Eczema? Is it likely to persist into early childhood?

[snowmoon]

My DS (3 1/2 months) has developed some red dry scaly patches on his face, chin and head in the last two days. I went to the chemist and the pharmacist said it looks like eczema and recommended trying some Sudocrem. The redness has subsided a little today but the dryness and scaliness is still there.

What I want to know is, does this kind of eczema persist into childhood? ie Is my DS likely to have eczema flare-ups in the future? Anybody has experience of this?

Thanks.

[misdee]

its possible, but not always will happen. try a heavier emoillant based cream to give more moisture. gets a gp's appt and get it free on perscription. see if you can get aveeno if possible, meant to be very good.

[LIZS]

dd was similar as a baby, used plenty of moisturising lotions and cream, and occasionally cortisone, but, now 3, has largely outgrown it although she has sensitive skin and reddens easily when she has a cold for instance. Her worst bout was on her scalp where he cradle cap was aggravated by excema at a year old.

[Caron]

Hi snowmoon,
I've had a lot of experience with eczema, my now 11yr old was virtually born with it.
Firstly forget any form of cortisone creams as the longterm results are horrible.
Try a pawpaw based ointment.
Stop all diary products, don't use soap (sorbelene to wash at bathtime) & keep all wool or nylon fabrics away from his skin (including carpet).
From the sounds of it your son is allergic to something he's come into contact recently. If you can isolate the allergen then you may be able to prevent it comming back.
Eczema can persist for years or may be a isolated thing... I'd look at diet and particularly if there has been anything new added in the past week.
Hope this helps, if you have other questions or just want to chat feel free as I have been successful in reducing my daughters outbreaks.

[Twiglett]

more probably not (but is possible)

all babies have scaly patches at one stage or anohther (especially when weaning) and they just give it a blanket name of baby excema

don't use any soap product on skin .. try aqueous cream instead .. you could also try a lovely post-bath baby massage with pure vegetable oil

[AussieSim]

My dermatologist said that the earlier eczema appears the more likely the baby is to grow out of it by 2 or 3. My DS's only turned up when I introduced solids at 4.5months, and he is now nearly two and it is much better than when he was 1. If you can I would hold off solids until 6mths.

[misdee]

Caron, having eczema doesnt always indicate allergic reaction. i wouldnt elaminate things from diet without 1st seeing a doc and looking further into it. at 3.5months snowmoons ds would be on milk (breast or formula) mainly anyway (some people still wean at this age) if nothing has changed that you can pin point then its unlikely to be diet based ezcema. stopping all dairy didnt help my dd1.

cortisone creams do have a palce in the tratment of ezcema, especially with an infection or persistant uncomfortbale ezcema. i dont like using them but have found them very good for tackling bad outbreaks.

If your child is atopic (is there any history of ezcemaasthmahayfever/reactions in yours or babies dad family?) then it will be very hard to find a trigger in most cases. my dd1 reacts to anything and everything.

[Caron]

Another hint:
Glycerin in any sorbelene (aqueous cream) either organic or standard stuff from chemist. Glycerin is a humectant... draws & holds moisture into the skin - eczema areas tend to feel "hot", this is what makes the area dry & scaly.

I used a thick cream base - NO LANOLIN - added extra glycerin, apricot oil, evening primrose oil, pure lavender & rose geranium essential oils, honey and water. Can use this for massage, a soap alternative or just as a general cream. Also further watered down it can be used for bathtime, changing nappies, wiping face etc.

The above essentail oils can also be added to a blend of coldpressed vegetable oils such as avocado, wheatgerm, vit e & evening primrose for a lovely calming & soothing massage oil (you & bub). I'd start with 1 cup oil base & 5 drops each of essential oils as bub is so young.

If you are breastfeeding try to cut dairy from your diet, take calcium/magnesium supps instead. If bottle feeding, use a soy based formula with no lactose ingredients. Also try taking evening primrose & vit e capsules yourself 3x daily.

[Chandra]

Snowmoon sorry you are going through it. DS has eczema which was very severe during the first year, but don't worry too much about the subject is too early to know if it will stay for long. As the rest of the posters I would recomend a more serious emollient than Sudocream, but get your DS to be seen by a doctor first. And if he's bottle feed I won't worry much about changing formulas, I have tried most of what can be find in the market but it didn't make much difference. But if you decide to change it be sure that your doctor/HV knows about it, I believe there are some new recommendations about Soy formula that your GP can tell you about it. But again, if your DS is reacting well to Sudocream there's little chance that he is developing something more serious. Best of luck.

