THE mother of a young boy suffering from eczema says his skin condition has improved since she developed her own treatments.

Cath Mather first noticed two- year-old Asa had the condition when he was just three months old.

She began to experiment with different ingredients for skin treatments and has now set up her own business called Bare Bodycare.

The 38-year-old now crafts soaps, body butters, massage oils and a special bath tea that parents can use for babies with sensitive skin, which are being sold to families across the country from Cath’s base at The Old Correction House in North Shields.

“I would say Asa’s condition is under control now,” she said from her home in Tynemouth.

“But it was quite severe. It is really distressing to watch him going through it and that is certainly something which has spurred me on. As a mum, it is really hard to watch your child suffering and feel like you are not able to do anything about it.

“I started developing the range when Asa was six months old.

“I would say there were two reasons: the first is I wanted to use a high quality natural product on Asa’s skin. And the other reason was that, as my background is as an occupational therapist, I am quite familiar with helping people overcome difficulties.”

Cath has tried to make the products gentle on sensitive skin and ergonomic so that parents can easily use them.

“The products are incredibly mild,” she said.

“I did quite a lot of research into cleansing products and I made sure that ours were as mild as they possibly could be while still being a cleansing product. They are unscented and they are 100% natural.”

“Some products had irritated Asa’s skin but I had found one that I liked and I couldn’t afford to buy it. It was a massive factor that the range I developed was affordable.

Cath, who has Asa with husband Lee, a 35-year-old support worker, said juggling a new business with motherhood has been rewarding.

She said: “It has been really challenging but it has also been a really liberating. I think when you become a mum and decide to be a full-time carer there is that thought you will lose your identity. I wanted to have something else as well as being a mum.”

Cath has had support from the Percy Hedley Foundation with her website design and takes on youngsters to give them experience of work.

For more information visit Bare Bodycare site at http://lgn1327067782.site-fusion.co.uk/ or search for the business on Facebook.