Impetigo Does Not Have to be Part of Your Child's Story

Healthy humans have healthy skin barriers

Nobody wants to use antibiotics orally or topically, or at least that it my thought process. Once antibiotics are used, the likelihood of needing them again goes up drastically.

Outside of ear infections, impetigo (think golden or honey-colored crusted lesions) is one of the most common reasons children receive antibiotics.

Of course, the ear infections are usually not bacterial, but viral or fungal related or neither, and simply related to pressure changes in the sinus cavity or eustachian tube. Before taking antibiotics or using cipro drops in the ear, verify that your child is the anomaly with a true bacterial ear infection.

Kids often develop impetigo because normal childhood activities lead to frequent scrapes and minor skin injuries that disrupt the skin barrier. Along with everyday kid activities, their skin barrier is still in the developmental stages making them an easy target for pathogenic bacterial advancement.

Impetigo is not caused by a foreign bacteria, it is caused most commonly by Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes.

These are strains of bacteria that inhabit all of our skin. If the skin barrier gets broken and we don’t immediately support its healing, then bacteria are able to invade deeper and multiply. This is because the epidermal layers provide the nutrients needed for bacteria to grow.

Once again this is one of those times where it becomes outrageous to not believe in a creator God. The stratum corneum, which is the most superficial layer of our skin acts as both a physical and chemical shield for us. It produces antimicrobial peptides, maintains an acidic pH that inhibits pathogenic potential bacteria multiplication, houses beneficial microbes and maintains their optimal diversity.

All of this within a layer 0.01 mm thick (a human hair is 0.07mm thick). This layer is continually turning over to maximize its life saving potency. This is why God is God and we are just humans.

I’m sharing this background to explain why I believe that, more often than not, our skin benefits from a break from frequent soaps and bathing, especially in children.

The skin barrier is not like your counter top or your car exterior where soap, suds, and scrubbing have value.

Less is soooo much more for our skin. Less bathing, less scalding hot water, less soap, less make-up, less detergent on clothing, and less sunscreen.

How to minimize your child’s susceptibility to skin infections:

• Clean out cuts and scrapes immediately and apply hypochlorous acid spray

• Cover bug bites to prevent scratching

• Do not have your kids share towels and sports equipment (especially helmet, shoes, gloves)

• Put your kids in situations where they will sweat, as sweat is loaded with natural antibiotics and acts as a natural skin cleanser.

• Keep showers/baths quick.

• Use goat milk soap without scents (yes, even from essential oils).

• Instead of a nighttime bathing routine for kids, make it an as needed routine, especially for kids under 5.

The three main factors leading to recurrence are as follows:

1. Bacteria living in the nose

40% of children carry Staph bacteria in their nose. What do kids enjoy doing? Yes, picking their nose, rubbing their nose, and touching their nose. They don’t wash their hands after this. They touch the rest of their body which may have small cuts or scrapes, which reseeds the staph.

2. Weakened skin barrier

When the skin barrier is chronically compromised, bacteria feast. Dry skin, eczema, using harsh soaps, chlorine exposure, sanitizer use, all greatly increase the opportunity for opportunistic bacteria to take up residence.

3. Environmental reinfection

If your child has impetigo or a sibling does, it is paramount that pillowcases, towels, stuffed animals, bedding, sports equipment get washed on repeat until the infection clears.

How to do we make kids inhospitable to these bacteria and create a strong defense system?

Great question.

It starts with food. Putting in colorful foods, long chain fatty acid rich foods, whole protein rich foods and minimizing foods that are in the soft brown/white and crunchy brown/white variety.

Fruits, vegetables, grassfed meats, fish, whole A2 dairy, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, einkorn and Kamut would all be on my list of skin barrier promoting foods. What makes for a healthy human, also makes for a healthy skin barrier.

Beyond food inputs, utilizing hypochlorous acid spray really can be very helpful. Hypochlorous acid is the same antimicrobial substance created by our dermal immune cells to reduce bacterial load, support wound healing and calm skin inflammation.

If you’ve had issues with impetigo, spray hypochlorous acid around the nose regularly and especially on any scratches or bug bites.

Medical grade honey or raw local honey (sorry Costco raw honey won’t do the trick) is excellent for healing as well as inhibiting countless pathogenic bacteria.

If other children are visiting who are prone to overwashing, you may want to dispose of the towels when they leave. You can even use hypochlorous acid spray on sinks and chairs or tables. We don’t need to go crazy, but it doesn’t hurt to take some extra measures if they are snotty nosed or you know they’ve had impetigo.

If you have impetigo, get after it ASAP. Apply ozonated hemp oil, medical grade honey, zinc oxide, hypochlorous acid spray 3-4x per day. If you wait or apply therapy once a day you will likely end up needing to use topical antibiotics.