. It's just not that way. When you're sick, you go to the doctor and my husband's parents the same and even my husband's.

What's going on? This is negligent to not put steroids on my kids when they were at their worst. And sometimes I felt that way, but then I remembered my resolve. I was like, no, actually that's not right. Like I know that's just kicking the can down the road. And the more I researched it, the more I uncovered is like, okay, this just, this is going to be like this for the short period of time. My goal is just to truncate it as fast as possible. And if you implement those things, like a plan, like a meal plan, you know, nothing intense, then if you have help, like your husband or whomever, they'll help as long as they know exactly what to do.

So if you can just say like this, this, this for breakfast. do it, and there aren't any questions or anything like that, then they'll do it. They don't even have to know the why. Sometimes my husband, when we were going through it, is like, well, why are we doing this? I don't know. I just read about it, and I was so exhausted and too tired, and I just couldn't really handle even the back and forth between the two of us. It's just like, just do it, please. And so I don't know if that's a really helpful answer.

It's just you got to leave the line. what it's all about. It's like what we're doing right now isn't working. So we have to do something different. Yeah, no, absolutely. And, you know, another problem is environmental triggers. And in your program, you emphasize healing with internal and external environmental healing. And what are some of the most overlooked environmental triggers that parents need to know about? Uh, EMF is one, I mean, it's ubiquitous and it's easily, it's, it's easy to get stressed out about it because you can't avoid it completely.

But there's a lot of things that you can do in your home environment and that's where you're in charge, right? You control that environment within your four walls. And that's a big one that you can easily, I mean, just like unplugging your router at night. before you go to bed. That's a big one, especially when the kids are sleeping and their brain is in that theta stage and it's growing and developing. There's things like that that you can do at every level. It's just a little bit lessens that inflammatory assault that's happening on our kids.

24-7, you know? So that'd be one. Checkout mold, if that's at all a consideration. And there's like agar tests, you know, things that you can do like first level. If you're not seeing like black mold spores, if you're not sure is that possibly a contributing factor, there's things like that that you can do. And then, of course, you have to deal with your water. I mean, you have to filter it and remineralize it. And so things of that nature, the cleaning solutions, you know, most of the people that I'm sure everyone that's listening now doesn't have toxic cleaning solutions or laundry solutions in their home.

As of now, that's usually the first to go, which is great because that really, really helps the indoor air quality. But like I said, there's just so much you can do. Thankfully, there's so much you can do. Yeah. I mean, that environment, it is really important. And yeah, like I love that you brought up mold because that is really big and hives and eczema or eczema, hives that turn into eczema, that can definitely be a big root cause. And, you know, I see these symptoms as while they're frustrating, it's good because we don't want it to turn into something worse.

We want to take care of it and not just put a band-aid on, which is steroids usually. Yeah. Yes. So you've helped hundreds of families achieve this full reversal of eczema. What patterns do you see in kids who have healed the fastest? consistency is first and foremost. I mean, getting rid of the packaged food is a big part. And even as a healthy family, if you go in your pantry, there's a significant amount of packaged stuff in there. And so if you could just start there and just use only real whole food, that will truncate your healing timeline by a lot.

Inflammatory triggers and the gut-skin connection 22:00

We're really big on, you know, with eczema, there's this big symptom management piece, right? You have to deal with the here and now and these kids, they're so uncomfortable or if you're experiencing this when you're so uncomfortable and your skin is literally falling off. And so we use a system, like I started with herbal oils, it just Everything that we do is meant to infuse nutrients into your body. And so we use a lot of topicals to do that. Like it works the same way as steroids, right? When you put something on your skin, it's absorbed and it's circulated through your bloodstream.

And so you can do that with beneficial herbs and anti-inflammatory herbs and anti-microbials as well. And that's really helpful. And then, you know, the people that like take the time to address this environmental piece. It's not the most fun for sure, but do your best there. And then you have to incorporate supplements because these kids are just too far gone from optimal health, right? They're in the state of dis-ease. And so while food does a lot, it can't do the whole transformation because there's just too much going on.

So the ones that are regular about that, they get on some really targeted supplements to help those bodies detox, to help them fill those nutritional deficiencies that are undoubtedly there. If you can do those, then the likelihood, we do testing last because a lot of people, 80%, don't need to go to testing, right? If you dial all of that in, everything that I just spoke to, and then you're experiencing problems, that means there's something living in there that isn't meant to be there. And then now the testing becomes much more useful.

