Toddler with severe hand eczema. Help!

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Would love to hear any experiences. My 2yo has such bad eczema on her fingertips and the heels of her palms. They are so cracked and red. Hydrocortisone didn’t touch it so dr prescribed a strong steroid which almost cleared it up but it was too strong to use long term so it has just got worse again.

I don’t know what to do. She only ever washes her hands with moisturiser and water. We apply her moisturiser (zeroderm) throughout the day and try to get her to wear cotton gloves when she will tolerate them. I’m back to using the steroid intermittently.

Any advice would be great. We are in regular touch with the GP and following his advice but I’m hoping any tips from parents who have been through the same.

Hope someone can give you advice. I get really bad eczema on my hands. I just wash, dry, moisturiser. And wash as little as possible. Hard at moment. Good luck

I had awful eczema on my hands a few years ago - does it bleed at all? If it bleeds she might need an antibiotic cream (fucidin? Fucibet? Something like that was the one I had) it’s the only thing that works for me that I think will be suitable for a toddler.

I also found medihoney cream the most soothing and healing of creams when the itch and rash was bad but the skin not broken.

Sounds terrible, but could you tape cotton gloves to her hands while she sleeps? I know the worst for me was waking in the night in agony, the only way to stop it was a medicated tape, wrapped up in plasters and then gloves over the top but I don’t think that is suitable.

Good luck, it really is awful.

Poor thing.

Is it worse in cold weather?
I find my dd's hands are much worse at this time of year, and keeping them warm during the day (gloves when outside) helps. I know that it doesn't get rid of the eczema, but it makes them less cracked and sore.

Also we use gentle, unscented bar soap now instead of liquid and I think that helps a little.

DD1 gets it terribly, crusty and weeping, tried everything and eventually at 11 we have discovered epiderm. It is the ONLY thing that has ever worked, she used it several times a day and her skin is clear.

Recommended by pharmacist exBIL and doesn’t need prescription.

Not cotton gloves. Plastic. I used to use thin clear plastic gloves at night. Taped at the wrists. Your hands sweat and that helped. Does smell though.

Vitamin E cream and calendula cream also helped. Not on broken skin.

Your poor daughter. Eczema is horrible.

The only other thing j can think of is allergies. Sometimes that can be a factor.

Have you looked at possible triggers? For example if you use the same hand towels, when she dries her hands she may be exposed to soap residue left behind by other family members on the towel. Or if you use fabric softener, that can cause it too.
Or does she have any toys with nickel in them that she regularly touches?
Regular play doh is a known trigger for some children due to high salt content irritating their hands...

Just some ideas.

Usually eczema will persist until you find the trigger(s) and remove them from her environment.

The only thing that works for my eczema is Kiehls ultimate strength hand cream. It is this one:

www.kiehls.co.uk/offers/ultimate-strength-hand-salve/3700194708399.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8v_YpODu7AIVFuDtCh2DEAXzEAQYDyABEgKbrvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Before that, I had years of bleeding and cracked hands, but now I only get them when I run out!

Adult friend had this problem it was helped by burts bees hand salve

DD had bad eczema as a baby. Aveeno cream and Epiderm were the best (it seemed to work well to use both as Aveeno contains more water and is absorbed faster, but Epiderm is more greasy).
It’s worth investing if allergies are a factor. Also, are you seeing a specialist nurse regularly? We had useful support from an eczema clinic run by the district nurses.

Fucibet is great. Aveeno cream is a great regular moisturiser. Hopefully she'll grow out of it, I did.

Ask for a referral to a dermatologist.

Prob not the solution but I used to work with someone who had eczema which caused her to wear gloves at times. One year she went to visit her brother who had gone to work in Australia. She got there and within days her eczema had gone. Something to do with the combination of sun and dry air. She had a baby who inherited her eczema so she took the decision to emigrate as she didnt want her child enduring the suffering she had.

