Have you ever experienced this…
You find a new ointment, cream, or treatment that seems like the miracle answer to your eczema problems – but after a few weeks, months, or even years it simply stops working?
This can be an extremely frustrating situation for anyone who finds relief to their suffering only to lose it again – and it’s something that many parents who have children with eczema deal with. Today, we’re going to look at this issue and explore why it happens and what you can do to help prevent it when you find a good thing.
Why Treatments Stop Working
There can be many reasons why a specific treatment stops be effective after a period of being helpful – but the main cause is acclimation. When the body gets accustomed to a certain treatment, that treatment can simply stop being as effective as it used to be. If other issues like pathogens, bacteria, or viruses are at play, they can actually become used to the treatment and resist it. We see this all the time when people take antibiotics and stop seeing an effect after some time. It also happens frequently with anti-inflammatory drugs.
The fact is that the body is alive and it is constantly growing, adapting, and learning. The body has be ability to view even a helpful treatment as something that’s getting in the way. If there’s too much immune response, for example, and a treatment helps that – the body may just work hard to overcome the treatment because it truly believes the immune system needs to be ramped up.
When a good treatment stops working it is often the case that the body has adjusted to it and it no longer responding the way it used to. Typically, this means that we have to move on and try to find the nest great thing – but this process can be avoided in many cases.
How To Avoid Acclimation
If you find that you or your child gets used to treatments often, then there are some things you can do to help slow down or even stop the acclimation process…
First, don’t give the body enough of a chance to learn the treatment well. Use it only when really necessary, and rely on other treatments in between. If you’ve stumbled across a really effective treatment, reserve it for times when it’s needed most.
Next, Keep looking at other treatments even when you’ve found a good one. Things can always get better, and it never hurts to have several effective treatments on hand to rotate through as needed.
Finally, try and take breaks from a treatment if it is used constantly. 2-3 weeks on with a week or two off can usually do the trick.
Important: If the treatment you are using is a medication or prescription given by a medical professional, do not stop taking it or alter the way you take it unless you speak to them first.
Taking Action
Keep a journal to see which of the various diets, home remedies, treatments, medications, and techniques you use get you the best results. Then, try and create a rotating schedule so that the most effective eczema treatments are reserved for serious flare ups, and other treatments can use rotated as needed.
What Works For You?
Have you experienced your child getting used to a treatment and its effectiveness going down? Share with us in the comments below!