Exzema and chinese herbalist any good or load of twaddle?

[JamInMyWellies]

My son has aquired quite bad exzema over the last few months I have been to the GP umpteen times about it and have been told he is just going to be one of those children with very sensitive skin.

I have tried E45 in the bath, aqueous cream, hydrocortisone, unguetuem cream and aveeno. The hydrocortisone works but then when we stop applying it the exzema is back within 12hours.

His diet is unchanged and I have switched to non bio washing liquids.

So have done all the obvious.

We went shopping a couple of weeks ago (Bluewater) and poppped into the chinese accupunctue herbal place they said they could make up something for his bath £35 for 2wks treatment and it would clear up. I am a little scepitcal and was hoping someone may have tried this with success before I go shell out the money for the stuff.

Or if anyone has any other miracle cures.

[Juwesm]

No experience, hopefully someone else has, but just wanted to say make sure you go somewhere reputable (I imagine the place at Bluewater should be fine - Dr & Herbs?). There have been lots of reports of products that are supposedly herbal but when tested actually contain potent steroids. Not sure if there is any kind of regulating body or similar in the UK for TCM practitioners - may be worth finding out.

[JamInMyWellies]

Thanks juwesm, I will keep that in mind about the steriods.

[amazonianwoman]

My (adult) friend sees a qualified TCM practitioner for her eczema (face, esp eyelids, arms, legs) and the results are truly miraculous within days of her starting the treatment. Literally it seems to clear up within 2 days, so much so that she can start wearing eye make up again.

I'm not sure what she is "prescribed" - some kind of tea mixture and tablets I think? Whatever it is, it works much better than the steroid stuff from the GP which she is naturally reluctant to use, esp on her face.

[christywhisty]

Dangerous twaddle, when tested they found very high concentrations of steriods in many chinese remedies.

[twelvesocks]

I did hear of one Chenese herbalist who got good results with children at Gt Ormond st hospital when conventional medicines didn't help. It was on a radio show and I'm afraid I can't remember all the details but it did sound impressive.

A friend of mine went to a homeopathic dr and got amazing results for her son who had very bad excema. It cleared up within 2 weeks of starting treatment and has not reappeared after 2 years.

[MegBusset]

As someone else has said, it's dangerous twaddle. It's not 'better than steroids', many Chinese remedies contain very high levels of steroids which is why they seem to work.

I would ask your GP for a referral to a specialist who may be able to help you with allergy testing. You don't say how old your DS is, but in many cases it's a question of trial and error with various emollients to see what controls it best, and to a certain extent waiting for them to grow out of it.

By the way, E45 and aqueous cream are not recommended for people with eczema. There are loads of other emollients to try -- we use Doublebase on DS, many people have success with Diprobase, Epaderm or Cetraben.

[amazonianwoman]

Oops - should I tactfully mention this to my friend then? (the steroids in TCM stuff)

It does seem to clear up remarkably quickly when she starts using whatever it is she is "prescribed"...

[JamInMyWellies]

ok then so chinese medicine is out. What about homeopathy?

[pamplemousse]

I am a qualified Chinese Medicine practitioner, though I don't practice at the moment. It was a 5 year degree so it is a proper qualification btw. Unfortunately as someone else said there is no regulating body so it is very hard to tell who reputable.
It is very effective for eczema in adults as the herbal (revolting!) tea is potent and very effective, however there is no way a child can have that stuff and a bath would help, but not cure the problem iyswim?
Personally for a childs eczema I would go to either a nutritionist for dietary advice (it cleared up in my sister for example after stopping all cows milk products) or a homeopath who specialises in childrens health.
HTH and hope you can get rid of it

[JamInMyWellies]

Thanks pamplemouse.