weeping excema

[forevermore]

can anyone suggest best way to tackle weeping excema on 6 month old dd. just had a weeks 'respite' when we used steriod for 2nd time (tried to limit, but GP says she probably had fungal infection too so had to use antifungal cream combinied with 1% steriods)

its mainly on joints , neck and cheeks. one elbow in particular started to weep a lot today. we bathe her every night since advised by another mners that this would slough away dead skin and aid renewal????

using tea tree cream on weeping skin and wrapped in tubifast bandage before putting on gro.

thinking leaving it bare would be better so it could 'dry out' but there would be little defence from her attack! it only takes a second for her to draw blood

any tips? by the way avenno not really doing much in way of control for her excema

hi forevermore, was the cream from your gp timidine? that's what my gp gave me for me dd (3 months old) for her weeping ezcema and it really cleared up. the only trouble is that it will heal one rash and then a couple of days later she'll get another so I'm kinda in the same predicament as you. So any recommendations are welcome

My gp told me to moisturise the eczema properly and to make sure it's dry after washing and she gave me a prescription for liquid parafin as it's so thick that it's a barrier from any dribbles down her neck. Also, try washing your dd in aqueous cream as my dd is sensitive to soaps and bathing oils.

sorry can't be any help re more natural approaches, as that's what I'm looking for myself.

My baby had weeping eczema until I started using SOS Cream from barefoot botanicals. On my ds, this cream stopped the weeping within hours and heals the skin really quickly. We have used this cream since my ds was about 3 months old (he is now 14 months) and it really is like a miracle cream and 100% herbal. I strongly urge you to give it a try. Since the day I used the cream my DS has never had weeping skin since.Good luck.

I think you are right in leaving it in the open to air - but appreciate the difficulty with scratching. Would she wear cotton mittens to bed or you can buy babygrows with mittens attached to sleeve which are obviously harder for baby to pull off in the night.

TBH when my excema weeps i continue to moisturise because i find that this at least stops the skin breaking anymore if i do keep scratching it - (which sometimes just cannot be helped).
But i know others feel that the moisturising helps breed the infection.

why does it weep?

The avenno IMO is for mild eczema, and its worth going for thicker moisturers.
Avenno was not good for my son, but good for me when hands and arms mildly affected.

All treatments for ezcema are individual, what works for some doesnt work for others.

my lad was happy with the liquid parraffin and soft mix, it was like a sloppy vaseline, but worked well.

Ezcema means 'burning' or 'to burn' in latin.

As a person who has had ezcema this weeping stuff is painful.
I would check that with the Gp that the fungal infection has completly gone or that infection is not present before asking about the next step to treat skin when inflamed at the weeping level.

This is particularly important when using wet wrapping as a treatment.

I think you are right to not let the skin be bare as its highly itchy right now, and she will still be more than likely try to rub it against something to stop the burning itch.

Bathing does work for some children, as you are soaking skin in water and sealing in the moisture with the creams afterwards.
Dont make the bath too hot as heat can aggravate the itch cycle.

Someone mentioned the diprobase ointment on other threads, its works for some and causes reactions in others. That the indivdual ezcema stuff for you!
I always used to 'test patch' a small area before doing the whole body thing when we tried a new cream.

Everyone seems to be against steriods , and yes long term use is not what anyone would want for their child.
However the 1% steriod is an extremely low dose, and if it prevents the skin from deterriating to the point of fungel infections or skin infections ( which lead to antibiotics) then which is the lesser evil?

I am interested in this tea tree cream is it just a plain antiseptic? or is it formulated for those with ezcema ?

i use nelsons which has tea tree included in the formulation; good for insect bites and skin abrasions so figured would also be good at preventing excema getting infected??

DS had it at that age, the strongest emollient we found is Eucerin 10% Urea (in DS's case, it works better than Aveeno). Downside is that it stings if the skin is broken.
When DS was that bad we realised that Fucidin H was not reaally helping with the infection. We were not able to break the cycle until he got antibiotics in a syrup rather than cream, an anthistaminic to keep the scratching under control at night, Oilatum Plus, Eucerin 10% and a different corticoid. It took a week for the months long storm to pass, and since then we have been able to keep the eczema under control with Eucerin, Oilatum Plus and very seldom use HC.

