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Mother concocts nettle potion to soothe eczema pain
18 Apr 2008
A mother has developed a natural remedy to tackle her daughter's bouts of chronic eczema.
Natalie Balmond used stinging nettles and other plants to create a tonic for her five-year-old Lula after her eczema became difficult to control with prescribed medication, the Sun reports.
"Her skin was raw and inflamed, and she scratched herself until she bled. Our doctor suggested creams and treatments but nothing worked," Ms Balmond told the newspaper.
By studying the creams prescribed to Lula, Ms Balmond noticed that many of them included petrochemicals and preservatives as a base.
Using a book on medicinal herbs, she then experimented with herbs for skin conditions which she mixed into her own base.
The result was the formulation of a beeswax-based salve combined with herbs including nettles to reduce heat, chickweed, which is thought to reduce redness and camomile which is thought to have skin-calming properties.
Although doctors were apparently sceptical about the success of the treatment, Ms Balmond believes it significantly eased the condition.
Guidance issued by the National Eczema Society on the use of complementary therapies stresses that there has only been "limited scientific evaluation" of their effectiveness.
The organisation advises that anyone thinking of using herbal therapies should seek advice from their doctor prior to starting a course of treatment.
Conventional treatments should not be stopped without medical advice as herbal treatments are not guaranteed to be safe.
Click here to learn more about eczema
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