Basic eczema questions - bear with me I'm new to this subject

[mummylonglegs]

I'm sure some of you with kids with eczema will have heard what I'm going to post a million times before.

Ok, dd's nearly 3. When she was a baby and up until about 6 months old she had a nasty patch of eczema on her cheek which got infected a couple of times. I had antibiotic creams, used oilatum in the bath and it's been mostly under control apart from the odd patch on her wrists, behind her knees etc.

Over the last week or so however she's got eczema like she's never had before. It's coincided with her also having 4 chalazion cysts in her lower eyelids (they've been there about a month so may be unrelated). She has the eczema over both cheeks, under her eyes, on her chin, her temples, round her wrists, the back of her neck. It looks very red and angry. The GP gave me hydrocortisone 0.5 cream and a soap substitute (I never used soap in the bath anyway) face wash. But it's definitely getting worse. I'm going to take her back this afternoon.

Can anyone with experience of this give me some advice? What creams work best? What should I avoid. And most of all why is this suddenly happening now?

TIA

[iris66]

Have you tried taking her to be allergy tested? Both my daughter and I are intolerant of cow's produce (except yoghurt) and also various soap powders (persil non bio liquid is all we can use). A friend of mine is a homeopath and she gets loads of children with eczema and haas pretty good results - hope this helps - worth a try!!

[mummylonglegs]

thanks iris, dd was intolerant to milk as a baby but when she was tested again at 12, then 18 months, they said she was fine. I use Fairy Non-Bio, have been doing for ages, so I don't think that's a cause?

[ark]

what is the weather like with you? Odd question i know however my excema has got worse over last 7 days, slight change in weather - colder outside, warmer inside etc have caused me to flair up.

There is always the option that she has become intolerant to something. Could even be something she has every day with no problems before.

It sounds to me like she is a little run down, it may just be a question of time. I think you will find that you need to try several types of HC and emolient - I find some creams actually worsen my symptoms but they are miracles for others! Unfortunately a lot of this is trial and error. You may find it helpful to keep a diary of things she eats/comes in contact with v excema for a while see if you can see any patterns.

Ramble - sorry hth

[iris66]

I agree with ark about the diary thing - apparently my mum used to use fairy when I was little and it was fine for about a year. I can't even use fairy washing up liquid without coming over all itchy and rashy now!! Another way of testing is to use Kinesiology (muscle testing) and your dd doesn't have to do a thing - you go with some of her hair in a clean white envelope and the therapist can test her through you. It means you can test all sorts of wierd things in one go (including dust mites/ feathers etc

[mummylonglegs]

That does help ark, thanks. I've noticed that previously dd's flare-ups have coincided with her being slightly run down, say when we've been away to visit my mum (she eats and sleeps much less away from home). But it's never looked this bad, especially on her face.

If it was washing powder wouldn't it be worse on her body than her face? Just a thought ... But I'll try a different brand just in case.

Previously she had a cream called mometasone or something like that which I used on her body and it worked wonders but I think I can't use that on her face.

Anyhow, I'm planning on another trip to the GP this afternoon.

[plinketyplonk]

hi there - i've heard good things about this natural product here - could be worth a try if you want to avoid steroids and it doesn't clear up.

[ark]

my excema is primarily facial - and if you can't use this cream on her face you must ask what they expect you to use - there is a lot of scare mongering re hc so try and get a full reason from gp - why not face. And yes you could be allergic to something like washing powder that only shows on your fae. An interesting thing about f acial excema is that it is often something on your hands - eg nail varnish ,hand soap, pets etc

on the subject of your dd going away - when i go to mil of my parent my excema gets worse - which I think is due to change in water...... could this be a possible cause?

[iris66]

Have you tried using liquid washing products instead of powders? I found that dd started scratching again if I used a powder (I assumed that maybe powders never fully dissolve and tiny bits stay in the fibres). I noticed on another thread - sorry can't find it now - about a baby version of echinacea to boost the immune system. or you may find something on this site www.whatreallyworks.co.uk

[iota]

bear in mind that the face is in contact with the pillow all night, so can be affected by washing powder on the pillow

[mummylonglegs]

Thanks everyone. I'll try a washing liquid, maybe that one called Sensitive or something like that?

I took dd to GP who was slightly horrified at how bad her face is looking since she gave me the 0.5 hc cream last week. She's given me some antibiotic cream with 2.5 hc in it and is referring dd to dermatologist immediately. I think it looks particularly bad because she's got these awful cysts in her eyelids at the same time. Poor little soul, she's a pretty little girl but isn't looking too hot right now ...

