Just diagnosed - MN eczema experts please!

[PinkyRed]

My dd (9.5 months) has got a small patch of dry cracked skin near her mouth, and red patches all around her chin. The GP said it was eczema or dermatitus (sp?) which he said was the same thing.

He advised me to use E45 on the patch. When I asked about cutting out dairy or any other potential problem foods (I'm still bf'ing and she eats more or less the same stuff as us except for the obvious stuff like honey etc), he said not to bother, very few people with eczema are affected by it, and it'd clear up.

I have no faith whatsoever in my local GP service (they've proscribed me drugs in the past that could have been life threatening to someone with my medical history) so I just wanted some advice - does this sound about right? Or should I be looking at our diet and bullying him into giving me some steroid cream for her? Any advice v welcome!

Not sure why you could use Aveeno bath oil with children under 6 months old....
What worked well for DS1 was :

• Aveeno cream not just on the red patches BUT on all the skin that is looking a bit ruff (For him, face rms, shoulders and behing the knees)
• NO soap in the bath - used Aveeno oil bath or Emulsiderm (also avil on prescription)
• when the patch is small, just aveeno BUT very often (each nappy change + each time I washed his face ie after the meal etc...). I use steroids only when it doesn't improved after a week or is looking raw and itchy.
• If the skin looks broken, go to see your GP. She will probably need some cream with some antibiotic in it. Otherwise, the skin won't heal.
• Re the diet, well I think everything has been said. Yes, dairy can be a reason. You just need to try. remove all dairy (be carefull with commercial product and hidden dairy) and try again after 2 weeks. Good luck!

another vote for aveeno bath oil and moisturizer. we use them both on ds (prescription) and IIRC started using them when he was around 4 or 5 months. ds's eczema was on his face, neck, back of knees and around his thighs but it's now almost gone - just occasional breakouts on his face/neck.

sorry - shoudl also have added that we use hydrocortisone 1% cream where necessary but hardly need to at all now.

You might also try Diprobase cream, can be used from the age of 1 month onwards.

Need to say that I am using stronger steroids for DS1 hen there is a flare up that doesn't go away. Hydrocortisone didn't work and the exczema nurse confirmed that after 18 months old, that wasn't uncommum.
Another remark she made is that you shouldn't be woried about using steroids (especially hydrocortisne as the will NOT damaged the skin of a baby/child. All the story about thinning th skin etc.. is true but for much stronger steroids not for that.

thanks loads for the advice !

nojopo: I would say that aveeno is fine for a baby under 6 months. it is just colloidal oatmeal for heaven's sake. i am sure the doc has not bothered to learn more about aveeno, just hurrying you out the door.

take a sock, put a small cup of eating oatmeal inside and run the hot water top over it. leave it floating in the water. the gooey stuff that seeps out is the same as the active ingredient in Aveeno. Aveeno is pretty much nothing else. in fact, quite a few MNers have done this to relieve eczema.

nojopo: i just remembered, my gp prescribed Epaderm for my dd before she was 3 months old. the only thing is that he didn't explain properly how to use it and i was an eczema ignoramus back then. ask for it. you wet your hands and take a tiny bit out of the tub and then rub hands together vigourously until you get a slippery lather. apply to wet or dry skin and let it absorb a bit in the skin. you can use it as a skin lotion or bath additive. really good stuff and cheap for the nhs. don't use any soaps or washes at all on a baby. they are all irritants. i would get Aveeno over the counter too but that is just me.

the aveeno cream has worked wonders - hurrah !

My son has suffered from eczema since he was 3 months old, he's 3.5 years now. He was on steroids for 2 years continuously, twice a day so has now moved on to a new cream (protopic). Anyway, we've tried so many creams and alternative treatments and what we've found to 'work' is Dirprobath oil in the bath, Cetraben moisturiser and 50:50 moisturiser at night, protopics at night and oral antihistamines.

Whatever cream you try, make sure you rub all creams in a downward direction as well. If it's up, it may block the sweat ducts.

Also, wash baby's clothes at 60C to kill off any dust mites (baby may be allergic to the dust mites faeces) and it removes the creams from the clothes which, if allowed to build up will be an irritant. We use aquaballs but Surcare is a good washing powder endorsed by dermatologists. There's loads of other stuff that can be done but it's very time consuming and no doubt unnecessary unless the eczema's severe.

Good luck.

hi,
anyone tried doublebase? Very rich, yoghurt-like cream, can get it on script. We use a combo of doublebase and aveeno that calms the red patches down within an hour - still using varying degrees of hydrocortisone about once or twice a week though...