AMY PRUITT: OK, 1--
SON: Really fast.
AMY PRUITT: --2, 3
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So I have two sons they're
about to turn 5 and 3
and both of them
were diagnosed with eczema
when they were about 6 weeks
old.
So I found when I was looking
for products for my kids,
I was kind of surprised
that there weren't clearly
indicated eczema sections
in the stores
where you knew that
in this section everything
was appropriate and safe.
And so I thought I could create
a resource online that would
help drive people
to these resources
and that gave me the idea
for the EczeMama Club.
It really started with me
sharing information that I had
learned, I would find
accredited sources
like clinical, medical,
background information.
I spent so many hours
on creating the visual assets
for the Instagram account
and for the website.
And what I was hoping to do
with it, which wound up
happening was,
people would ask advice
and then I would say, hey guys
a member of our community
is dealing with this,
have you guys dealt
with this yourself,
is there anything you would
recommend.
Those were the posts that got
the most engagement and people
were so willing and so
eager to share things that had
worked for them
or even just to sympathize
and empathize.
And so that was kind
of the basis for the community.
I found, I really enjoyed when
I was able to provide
suggestions or ideas
and people would come back
and say, Oh my gosh, this really
worked, thank you so much.
I've had people say I'm
so glad this exists just so
that we can share
stories and know that we're not
alone in this.
So in addition to building
the community online, I've also
had the chance
to do several podcast episodes,
both in the US and Canada, that
deal with different aspects
of dealing with eczema
both as a caregiver,
and people who have podcasts
where they're dealing
with eczema themselves.
Another thing I did, was
a live stream with a food
allergy advocate dealing
with food allergies and eczema
together and kind of brought
those communities together
because eczema and food
allergies go hand in hand.
In creating this community,
I learned so much
from other people.
All these other things that
don't work for everybody
but they're worth trying.
And we did find that making
certain adjustments in our kids'
diets
help their eczema seem to not
flare up as much.
So if you are experiencing
this either parent or yourself
as the eczema sufferer,
there are amazing resources
online.
I know one of them
is The National Eczema
Association.
They even have clubs that you
can join or chapters that you
can find people.
There are summits
and conferences that you can
attend to learn more about how
to manage it
and different new ideas.
Talk to multiple practitioners.
So our sons were originally
diagnosed by their pediatrician,
but then we took it
upon ourselves to go and also
be evaluated
by a pediatric dermatologist
and then later an allergy
immunologist.
So it's great to get opinions
and treatment recommendations
from people
in different specialties.
A lot of people
are going through this,
you are not alone.
You should be encouraged
that there are so
many good resources out there.
It's different for every person,
there are so many things you can
try, so many things that are
available to you to manage this,
that you'll find something that
works for you.
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