Brennan has always had bad skin. As a baby he has eczema on his body. When he was a toddler we sought out a pediatric dermatologist who told us he had hyper sensitive skin, add bleach to his bath water, use Vaseline versus lotion and other than that, we just had to deal with it. Then the poor kid was diagnosed with severe food allergies; I suspect much of his skin issues stemmed from an undetected, mild food allergy, but I will never know for sure. As he got older the eczema on his arms and legs started to clear up, but his little hands were a mess. Summer wasn't bad, but autumn through spring the little guy had horrible dry, cracked skin on his hands. At times the skin would pop open, bleed and then get infected. Some days even water burned his sore hands. I think it is worst in the winter months due to the cold temps, the wind and the overuse of hand sanitizer and soap. I have tried wrapping his hands in Vaseline at night, apply oil, you name it. We even resorted to steroids at one point, but nothing fully clear up his hands. I hate to see him cry and shiver in pain!! It seriously breaks my heart.
This past March I attended a seminar on the 4 A's (ADD, autism, asthma and allergies). Very long story short I ended up making him appointment with the presenter, a chiropractor who is very knowledgeable in holistic approaches to life. I showed her Brennan cracked, bleeding hands and after a long conversation, a medical history and some further tests, she suggested he was deficient in certain vitamins and minerals. Brennan is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, shell fish and fish. Rich, healthy oils are found in these foods, things that our bodies need in order to maintain its healthy, active lifestyle. She suggested I start giving him a daily dose of something called Barlean's. I had never heard of this before, but I was desperate to help him heal.
Barlean's is a brand of organic oil supplements. One of their products is something called an Omega Swirl. Basically it is a super powerhouse omega 3's, something my poor kid was totally deficient of. I had tried to find safe flax seed to add into his diet, but he refused the nasty oils and all of the seeds I found were made in a facility with nuts so I was out of luck. The doctor told me to buy the vegan brand which is totally fish/ shell fish free. After some research I discovered this was totally safe for him!!
Every night before bed Brennan takes a teaspoon of the "Total Omega 369 Vegan Swirl". It is a thick, rich, creamy berry flavor that truly tastes like dessert not a funky oil. It is packed with omega 3, omega 6 and omega 9 oils which are essential in the aid of the cardiovascular system, body inflammation, immune responses, etc. OK, so after three days his skin started to smooth out. By five days the redness was gone and so was the pain. By the seventh day his hands were totally normal!! I was beyond amazed!! We did this for three months and Brennan's hands were soft, supple and he felt great. I decided I wanted to see if this stuff really did work so after the sixth month I didn't purchase any. It is expensive for the vegan swirl ($30/bottle....regular swirl is only $13/bottle, but it does last about 3 months) so I "justified" not purchasing the supplement due to money. At fist he did great and I started to doubt the supplement. Every week I would inspect his hands and like I said, at first they were great. As the month went on I noticed his skin appeared a bit rough. Soon the redness appeared. Last week I noticed his hands were really rough, itchy and redder than before. On Thursday his little hands were so cracked they were bloody and he couldn't apply anything on them without cry out in pain. I made a beeline to the store for the swirl and on the first day I used my mom judgement and gave him two doses. On Friday and Saturday he had regular doses. Today is Sunday and I swear his hands have cleared up! There is no blood, they are not red and and they are so soft. I do not care how much this supplement costs, I promise to buy it and keep him on it at all times. Despite my fruitless efforts over the years, a plant based holistic approach healed my son!
www.barleans.com
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