Elecon for toddler

[YukoandHiro]

My 2.5 year old's eczema has been consistently flaring for the last six months. She's been on eumovate but when we go down to weekend treatment it always comes right back.

Now her dermatology nurse has said she wants her to go up to Elecon ointment. That seems so strong for her age. My husband uses it (and only occasionally). They say it can bring the flares down and then we can go back to eumovate again, but I'm concerned we'll end up using this one constantly too.

Is anyone else on this steroid? Is it good?

[YukoandHiro]

Bump?

[Bellseybub]

We have it and I have the same concerns because it’s a steroid. We are extremely frustrated as it feels like non of the creams work: we use it for suspected eczema or dermatitis and having waited 5 months for a hospital appointment for a patch test have just had it cancelled. Having talked to dr about concerns of using steroid and it thinking the skin, they were adamant it wasn’t a problem but i would love to hear from a dermatologist, gynocologist, or specialist

[Artesia]

We were given it for DS (2 at the time) when nothing else was sorting his eczema. It is amazing! The dermatologists view was that it’s much better to use something stronger for a short period than keep using other less effective treatments over a sustained period. We used elecon on his body and another one- elidel - around his eyes. The difference was nothing short of miraculous and got his awful eczema under control in days. We now keep both in for flare ups but only need to use them very very rarely

[Whitelisbon]

My sons been using elecon since he was about 3 or so, hes now 13.
It works better for us than eumovate, in that eumovate needs to be used daily to try keep his skin under control, whereas the elecon we can use for a week, get his skin under control, then go down to twice weekly treatment as maintenance. As long as the week long treatment is monthly or less, it's a smaller steroid load than eumovate all the time.
It's better for them too to have a stronger steroid for a shorter time, than the same amount of steroid spread out (if that makes sense).

Disclaimer - I'm not a dermatologist, just a mum who's been dealing with this for a long time.

[bonzo77]

Yes. My youngest gets weird rashes, more a dermatitis than eczema. FIL was a dermatologist and felt occasional use of elocon safer than regular use of less potent steroids. We also have elidel specifically for his face and around his eyes. Both products are amazing. One or two applications and the flare up is gone.

[pottypotamus]

I have Elecon and have been using it for about 5 years on and off. I was first given it to bring my eczema under control after my first pregnancy.
Which it did. I have to be extremely careful with how much and how often I use it.

Now I maybe use it once or twice a year for flare ups only.

[Bellseybub]

We are on it for our almost 6 yr old and we feel we’ve been through the mill of creams - all of which take ages to make any difference- meanwhile we have a distressed DD :-(

Elcon seems to be the best one and most reliable. I was concerned about the steroid because we have to use it for her bottom, but our GP has reassured us it isn’t a problem although the jury is out. The only thing is it does sting a little when putting it on, and we have been encouraged to use an Emolient alongside it for moisture.

Having waited 5 months for a hospital patch test ours has been cancelled with no sign of any future rebooking so we are literally at a loss just now on what to do.