Mum 'cures' son's eczema with cream she found on Facebook

A mum has found the 'cure' to her son's eczema - and it's all thanks to social media.

Australian mum Debbie Maddalena-Saunders, who is mother to six-year-old Tyler, was desperate to find a treatment to help ease her son's eczema, which he had suffered with since he was eight months old and caused him 'excruciating pain'.

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'[It was] very traumatic. It's a really underestimated condition,' Debbie Maddalena-Saunders explained to Yahoo7 News.

'I can't imagine how he felt. Watching on was hard enough.'

The itching caused by Tyler's eczema was so bad that he had to wear socks over his hands to ensure his scratching didn't break the skin, and it became so severe on his legs that he found it hard to walk - a factor that affected his schooling, as it was difficult for him to be out in public for long periods of time. He also had frequent sleepless nights, lying awake in pain.

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The family had been planning on travelling to France to seek help from a skin treatment centre, until Debbie stumbled upon a new treatment by Dr Richard Aron, a South African dermatologist, via the Eczema Association of Australasia Facebook page.

'We sent in photos and a detailed history, and he wrote us a script,' Debbie said. '[It was] made for age, weight and severity of eczema and a doctor here would oversee it.'

The treatment, known as the Aron regime, involves 'the use of readily obtainable products, viz. steroid, antibiotic and moisturising creams, advice in regard to diet, sport and exercise, bathing, clothing and sun protection to create a holistic treatment structure', according to the doctor's website.

Since he began using the cream in September, Tyler has only had to stay home from school twice, and by November, Debbie said she felt like she 'had a new child'.

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'Watching him dance and seeing the joy in him after so much pain was overwhelming,' she told Yahoo Seven.

'I feel like crying every time I see him [dance] because he couldn't do it for such a long time.'

Tyler is now using his new lease of movement to dance whilst busking, and donates 10% of his earnings to the Dr Aron fund. Debbie hopes that his story will raise awareness and help other children who are suffering.

'I feel if it works for Tyler it can work for anyone, really,' she says.