Eczema - pimples

[ClareL]

Both my children have eczema. My DD (7) has chronic dry skin and she has to cover her whole body in emollient (unguentum) - occasionally she uses a steroid for flare ups. But my DS (3) also had mild dry skin and I hardly ever needed to put cream on him - just occasionally. But a couple of months ago I started to notice pimples on the tops of his arms and on his cheeks. I took him to the Dr's last week and he said that it was his eczema and just to use emollient. Has anybody come across this before - did emollient work? My Dr explained it all to me so quickly that I was out the door before I could really think about what he's said. A bit confused now.

[olsmum]

hi, my daughter (nearly four) has had similar pimples/spots on her upper arms since she was born. she also had them on legs and cheeks when she was younger but they are only present on her arms now, doctor told me it was dry skin- used emmolient cream and oil for her baths. to be honest it didnt really make a difference, it made the rest of her skin softer but didnt get rid of the condition. two weeks ago she had extremely itchy and sore hands, took to docs and he said it was contact dermitis, went away with a steriod cream (hydrocortisone) but it didnt help, i took her back last week to a different doc and he said it was eczema and prescribed a stronger steriod cream than the previous one i used, she is now putting elecon cream on her hands once a day and using an emulsifying ointment twice a day, it seems to be making a difference now, the doc did say that for eczema its important to use the a higher strength steriod cream to get rid of a "breakout" otherwise it will flare up again sooner. im also a bit confused, looked on internet about it but there is conflicting advice everywhere,

[ClareL]

Thanks for the advice. Sorry about delay in getting back to you about info but just been away for a few days. My DD uses eumovate steroid cream and unguentum emollient - my DS (who has the pimples) - hasn't been prescribed steroid cream. Dr just told me to use the emollient. Did he tell you to use the steroid cream on the pimples - did it clear it up?

[bravissimo]

hello - my DS is nearly 8 weeks. He had beautiful perfect skin until 3 weeks and then he developed a pimply rash on his cheeks. He then started getting pimples on the top of his arms and inside his joints. I started using Aveeno cream, it made a slight difference though the pimples still remained. However over the last few days it got much worse and he started scratching his face a lot causing little areas to bleed . He also has a red leathery rash underneath his neck. The GP prescribed balneum and doublebase - to be honest after a couple of days it made it worse as more patches appeared on his legs and arms!! since yesterday i have now started applying a very tiny amount of 0.5% hydrocortisone to his eczema patches including his face once a day (on advice of my father who is also a doctor). i have noticed a big improvement under his neck and although the pimples on his face have not disappeared they do look a lot less red. i am not going to use the balneum or doublebase anymore - just continue with the aveeno and try the hydrocortisone for a couple more days. I also used the little me organics range in his bath before the balneum and i thought that was good for his skin so will go back to that. i used the olive oil and lavender bath cream - it was much better then the balneum. Please let me know how you get on.

[ClareL]

I have been using 0.5% hydrocortisone too that my daughter is prescribed plus I use either Balneum/Cetraban or Oilatum in the bath. Both my children get prescribed the 3 bath oils so I normally use on for a week and then change - I find they get use to the same one all the time. His pimples are not going - but they don't itch. The only place he itches are his elbows and there are not any pimples on his elbows. It's very strange.