And so that's why we go at it that way. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I mean, have you found that testing like everything first, like let's get a gut health test right away, like that is causing like more stress or like food allergy tests or something like that? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when I went through it, We spent a lot of money on testing and definitely not money that we had, but felt like we had to do. But it wasn't very informative because you're already on this restrictive diet. You don't know what's triggering them.

Then you take an IgG and it lights up like a Christmas tree because their immune system is just going bonkers. Now, you're also taking off healthy foods like celery and broccoli and just anything else that came up on that panel, turmeric. And then you're just not put in a better situation. And kids under 12 months old, they can't even do a GI map. They can't even do a stool test. So that's not helpful in that case. And then there's micronutrient tests or Any other type of thing, getting a blood draw on a kid is hard and traumatic in a lot of cases and just so unnecessary.

We first have to really calm down the system. If they don't have this vast pharmaceutical history, then usually that's enough. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. I don't know if you've heard of the company Tiny Health, like they have some good testing, which is it's different and you could do that on younger ones and that will give you an insight on like how much inflammation is going on and all of that. So, but yeah, the traditional testing I think is just really not helpful. You know, when patients ask me for a food allergy test, I'm like sure like it's okay if you want to but it might cause you more stress because like you said it will light up like a Christmas tree.

Before that you know usually I'm like let's just start with some basic things and get everything like settled down because we know there's a problem from your symptoms and then we can go from there and that works out better and it saves the money because then we're just doing the food allergy testing when we kind of got everything narrowed down and maybe there's one or two things that they just need to take out for six to eight weeks and then reintroduce. Yeah, yeah, it just it just goes for a much smoother process, a significantly cheaper process.

And yes, it's just more insightful. Yeah. Yeah. Well, because like part of the problem is, you know, then so Say the kid does this crazy food allergy test, and like you said, you're taking out nutritious food that's actually feeding the good gut microbiome. Not only is the kid suffering, the parents are then going to have an autoimmune disease or have problems because they're so stressed out,

Consistency, family support, and daily routines 27:00

like these restrictive things. So I'm sure you see that a lot, like the eczema really affecting the parents too. It does. I mean, I don't know if you've ever heard the saying like you can only be as happy as your unhappiest child. And I would love for that not to be true. But for me, it certainly was like I could not really smile during that period of time. Oh, like to my babies were just so unwell. And that's the hardest to watch your your child suffer. It just weighs on your heart like nothing can.

And, you know, of course, you still have to deal with, you know, your job and you still have to deal with your other kids and you still have to manage the house and you still, I mean, like, and these are all blessings, but when you're in that state, it doesn't feel like it. And so, yeah, I just, I want people to live in that state for the least amount of time possible. Yes, absolutely. So these parents, you know, we talked a little bit about just what they're going through. Do you work with the parents also while they're going through this process with you to like help shift their mindset so they can move forward and actually do the hard things?

Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of, like you mentioned, like there's a lot of guilt. You know, you're like, oh no, you know, I shouldn't have done X, Y, or Z and oh goodness, I could have done this better and this better. And now they're suffering because of my choices and it's like, well, No, you know, I used to worry about that too. Every time I changed my baby's diaper and just her skin was so bad. And I was like, oh man, it's just, it felt so defeating. It's like, oh no, she's stressed. Like this is, oh dear, everything I'm doing is wrong.

And it's like, no, the dysbiosis is the stress, right? That's a, big body stressor. It doesn't mean you're a bad parent. It doesn't mean you messed up everything. Yes, their body is under duress and it's from the dysbiosis. It's not from you. So sometimes we talk through that and it's helpful to hear. But like a morning practice and all the things, these are nice. to have but usually the people going through it in the state like there's not a lot of capacity for that and they're just so tired first and foremost so really the best thing that I can offer for the mindset of these people is one, encouragement, but two, giving you a plan so you know I am doing the very best by my kid.

When you hit your head on the pillow, you know I couldn't have done anything more for my kiddo today, and that gave me solace when I was going through it. Schlepping this like there's just nothing more that I can give and this has to be enough and they did it is just then they started to Incrementally get better and if when you're in it and you're lotioning and you're bathing and you're doing all the things that you can notice you can notice those tiny tiny Improvements are a little less itchy there teeny bit less red their temperament is a little better and you can Ride those wins, you know, and that helps a whole bunch, too Yeah, yeah, that's, that's really exciting.