[iris66]

have you thought about homeopathy? It may help - though I know some people are sceptical - I know a lot of mums with little ones who've had fantastic results. whatever you do I wish you all the best & hope you find the cause soon (it must be soo frustrating) good luck

[mummylonglegs]

I will consider homeopathy although personally I've never found it's helped me when I've tried it. I'm happy to go for anything 'alternative' though.

[princesspeahead]

poor little thing.
what works best for us (2 of my 3 children have ezcema, one had it VERY badly):
diprobath bath oil in the bath (not oilatum which I think is particularly drying, and not balneum, although some people think that is OK)
aqueous cream as a soap, applied to the skin with a washcloth (important to clean the skin to slough off dead cells and try and limit infection). also important to take the aq cream out of the tub with a clean spoon as using fingers can infect the tub which is a good medium for growing bugs;
Aveeno cream as an emollient (not E45 and not diprobase which I found were irritating - aveeno is fantastic).

Also if her face is very bad she probably needs a week or so of Trimuvate - which is 0.5HC plus antibiotic plus antifungal to get rid of infections. And maybe HC on the rest of her body. And I'd use the HC properly - good layer on all infected skin until it has completely healed, and afterwards keep with the bathing and emollient.

All this worked for us, after seeing a Paed Derm at Great Ormond Street. Unlikely to be a milk allergy if she is over three - they have usually grown out of it by then.

And GPs are pretty poor at dealing with ezcema so it is good you have a referral. Good luck!

[princesspeahead]

oh we use fairy non bio liquid which seems to be OK for us...

[KBear]

Hi mummylonglegs! Coming to the SouthEast London Mums meet on Monday? Waterfront soft play area at 12.

Sorry to hear you DD is suffering with exzema. It's a hard one to solve. I luckily discovered that DS's facial exzema was caused by a reaction to bananas. Try cutting them out of your DD's diet and see if that helps.

[princesspeahead]

also my lot's ezcema used to flare up with teething - she isn't producing molars is she? used to come on the face and bum when mine did... lovely clear skin one day, craters the next. odd.

[FrumpyGrumpy]

Sounds just like me when I was a babe. I stil get it but it got much better once I grew up (when did that happen!!!). Aveeno seems to be the new cream that does wonders and my 3 babes have responded to it well. Sadly lots of trials to be done to find what suits best, its so different for everone. Good luck.

[mummylonglegs]

Kbear, I'd love to come but dd's started playgroup this week, mornings, so morning meetings are out for me for now. I'm keeping my eyes open for other S London meet-ups though. I think dropinthe's going? Say hi from me? She's great.

pph, thanks so much for that info. I've written down all the things you recommend. Can I buy them in Boots or do I need a prescription? The cream the GP gave me today is called Fucidin H which is antibiotic and hc but not antifungal I imagine. I've got aqueous cream for the bath but have been putting it on with my fingers should I get a new pot?

[mummylonglegs]

By the way pph, my dd's skin has always been worse when teething but I think she's done for now with that?She's got 10 teeth top and bottom, 8 molars in total.

[princesspeahead]

you can buy them in boots although if they suit your daughter you will want them on prescription as the diprobath is about a tenner a bottle (but lasts a while). aveeno is about £6 a tube.
I'd get a new tub of aqueous cream because if she does have an infection you will just be reinfecting her. and it is dead cheap.

you can also get it in tubes which you just squeeze out (so no contact with the remainder), but they are smaller.

fucidin H may well do the trick, if it doesn't then there is prob a bit of fungal stuff in there too. apparently face is easy to infect because there is all sorts of stuff in saliva which gets on their face when they suck fingers, dribble, etc etc etc

[mummylonglegs]

Thanks SO much. A trip to Boots tomorow then!

[KBear]

OK - catch up sometime soon.

[princesspeahead]

good luck!

[tatt]

just skimmed this but if your child is run down try adding probiotics (live yoghurt or health food store supplement) to their diet. Works wonders on my son's eczema. Has to be taken daily. It boosts the immune system.

[mummylonglegs]

Ok, thanks tatt.

Dd's gone to bed thoroughly creamed tonight. I'm rather disappointed that the Fucidin isn't having much impact so far, when she's had it before it's worked fairly quickly.

I'm also convinced there's some kind of allergic connection as she keeps getting those little raised hard bumps here and there which are intensely itchy but don't last long. Gonna try some new washing liquid. I honestly can't think of anything else.