PS. and bath him only with water and no regular baby soaps

[Caron]

Hi misdee,
I agree to some point, diet changes (in this case, mum) are an important factor, however it's preferable to have a dermatologist/dietician work with you. Sometimes dairy does not cause the flare-up, but I strongly believe eczema is usually caused initially by an allergen of some type - finding what that may be can be the start of a long merry-go-round.

As bub is very young it would be horrible to do skin patch testing... cutting out dairy seems extreme but usually necessary in my experience (I have successfully helped hundreds of people reduce or even cure their eczema.

The use of cortisone should be limited, to as you mentioned, during severe outbreaks and if infection is present for as little time as possible.

If its atopic eczema then looking at family history is very important - asthma, hayfever, skin sensitivities & other allergies.

[misdee]

glad we agree caron always worry about upsettin g people when it comes to the various teratments with ezcema. i am not 100% natural treatment, and have found too many dodgey products in the past claiming to cure ezcema, so do tend to stick with gp's/eczema socity recommendations.

both my dd's have eczema, dd1 since birth it seems, dd2 since about 15months old. as i said, dairy free didnt help dd1, and she is now under allergy specialist, who feeels she reacts to anything/everything as well. skin patch testing hasnt been done, and both allergy and dermotologist feel a allergy blood test would prove inconclusive.

I recommended aveeno cream as its oatmeal based i believ and know a lot of mumnetters have found it excellant for the treatment of ezcema. i am currently testing out Lush Dream Cream on my own scaly arms.

[Caron]

Don't worry misdee, u didn't cause any upset... I have to be honest, eczema is a cow of a thing to treat as so much is involved and after 11 years (nearly 12) I have been there & done it all.

In your case I think skin patch tests would help a great deal, then at least you have a base to work with. Blood tests are questionable & painful for little ones.

There is one cream I find brilliant, not completely natural but very close & without steroids... Bepanthen by Roche. I'm based in Oz and its available in every chemist & some supermarkets. Its great for holding moisture & creates a barrier without using vaseline, lanolin or other petroluem products.

Try it, if you can get it, its wonderful. Also for teething rashes, nappy rashes & insect bites.

[Barbaloot]

DS had eczema quite badly as a baby. We did regular creaming with moisturiser (mostly we used aqueous creme - applied liberaly 3 x per day and before and after bathing). If you can control it with that regime then do so, for ds it wasn't enough; he had additionally 3 different steroid creams which we used in rotation - about 4 months on each, otherwise they lost their effectiveness. The first was Eumovate, can't remember the second and the third was Hydrocortisone (but specially made up by the hospital, stronger than the one you can buy over the counter, which we used initially, but soon lost its effect). There was also a stronger cream that we used very sparingly on the worst occasions. Antibiotics also seemed to help when things got really bad. We were advised at the time that up to Eumovate strength was unlikely to cause the skin thinning problems etc that the stronger ones would, and indeed he has had no long term problems. Fortunately, after about 2 to 3 years the exzema disappeared as suddenly as it arrived.

[misdee]

i can see the roche offices from my houses lol. i will look out for that cream, will test it on myself 1st.

I badgered my gp for years about allergy tests, and even asked dd1 specialist about them, but i cant afford to have private tests done, and with dd1 now being on long term anti-histimines i dont think the tests would work. we do feel she is allergic to food colourings, main one being tartrazine, we avoid that as much as possible (mainly found in orange squashes, tescos do a tartrazine free one). she is also allergic to cats and possibly the house dust mite. we only know about cats as she has flare ups whern cats are about, and they also trigger her asthma. we have hard floors throughout, blinds/easy clean curtains etc etc. her ezcema is calmer than it used to be, and belive this is through sheer hard work on our parts to keep her under control and improvements with managing allergic reactions/flare up and working closely with the medical profession.

[Fran1]

Forget sudo crem. I don't know why pharmicists and the like always recommend it.Its great for nappy rash and to protect skin from wee, but i've always found it painful to rub on eczema as it is so stodgy it. Use a greasier cream and it prevents baby from scratching away. I use Aveeno on me and dd!

My dd and many friends babies, have all seemed to got a dry scaly rash at some point in the first few months, which clears up within a few weeks. I always think of it as their skin adjusting to the outside world and all that they come into contact with.