You know, I think you're right, like when our kids are suffering, it's like our own heart, you know, we really take that on. And, you know, for me, who I just have to pray, I have to pray and give God control. But we still definitely we are part of the plan. We're part of the plan to help them. So for the parents listening right now who maybe found this podcast because they searched eczema, you know, and I'm just so glad that they stumbled upon it. If their kids are in a severe flare right now, what is one thing that they can start today to help calm the skin while they're working on all these root causes?

One, just water, right? Drinking water instead of anything else. I have to give a few things. Two would be like a really just basic diet. Not like the brat diet, not just like empty carbs, but like you know, boiled chicken even and a vegetable, like that's good, that's enough, just dial it back. Fewer ingredients, the better, you know, while they're still getting in those, the antioxidants and the protein and the amino acids and all the things that they need to grow and ultimately get over this.

And three, I'd say herbal oil and Epsom salt best. I mean, that's just like a real, real therapy in the way that herbs are infused in the oil like takes on these properties and it delivers these anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory nutrients into the tissues. It's just, it's incredible and it's not hard, you know, and you're just putting it on the kiddo's and even that that process in and of itself dials back

Environmental triggers and root-cause healing 32:00

the nervous system and then it also helps protect your skin from the water because that's something else that it needs to be protected from because everyone who's experiencing eczema has you know a thinner skin barrier than ideal. So it helps on just so many different levels and it's like I said it's a true true therapy and really really help and then if you follow that up with an Epsom salt bath you're remineralizing your detoxifying Thanks. So oil first, because it's productive. So you're putting the oil all over or just on those spots?

All over ideally, or you could just concentrate on the lymph dense areas like your neck, bottom of your feet, groin, things like that. And if your child is a little bit older, they can absolutely do it themselves. the more the better. And then- Yeah. And then that Epsom salt, it's still getting through the magnesium, the calming properties, but that oil is giving a barrier from the water. Is that right? Yeah, exactly. I mean, people in the East use it preventatively all the time. They have for thousands of years and that's where I found it.

And I just felt for this disorder, it is literally life-changing. Now, what's in the oil? Can you share? Is there a favorite product you like? Yeah, I didn't develop products until I was doing this for like two and a half years and everyone was asking me like, oh my goodness, what did you do? And so, yeah, I sell them at XMACids.com. We sell a skin comfort trio and it starts with the herbal oil and it has herbs, all just skin. loving herbs. Amilocchi was really high in vitamin C. We had mangesa in there, which is really good about moving the lymph.

Neem, which is the number one gin herb, everyone's heard of neem. It's just really helpful. It's all in this jojoba oil base that's really well tolerated. Then you take your epsom salt bath and you pat dry with 100% cotton towel. Then we have a comfort spray that's got some Chinese herbs in there that help address the staph because everyone has staph on their skin. But if you have eczema, you have more, you know, staph bacteria on your skin. So we want to address that and also deal with the itch.

So I just created this formula to help me get little bit longer stretches of sleeping when my kids were really, really going through it and it's still moisturizing and non-toxic. And then you follow that up with the cream. We have a tallow cream that's infused with castor oil because it's just the most viscous moisturizing substance that you can possibly have. And all three steps are like taking supplements for the skin. I mean, the tallow cream is high in D, E, and K. I mean, you take your wins, especially with kids everywhere you can because they can't take that many supplements, right?

You can't stack supplements like you can an adult. Right. Oh my goodness. Yes. Let's talk about that. I remember when I was practicing in Ohio, a kid came to me, we were working on their gut health and I looked at the naturopath who didn't have kids, sent over all these recommendations and I was like, you can tell that they don't have kids because They're not going to do that. And that's why they think it's better. And that's the thing. And I'm sure you work with parents like, hey, what is your kid actually going to do?

Is your kid showing that they're on maybe the spectrum and they have eczema? So we're working on the root cause, which is going to help both, but they are really not going to take anything. So I love that. you are gonna put some things in you know with nutrients and and this is same for adults honestly I just spoke with a patient today and I'm like I don't want you to get supplement fatigue because I personally don't but I know other people do so I'm like instead of an adaptogen we're gonna use tea as an adaptogen so you know make sure you're working with someone that one like has kids or like has personal experience with the disease honestly because they actually know what you're going through because I think what's missing in all of health care and I'm sure you can agree with us because you were in it is that you know that empathy and really just focusing on the emotional component of the disease it's not just diagnosing and treating it's actually looking at their whole history and how are we going to implement these things I know this works This is my recipe, but if you don't have all the components of the recipe, you're not going to get a good outcome.

