Human breast milk does not improve your baby’s eczema

Atopic dermatitis (commonly referred to as “eczema”) is a common chronic itchy skin condition. It is thought to be immune-mediated. Because human breast milk contains several immune compounds (IgA antibodies, lactoferrin, toll-like receptors), it could theoretically have some benefit in atopic dermatitis.

A small study from Norway in BMC Dermatology compared moisturizer alone to moisturizer + human breast milk on infants with atopic dermatitis. The study did not show that human breast milk improved atopic dermatitis. Interestingly, it did not increase the rate of infection of the lesions, suggesting that it is a safe but ineffective strategy.

The full article can be found here: ://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/s12895-015-0027-9.pdf

This child has atopic dermatitis. Putting human breast milk on it probably will not help.

Some people put human breast milk on their eczema. This is strange, and a small study was not able to demonstrate any benefit to this practice.