The key is to break the cycle, once that you have done that, applying cream several times a day and a good bath product should do the trick.

P.S. We also used nelsons but, we needed to use a big tube per day just to keep the skin moist. I would suggest getting an emollient .as well as that, the nelson cream on its own is useless un les the case is very mild.

eczema weeps because it is infected. You must get rid of the infection before it will dry out. forevermore, you seem overconcerned to me to use the steriod cream. I understand your concern but these days, they are really safe to use longer than a couple weeks. My dd's eczema on her face keeps flaring up badly if i don't apply for 24 hrs so it means that 2x a day for the last 6 wks I have used hydrocortisone cream (1%) daily to keep it from becoming infected and weepy. We went back to the dermatologist yesterday for checkup and I told her how often I have been using it and she was not overconcerned. She knows it is not ideal but otoh...

I don't know if this is available over the counter but it would be worth asking for DERMOL 500 which is an emollient with an antibacterial that can be put in the bath instead of Epaderm when eczema goes weepy. Then after you take baby out of the bath, still apply the hydrocortisone cream to get it under control and the emollient.

sorry this is long and preachy in places. just thinking of your dd's suffering.

I've got a card given by the dermatologist with colour pics of different stages of eczema and how to treat it (my dd's regime)
dry skin: Bath in epaderm & emollients afterwards (Epaderm or aveeno)

Red itchy skin (eczema-y) as above + 1%hydrocortisone ointment (always apply an ointment after the emollient as the ointment would block absorption of the emollient)

Inflamed eczema - looking crusty and skin broken and starting to weep - emollients, Anti-infective bath lotion (DERMOL 500) & 1% hydrocortisone with vioform. (she prescribed vioform because it is antibacterial but the body does not build up a resistance to it like antibiotics - it does stain clothing though)

Infected eczema - really weepy eczema: all of the above for inflamed eczema + oral antibiotics.

hope this helps.

ps also get the feeling that you want to steer away from treating with too much manmade chemicals BUT only if you break the cycle can you go to gentler natural methods. (tea tree stings tho!) but its been the manmade methods that has broken the cycle for my dd and now I can concentrate into controlling it with gentler methods.

Ds2 has patches on his head of this and regularly drew blood from scratching. We have had a lot of success with Nelson's Hypercal cream, seems to help the itching and gives it time to heal. The cream says it is for cuts and sores so it is fine to put on broken skin. Sympathy for your dd tho, forevermore, I used to have excema as a child and it is just horrid.

kiskidee, why are steroids safer these days?

the dosage are much lower than before. they've discovered that lower dosages work well. kinda like the pill which are also a part of the large family of steriods. in the old days, the dosages were much higher than now.

kisidee this is all very encouraging and my ignorance mean't me being over cautious with HC use so will revert and wait till i see demrmatolgist for more specific control.

been given dermol 500 today to use as an emoillient as that seems like it will help with prevention of infection.

the key here is control then moisturise at every nappy change i think!
thanks for advice

good luck. one p.s. when you apply hydrocortisone ointment, put enough to let the skin look shiny with it. don't skimp too much as you can undertreat.

Just wanted to share this information with mums who struggle with their babies eczema
My baby ds is 7m old and he has had eczema since 3m Dry skin is one problem but what concerned and upset me the most was weeping wounds he had on his face and behind knees He had outbreaks almost every 2 days. Steroid cream dried it but as soon as i stopped they were red and weeping again I read a lot about eczema and realized that it mainly comes from inside either immune system is weak or its connected with digestive system So i found article about trying to boost baby's immune system by giving them probiotics live friendly bacteria for gut. I decided to try, i got Optibax for children it can be given from 6m old its in sachets . I started 2 weeks ago and since then my son doesn't have weeping wounds his knees completely cleared, i am sure its probiotics am giving him as i haven't changed anything else. I am so happy and hope it will get only better. It might not work for everybody but definitely worth a try. Also can recommend Epaderm Cream (can get on prescription) for dry skin, I like it most from all the creams i tried, i prefer it to tub version as its more hygienic as its in bottle with a pump.

Hope my post helps.