Natalie Balmond knew she was on to something the first time her toddler daughter slept through the night. Little Lula, who was diagnosed with eczema at 18 months, used to wake crying and scratching several times every night.

"We were all exhausted at being woken up. But it was more distressing for Lula, who was covered in a violent red rash that bled through her nightie and never gave her any peace," says Natalie.

When Lula was about three-and-a-half, and when conventional steroid creams failed, her mum took matters into her own hands and devised a homeopathic concoction.

"At one stage Lula begged me to shave all the hair off her head because it was so itchy and uncomfortable and so we could apply cream. As a mum to see your daughter in so much obvious discomfort was very difficult."

As Lula's eczema got steadily worse Natalie tried everything from dietary changes to alternative therapies.

But her daughter's eczema was chronic and within months Lula had to be wrapped from head to foot in bandages every night to protect her sore and bleeding skin.

Natalie, from Brighton, says: "Our doctor suggested creams and treatments but nothing worked effectively. The steroid creams helped a bit but I didn't want her to stay on them long term as they can be damaging to the skin and have other side-effects."

When doctors said Lula should be admitted to hospital for intensive steroid treatment Natalie looked around for an alternative and as a last resort she turned to herbs.

"I noticed many of the prescription creams had petrochemicals and preservatives in the base. So when a friend gave me a book on medicinal herbs I thought if I put the herbs for skin conditions into my own base it might work."

Natalie made a blend of hemp oil laced with herbs, including chickweed to reduce redness, camomile to calm the skin and nettles to reduce heat.

"Although it took a lot of experimenting, even from that first batch I was amazed at how well it worked."

Eczema affects about one in five people in Ireland at some point in their lives. It is caused by an allergic reaction on the skin to something either on or in the body. This produces a rash that is red and itchy and is prone to drying out, which can then cause the skin to crack and bleed.

In some cases infection sets in and so antibiotics are prescribed as well as steroid creams. The Irish Eczema Society says: "The first line of treatment is to get a good daily skin-care regime, which involves bathing correctly and applying moisturiser or steroid cream depending on severity. The effectiveness of creams is hard to answer; as the condition worsens you have to go up in strength."

However, more and more people are reluctant to use steroids or find they don't work and others feel that conventional medicine only treats the symptoms not the cause. Judith Hinchcliff, a complementary therapist from Donegal, uses a method called phytobiophysics to treat eczema. This is described as a vibrational treatment that uses flowers at its base which energise the body to mend itself. She says: "Conventional medicine tends to treat symptoms head on without looking at underlying causes of the condition.

"In my experience eczema is caused by toxins in the body. When the body is trying to get rid of the toxin it reacts on the skin. Rather then suppressing the symptoms, phytobiophysics treats the body as a whole and each individual as unique."

Others have sought help from ancient Chinese medicine with good results. Practitioner Anne-Marie McClorey states: "Traditional Chinese medicine addresses the underlying cause of the eczema, not just the external visible symptoms.

"The practitioner will investigate all aspects of a person's health. For example, when a person's eczema reacts to certain foods it may mean they have some digestive imbalance. If the person has asthma there may be a lung imbalance. Even symptoms such as lower back pain, menstrual problems, headaches and lack of sleep are all investigated. So the outer visible problem is treated by determining the internal energetic problem.

"As no two people have identical health, there is no one formula or cream for all types of eczema. When the precise diagnosis is made there is a range of treatment options such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, dietary changes, and even lifestyle changes.

"There are many herbs to choose from and they are used safely by adults and children alongside western medical treatment," says McClorey.

Margaret Mekitarlan from Co Meath was covered from "her neck to her ankles" in a burning raw rash that drove her to tears. When she visited her GP he wanted to admit her to hospital because her eczema was so bad but she knew that they could only treat her with strong steroids and she didn't want that.

"I found the steroid creams helped a bit at first but then I had to apply it more frequently. By August of last year I was desperate. I'd heard good things about Chinese medicine and although sceptical I was prepared to try anything."

Margaret's condition was looked at as a whole, she says, including her diet and the stress she was under. She had been in the process of buying a house, which exacerbated her condition and, according to her practitioner, her liver wasn't functioning properly and so her system needed to detox.

"Through a combination of herbs and acupuncture, I now don't have a spot of eczema on me. I'm very glad I tried this. I've learnt better how to handle stress as this can trigger an outbreak and although I've got the stress of getting married coming up I believe I can now manage my eczema."

The UK's eczema website urges caution in using alternative therapies. The website says, "There has only been limited scientific evaluation of complementary treatments and so it is important to let your doctor know if you are starting another course of treatment, since interactions can occur between certain medications. Conventional treatments should not be stopped suddenly, without consulting your doctor."

It goes on to say, "Ensure that the practitioner is properly qualified and registered with the appropriate regulatory body. Remember that a treatment which is described as natural or herbal is not guaranteed to be safe and what works for one person will often not work for another."

The VHI says that although diet, particularly dairy produce, is often blamed for flare-ups of eczema, especially in young children, it believes that food is rarely the cause of eczema in children or in adults. Its advice is to see your GP and to use a three-pronged approach of education, steroids and emollients.

However, Natalie is adamant that her search for an alternative to prescribed medicine was crucial.

"I'm very glad I never gave up and with the help of some special friends found a solution to Lula's eczema. The creams I cooked up from my kitchen table are now used all over the world by people prone to eczema."

Initially Natalie made one or two pots a week of the blended herbs, oils and beeswax for Lula and a few friends. But as interest grew, so did the demand and she has now set up Pure Potions whose creams have recently become available in Ireland (www.purepotions.co.uk).

Natalie says: "It's great that something so positive has come from such a painful experienced. But it's important to remember to find the underlying cause of eczema."

Judging by the difference in Lula, who is now nine, she must be pretty pleased with Mum's potions too.

Eczema: the facts

• Eczema is an inflammatory response of the skin to either external or internal factors or a combination of both.
• There are many different types of eczema, also known as dermatitis. The two most common are Atopic eczema, often found in young children and infants, and Contact Dermatitis, which causes redness and itching on skin that has come into contact with an irritant or allergen.
• Up to 800,000 Irish people suffer from eczema in some form and an estimated one in four Irish children have suffered from it at some stage, according to irishhealth.com. There are no guarantees that a child will outgrow eczema but research has shown that 60-70pc are virtually free of the condition by the time they reach their mid-teens.
• Eczema can be controlled but not cured. Moisturising the skin is the first priority of treatment and emollients, oil-based products, are used to soften and soothe the skin.
• Other treatments that your doctor may prescribe are topical steroid creams, antibiotics,antihistamine, oral steroids and other immunosuppressant therapies such as cyclosporine. A steroid-free topical ointment called tacrolimus has been recently made available in Ireland, and may be prescribed for moderate or severe eczema, if other treatments have failed.

The Eczema Society suggests the following:

1) Avoid triggers such as pets, pollen or certain foods.

2) Include emollients in your daily routine, it may be useful to carry a small tub of emollient with you to apply throughout the day.

3) Avoid soap and commercially prepared shower or bath products.

4) Limit contact with chemicals that irritate the skin such as detergents, cosmetics or household cleaners and wear rubber gloves to protect your hands.

5) Try to avoid stress as this can often cause flare-ups. Avoid scratching and keep nails clean and short to avoid eczema becoming infected.

Further information:

www.eczemaireland.org

www.purepotions.co.uk

www.phytob.com

Chinese Medicine, Navan Clinic: 01 845 9911

- Sarah Spendiff