I get terrible hand eczema. I found an anti fungal steroid helped but it's so hard z

My 3 year old dd has ezcema on her hands and wrists. Less so this year than age 1-2 but since the weather has got colder she is having quite a bad flare up. Use to be ankles as well but she has no trace of that now.
We always use dermol for every day use. Hydrocortisone sometimes does the trick but other times just doesn’t touch a flare up so I have to resort to fucidin, which I try to use as a last resort (maybe that is where I’m going wrong 🤷🏼‍♀️)
I have also used aveeno range (cream and emollients) which are also good for everyday use but we have dermol on prescription at the moment. Epiderm was effective until this past year, she just wipes it on the carpet or whatever else she can find because it’s like wax and to be fair I can’t imagine it’s very nice to be covered in.

We are 10 years on from your situation. Dermatologist input is key. We had help when our daughter was a toddler and again more recently when we lost control of the eczema. Our daughter now uses potent steroids at weekends as a maintenance, 50/50 ointment which is horridly greasy but works , particularly when used with white cotton gloves every night. Splits on hands are horribly painful and if GP advice is not working you need expert advice.

Yeah actually @tilder is right - plastic gloves then cotton on top for the feel. I’d forgotten I used to so that.

Thanks everyone. She is generally triggered by the heat rather than the cold. I never use any kind of soap on her anymore. Zeroderm is very similar to epiderm I believe. I’ll try out some of the suggestions here. Can anyone tell me where I might find plastic gloves small enough for a 2 year old?

I used to have this problem as a child, still do occasionally. You might have to try a range of different moisturisers until you find one that works for your child. Even the mildest could contain something that irritates some people but not others. For example Aveeno and E45 help some people, but both turn my hands red raw. I use Simple moisturiser on my hands which works for me. Actual hand creams of any kind seem to be a problem. I had to wear plastic gloves at night when I was a child. They were child size and arrived with the eczema creams so were probably either prescribed or bought from the chemist. Moisturiser in a plastic glove was very soothing.
I agree that finding the trigger, if possible, could be life changing. Common things are anything scented, such as washing powder or fabric softener, animals or even something she plays with, such as paints or even your keys. Touching money is a problem for me!!

Another thought, no reason to think your house isn't sparkling, but dust can affect eczema, well the dust mites presumably

Am not sure where the gloves come from am afraid. I would ask a pharmacist as first point of call. I remember them as the clear plastic sort. Not the latex sort.

You need something with colloidal oatmeal. I've got terrible dermatitis on my fingers and that's the only thing that works. Try the aveeno range or if you can get some, Ultra Repair Cream by First Aid Beauty. It's the best

I second insisting on a referral to a dermatologist.

I did this when DD was 2 years old and had spent a summer day scratching her legs to bloody ribbons because of eczema, I lost patience with my GP when he dismissed it and MADE him refer her. She also had it all over the tops of her hands.

Eczema was all cleared a month after being the dermatologist and I only regret not insisting that my GP refer her sooner. She continued to suffer patches when weather too hot or cold for a few years but only in the obvious places eg elbow creases etc and now at 12 doesn't get much at all.

Is your dd at nursery? If so they may be using a different soap and/or hand sanitiser that is causing a reaction.

Re. Gloves, we use very thin cotton ones from the pharmacy (I think they are clinifast brand), we put a thick layer of emollient at bedtime, then the gloves go on WET, with a dry layer on top. This is the best thing for ds 's very dry skin.

If nothing helps ask for a referral to dermatology, and if they say no keep going back to the Gp until they do.

So so sorry to hear this.

I've had a terrible flare up on my hands (pompholyx eczema) and been prescribed lots of new stuff this week.

You can get dermasilk gloves prescribed but idk how small they go. I found that the gloves made me too hot at night but in the day they worked well.

Potassium pomanganate is a soak that is sold in chemists and might be suitable.

Have you spoken to national eczema society? I've found them brilliant and got a call back from their dermatological nurse.

She suggested putting some frozen peas into smaller freezer bags to make them more practical and soothing, although don't know how long your two year old would stay still.

Definitely push for a dermatology referral. You have to be a really strong advocate for your daughter.

Poor thing. Have you considered looking at diet as a possible cause? Food allergies were the cause of DD's eczema.