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MOC-home-and-herbal-remedies

John Montgomery5 min read

Home & Herbal Remedies

Map of Content — topic group mapped by judgment from infranodus community detection

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Members

  • Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema — Track A hub: evidence and toddler safety for 14 home/herbal eczema remedies, CAM uptake, steroid-adulterated creams, diet risks.
  • Adulterated Herbal Creams — ‘Natural’/herbal eczema creams repeatedly found by labs and the MHRA to hide potent steroids such as clobetasol or dexamethasone.
  • Traditional Herbal Registration — UK MHRA herbal licence based on 30+ years’ traditional use: checks quality and safety, but needs no proof the product works.
  • Coconut Oil — Lauric-acid-rich oil; one paediatric RCT beat mineral oil and an adult trial cut S. aureus, but guidelines call its role undetermined.
  • Olive Oil — Oleic-rich traditional skin oil that damaged the stratum corneum in adults and neonates; NICE says it is likely harmful to children’s skin.
  • Sunflower Seed Oil — Linoleic-rich oil that spared the adult barrier (Danby 2013) and cut preterm infections, but delayed neonatal lipid lamellae (Cooke 2016).
  • Almond Oil — Nut oil common in baby massage oils and ‘natural’ balms; no eczema trials, and it sensitised an AD infant to almond through the skin.
  • Shea Butter — West African nut fat in many eczema creams; two small paediatric product studies only; refined shea has no detectable nut protein.
  • Lanolin — Sheep’s-wool emollient in nipple, nappy and baby balms; contact allergen, commoner in patch-tested children (4.5%) than adults (3.2%).
  • Colloidal Oatmeal — FDA OTC skin protectant for eczema itch; paediatric RCT shows parity with barrier cream, but oat proteins can sensitise infants with AD.
  • Calendula — Marigold extract in ‘natural’ baby balms; no atopic-dermatitis RCT; Compositae contact allergen (~2% of patch-tested patients).
  • Chamomile — Compositae herb in creams, baths, teas; one weak manufacturer trial; contact allergy, mugwort/ragweed cross-reaction and anaphylaxis risk.
  • Essential Oils — Distilled plant oils (tea tree, lavender); no AD efficacy data; contact allergens on broken skin and seizure-risk poisons if swallowed.
  • Chinese Herbal Medicine — Oral/topical herbal formulas; early UK RCTs promising but Cochrane 2013 found no conclusive benefit; liver, kidney, hidden-steroid harms.
  • Manuka Honey — Topical honey: 5 tiny adult-heavy studies, the only RCT vs a control cream was negative. Never give honey by mouth under 12 months.
  • Apple Cider Vinegar — Dilute ACV soaks lower skin pH for only ~15 min, don’t improve barrier or microbiome, and irritated 73% of users; burns reported.
  • Breast Milk — Topical breast milk: one infant RCT ≈ hydrocortisone 1%, toddler pilot found no effect. Breastfeeding’s prevention effect inconsistent.
  • Evening Primrose Oil — Oral GLA-rich seed oil; Cochrane 2013 (27 RCTs) found it no better than placebo, and UK licences for Epogam were withdrawn in 2002.
  • Borage Oil — Oral GLA seed-oil supplement; Cochrane 2013 (8 RCTs) found no benefit over placebo, and borage carries a liver-toxic alkaloid concern.
  • Gamma-Linolenic Acid — Omega-6 fatty acid in evening primrose, borage and blackcurrant seed oils; oral GLA supplements failed in 27 RCTs and lost their UK licence.
  • Fish Oil and Omega-3 — Oral omega-3 (EPA/DHA) fish oil for eczema; small trials hint at benefit but Cochrane 2012 and AAD find no convincing evidence.
  • Vitamin D — Oral vitamin D: children with eczema tend to have lower levels; some RCTs (Camargo 2014) and meta-analyses show modest benefit, others none.
  • Probiotics — Oral live bacteria: no real benefit for treating eczema (Cochrane 2018); weak, contested evidence for prevention via maternal/perinatal use.
  • Prebiotics and Synbiotics — Gut-bacteria fibres (GOS/FOS), alone or with probiotics; weak eczema-prevention signal in formula-fed infants, not a treatment.
  • No Moisture Therapy — Online TSW regimen of stopping all moisturisers and limiting water/bathing; untested, against guidelines, risky for toddlers.

Key Relations

Chinese Herbal Medicine [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Coconut Oil [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Evening Primrose Oil [contradicts] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Adulterated Herbal Creams [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Traditional Herbal Registration [prevents] Adulterated Herbal Creams Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema [relates] Adulterated Herbal Creams Olive Oil [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Sunflower Seed Oil [contradicts] Olive Oil Almond Oil [relates] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Shea Butter [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Lanolin [relates] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Colloidal Oatmeal [relates] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Calendula [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Chamomile [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Essential Oils [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Manuka Honey [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Apple Cider Vinegar [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Breast Milk [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Borage Oil [part-of] Gamma-Linolenic Acid Gamma-Linolenic Acid [part-of] Evening Primrose Oil Fish Oil and Omega-3 [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Vitamin D [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Probiotics [part-of] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Prebiotics and Synbiotics [relates] Probiotics Chinese Herbal Medicine [relates] Adulterated Herbal Creams Evening Primrose Oil [relates] Traditional Herbal Registration Traditional Herbal Registration [relates] Herbal and Home Remedies for Eczema Sunflower Seed Oil [relates] Almond Oil Almond Oil [relates] Traditional Herbal Registration Shea Butter [relates] Coconut Oil

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