Yes. That's what we do. We just talk through, here's exactly how to dose this. Here's exactly how to administer it in a food or in whatever. It looks really different and everyone's on different stuff, but we're focused on this one issue versus you're seeing so many things.

Fastest healing patterns and when to test 37:00

I did want to mention is another reason that we can delay testing because there's so many things that we know are given. We know they're low in zinc, they're low in iron, they're low in dysbiosis happening, their lymph is clogged, their liver is burdened. We already know so much and so we can just start to proactively go about that. Yeah, it's just, it's, that's the biggest is you have to, you have to know how to actually get it in your child. And if it's not working, then we go back to the drawing board and we have a prebiotic tea.

That's yeah, we do as much as we can, food-based and, and, and topically as we, as we can. Yeah. No, I love that so much. Well, I just, you know, not that I'm grateful that you went through this, but I'm grateful that you were able to help heal your kids. And now you are just helping other parents and other children. And eczema is a real thing, you know, no matter what the root cause, it's a big, big issue. And it's, it impacts, you know, the kids sleep, you know, if their gut health is the root cause, then that's just getting worse, you know.

if we're ignoring it. So I think that this is such important work and someone's listening out there and they have a kid that's struggling with eczema or maybe their kid had eczema and grew out of it. I mean, they probably still should change some things or if they have a family friend or anyone, you know, share this episode and then how can they find you, Andrew? Sure. You can find me at eczemakids.com. That's where the skincare is. Eczema Kids podcast is, I have a weekly podcast that's been running for four years.

I had Dr. Jen on there. I think it's actually airing this week. So yes, go check that out. Awesome. Well, we appreciate you so much for being here. And real quick, I need to do my podcast questions. Do you hang out on Instagram much or no? I try. I'm not very good at it. Some weeks I do better than others. Yeah. Okay. Let's do some rapid fire questions. Are you ready? Okay. What is your favorite biohack that actually works? I really love red light. I actually got one just this past summer and I feel like I shattered my leg a few months ago.

And so I did some labs just to like, why are my bones like shattering? I was doing better because I've been doing red light every night than I had before I had the red light. So that's the only way that I can see that it's working. It's helping my thyroid.

Calming a flare and product recommendations 40:00

But it's not having the wrinkle and other benefits that I was hoping for, but that would be my favorite bio. That takes time for the college and middle school stuff. Yeah. Yeah, it does. I mean, but it's so good for the mitochondria. Yes, love red light. Now, what would you do if you weren't doing what you're doing now? What was your backup career? Well, would likely still be doing dental stuff, doing OSHA seminars for dentists, but I didn't like it. And then once this started happening two years into this, I had to stop working in the dental industry completely because it just didn't go with any of my values anymore.

So hopefully not that I don't even know what else I would do besides this. This is, I mean, I homeschool my kids, so maybe a teacher, but I just, I love doing this so much. I love seeing the transformations and working with the parents and getting results. That's amazing. What is the favorite part of your morning routine? Well, I'd say I use the tallow cream and so that probably would be it. And also I do try and do, have you heard of the Miracle Morning? No. Oh, this guy Hal Elrod came out with a book, Miracle Morning, like a really long time ago.

I want to say 15 years ago or so. But it's just this basic practice. He calls it the sabers. It's like silence, affirmation, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing. So I don't do all of them. You could do them all in like seven minutes. You know, you could dedicate one minute to each. So it just depends on the time that you have. But I try and at least do like a meditation and a little bit of exercise. That's awesome. All right. Favorite scripture or book that you lean on in tough seasons?

Where to find eXima Kids and rapid-fire questions 42:00

Well, there's so many. I guess I go back to Perfect Health by Deepak Chopra because he just puts it all together and puts it in and I just, it's a really good reminder read for me. Great. And then last one, one word only. What is one word you would like to leave with our listeners for the week? Empowered. Yes. Good one. All right. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Everyone go check out eXima Kids. Share this episode. Comment if you loved it. And we will see you next time. Thanks so much. Thank you, Dr.

Jen.