Fingers crossed that may be all your baby has and hope it disappears!

[polly28]

My ds had severe excema as ababy from about 10 weeks.The only thing that worked was hydrocortisone,at that age it was 1/2 %,gradually moved up to 1%.
Lots of emollients and bath oils aswell of course.

He is now 2 and has a few stubborn patches that need steroid treatment but on the whole I would say he is outgwoing it.

Incidentally he was allergy tested because pf nut and egg allergy,and he is not allergic to milk.

[snowmoon]

Thank you all for your responses. I do hope that it's just a phase that DS is going through and it's not long-lasting. Bless him, yesterday he looked so sore with all those red patches on his face.

I did wonder if Sudocrem was the best thing to use on his dry scaly patches as it's difficult to rub in and just leaves a layer of white on top of the scales. Is Aveeno only available on prescription? I have a big tub of aqueous cream, is that good enough to use for eczema?

For your info, I'm a very allergic kind of person but my boyfriend isn't. I get hayfever and often react to ingredients in skincare products.

Also, I have been using Johnson's baby bath in his bath for his body (which is free of eczema) but I've always only used cotton pads with water on his face.

[polly28]

I wouldn't recommend using a scented baby bath ,a good alternative is to wrap some porridge oats in a muslin or j-cloth,tie with string and hold it under the running bath water.It makes the water lovely and soft and is a great moisturizer.
Aqueous cream is a good moisturizer ,my son uses epaderm,which we get on prescription.There is literally thousands of different emollients out there.It's a case of finding the one that works best for your son.

If his skin doesn't clar up I would take him to your GP and get some cream.My gp referred my ds to a dermatology clinic at our local hospital(salisbury).It meant I could pop along there if I ever needed help when he flared up.

Aveeno is available with out prescription,you may have to ask for it from behind the counter.

[misdee]

i say chuck out the basby bath products too. its too harsh for sensitive skin. oatmeal baths are meant to tbe good, or you could use the aquous cream to clean him with as well.

aveeno is available without perscription, but it can get very expensive trying to find a cream thats suitable, thats why i suggested getting it on perscription.

[Barbaloot]

Putting the aqueous creme on before a bath and sort of using it instead of soap seems to protect the skin from the drying effects of the water. Personally having tried loads of different cremes we settled on aqueous all the time - just apply it as often as you can.

[Fran1]

Aveeno is available in some chemists and large boots stores, also can get on prescription.

I really wouldn't be surprised if it isn't excema at all, with it only being on his face and only being their a couple of days i would have high hopes for it disappearing as quick as it came.

Anyone using steroids - beware, over the years of using it, it has destroyed my skin pigments causing ugly white patches (which never tan or return to their normal colour). Note i did say years of use, i agree steroids are useful to control severe excema for short periods but be aware of the damage it can cause.

[enid]

my dds both had this and they both outgrew it by about 2/2.5.

[misdee]

it can also cause skin thinning fran. am awae of the risks, tho needs musts at times. i dont like using steroids, and do try to do without. must say my dd's dont tan anyway, they are pale children.

[Fran1]

Yeah skin thinning is how it starts, and it severe cases can lose all pigmentation.

I agree it is absolutely necessary i still use it when desperate, just wanted to warn people, as i was unaware of any affects when i started using it in my teenage years.

Not trying to scaremonger at all, just sharing some info!!

[misdee]

i know, the gp's dont tell you the risks. its scary reading at times. but used under the right circumstances and under supervision (especially for children) it works well, and shouldnt cause any long term damage. sorry to hear its had an adverse effecton you Fran. how long have you been using it for? and what strength?

[Fran1]

On and off for about 15 years. Varying strengths in that time! i now have 0.5% and will not have anymore.

When i first got the excema it was severe for 5 years, and as i was a teenager and desperate to get rid of it (it was the worst on my face). So i generously applied the stuff - so that was my own fault. But even now i only have to apply it two or three times and it can lose the skin pigment. (and this is on new areas of skin, i now have it on arms and legs!)

A specialist diagnosed it as vitiligo 10 or so years ago, but i am unconvinced.

When i visited GP about the quick reaction, he shrugged his shoulders and said thats what happens!

Isn't it just the weirdest thing. Sometimes Aveeno works like a magic cream and all excema vanishes, othertimes it has no effect whatsoever!