Can I Heal My Eczema From Cats and Dogs?
Can I heal my sensitivities to animals? Will growing up with pets make us less likely to get eczema later in life? Which pet would be better for my sensitive skin?
Per usual.. these answers are not straight forward! But there are ways to live comfortably with pets if you have eczema.
Pets as a child vs Pets as an Adult
MY EXPERIENCE WITH ECZEMA AND FURRY FRIENDS
I am excited to say there is research telling us some young children build up a resistance to pet- induced eczema. This piece speaks from the perspective of non- anaphylactic reactions to animals. It is critical to know if you or a child has severe anaphylactic reactions before introducing them into the home.
It is also important to note that pets do not cause eczema directly however, it is our internal body’s miscommunication with the pet’s extremities that create inflammation. Dive deeper here to learn more about why our allergies and/or eczema are triggered by animals.
I grew up with a laundry list of allergies, asthma, and eczema. We also had a dog, parrots, and hamsters. The pup was as a rescue who did not like being picked up. The parrots tried to bite me any time my hand would get close. And the hamsters were small and stayed in my hands when we played. For these reasons, contact with animal dander as a child was not extreme but it was certainly in the air and on the carpets I played on.
Now as an adult, I have prioritized preventative medicine to keep up a strong immune system to manage my eczema and allergies through Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Integrative Nutrition. My allergies are almost completely gone, and I have not had an asthma attack for as long as I can remember. Even though I did not build up an eczema resistance to pets, I have discovered ways to avoid breakouts while living with a furry family member. Tips, tricks, and links to non-toxic products to live in harmony with your pet despite eczema and allergies here.
Everyone’s experience will be different!
MY EXPERIENCE GROWING UP VS THE RESEARCH
Though I did not build up immunity to pets, there is research suggesting it is possible.
Prof Gilbert, the director of the Microbiome Centre at the University of Chicago, says that parents can often over sterilize environments for their children. Furthermore, studies show that kids who grow up with a pet are less likely to inherit skin disorders as adults. This can be illustrated by a report published in the National Library of Medicine's Center for Biotechnology Information. The hygiene hypothesis states that exposure to germs when you’re young strengthens your immune system.
"Perhaps early life dog exposure introduces microbes into the home that somehow influence the gut microbiome, and change the immune response in the airways," said study researcher Susan Lynch, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center also found that children who had a dog in their home during their first year of life were four times less likely to develop eczema than children who were allergic to dogs but did not have a pet around growing up.
Further research as Lynch stated, exposure to dog dander in dust early on may prevent allergies as dust affects the population of gut microbes.
Cats, however, had the opposite effect.. Epstein noted that among children with a cat allergy, those who had one around during their first year were 13 times more likely to develop eczema than those who didn't.
Now this brings us into touchy territory because the research behind creating immunity to cats is all over the map! You can read this Healthline article here for details on cat’s causing eczema. The biggest takeaways I took from my research has been:
- Cat exposure at a young age can trigger symptoms if you’re born with the gene mutation for eczema.
- Being born into a household with cats may increase your risk of developing eczema. However, the cleanliness of the house and cats were not factored into the test.
- Some evidence indicates that having a cat can help boost your immune system from a young age.
- A Clinical Immunology study in Italy found that for adults getting a cat, their risk of developing allergies to cat dander was lower if one had a cat as a child. They also found the risk to be higher if allergies, asthma, and/ or eczema were already present.
- The same study found that adults who got a cat but don't let it in the bedroom were unlikely to develop allergic reactions.
- Dr. Clifford Bassett conducted a small, yet preliminary clinical study that found a strong correlation of moderate to severe allergy symptoms with darker colored cats in a population of cat owners who had sensitivities.
- Basset also found that female cats produce less pet allergen than male cats.
- This analysis found that dogs were more likely to be associated with lower chances of developing eczema than cats.
- There could be no connection at all! Great…
The risk of worsening you or your child’s eczema has to be balanced or ideally outweighed by the benefits that having a pet can bring. As long as flare-ups can be managed can be minimized, the introduction of a pet has the potential to prove eczema doesn’t have to rule your life or take you away from that which brings great love, joy, and connection.
Ultimately, it is up to you to be aware of where your allergies and eczema land on the severity scale and where your love for a furry friend lands. Are you willing to do the work it takes to make space for another member of the family?
