Excema, please help.

[JustBonnie]

I'm quite inexperienced with this condition. dd2 is 4 mths old and has had it since birth. It's not been too bad and I've been using Oilatum but over the last few days it's been getting worse. She's really itchy and scratches at every available opportunity. Her chest is really red and sore looking and she's actually cut her skin on her scalp with all the scratching. I've been using oats wrapped in a stocking for her bath water but have now got an appointment to see the doctor this evening to maybe try a different cream. We've used epaderm and oilatum so far. Does anyone have any recommendations for something that will actually work as it breaks my heart to see my little dd itching like this.
thank you.

using steriods today is pretty safe, when i was child ( I will be the big 40 this year) things were not so safe as they are today.
lots of mild , thin applications of very low dose steriods are Ok.
Dont think steriods as in the sort of steriods that dodgy body builders use!
Or worry too much about skin thinning, thats more my childhood , not todays.
If aquaous cream is sorting out the problem , then things are not so bad. Aquaous cream is normally used as a soap replacement for many people , and is condsidered a mild moisturiser.

Plain water , esp ours which is hard does dry out the skin. So we use lots of emolients etc to keep things bendy and supple!

William also used to react to the clothes I wore ,esp when I was feeding him.
We stopped all bio washing powders, and i threw out my pure wool jumper, as when breast feeding him his face would flare up when it rested on his cheek.
Once we found out about the tree pollen allergy, that meant we stopped putting any of our clothes on the washing line outside to dry.
tumble dryer for all of us. As tree pollen on our clothes was difficult for us to stop going on williams clothes and bedding.

I found it very ironic that as a person who has eczema, the creams my son used that worked well, caused me to have a ezcema flare up.

Btw when skin has recently undergone a flare up, for william that would be after an exposure to allergens. His skin would remain sensitive for a long time. At one point i could write williams name on his leg with a finger and it would remain there for hours.
The same applies to my hand ezcema and I have to be pretty careful not to make things worse and take extra care of my hands.

I took a whole all round approach to taking care or managing williams ezcema, for us, once we found out about the allergies, we had actions we could take to control the problem. We were lucky, there are not any easy answers for many with severe ezcema.

sarah

My DD has excema which erupted in last month. It's in the family as her brothers have it also although not as bad now they're older. Also, there's asthma in the family.
I have excema too.I use Dream Cream from Lush which is good for me. My DD was prescribed a steroid cream from our GP.It hasn't helped.Returned to the GP yesterday & now trying aqueous cream. DD's due to see a paediatrician so hopefully might get some more help. Your comments have all been helpful to me. At least I know if the aqueous cream doesn't work there're other options. And I will be watching her closely re. food allergies etc.

I have found Infaderm bubble bath which can be used as soap is really good . ( only been able to get this from Boots ) Aveeno cream seems to prevent flare ups.

Well it's been the third day with Aveeno cream and her skin feels so much better. I've also got the bath additive which I've been using along with porridge oats in a stocking. Gives a really greasy bath but it really seems to be doing the trick. It's so lovely to change her in the morning and her legs don't feel rough. I'm definately going to keep going with this

I agree JustBonnie, isn't it lovely when they get baby soft skin for the 1st time!

i havent had time to read all the posts so sorry if i repeat some of the things previously mentioned...

i am nearly 16 and have suffered from ezcema for as long as i can remember

i used to cry and scream all through the night and scratch myself raw

i was always told i would grow out of it, first when i was 6, then 7, then 11, then 14, yet here i am, still with ezcema.

however from years of trial and error, FINALLY i have it under control and you cant even notice my skin, apart from a tiny bit on my hands.

so here are my tips... they wont work for everyone but you can try.... they work for me :)

firstly, showers/baths were a killer for me. try rinsing off skin with cold water at the end of a shower and then 'hug' dry. this cools skin before moisturising.

i cant use any aqueous creams as they trap in heat and irritate my skin more, however some people find they work well for them. instead i use AVEENO, which i love. you can get it on prescription in the uk which helps :)

if neither or these work, try using straight olive oil, its really natural and an amazing moisturiser. it can be a little messy but sinks in really really quickly.

so, moisturise twice a day, i know its a chore but try and made it as bearable as possibly, for example, warming up cream a bit in the winter.

for those flareups, (i always get back skin when it gets cold outside and the heating goes on, and again in the spring when it goes off and the weather improves,) ask you doctor for a steroid cream. as soon as dry skin or red blotchy patched appears apply cream immediately. you have to catch flareups in time. if however, cream stings and hurts when applied, try using ice packs and stress balls. another thing is hotwater bottles but try the ice first.

oilatum bath oil is ggood to use when the weather changes as it keeps skin moist while your body adjusts to the climate.

probably the most important thing to keep my ezcema under control are anti-histamines.i take cetrizine every day in the morning and ucerax in the evenings. these make you drouzy so you sleep all night without scratching. they do not affect me in the mornings and i still do wake in the night sometimes but not because im ripping my skin appart. i used to get so tired, even if i was sleeping all night due to the scratching. sleep loss increased greatly when i turned 13.

i think thats all... please ask me if you have any questions

i am thinking of setting up a website to help and advise people on how to live with eczema. do you thing this is a good idea and would work?

good luck

avalon