Need help about eczema patches and various creams.

[lazyline]

My son, 18 months, has had patches of eczema since he was a few months old, and before that suffered from general dry skin.

He has patches in the usual places, ankles, behind knees, wrists particularly. It has now started to appear on his face, at the corners of his mouth and around his nose. He has dry skin on his forehead that he scratches at night.

We have been to the doctors a few times, they say that there is a 50/50 chance he will grow out of it and have prescribed some creams. I know that they are busy but have offered no other advice. We use a steroid cream (Eumovate) on his joints for flare ups (I do not use it at any other time). We also have a 1% hydrocortisone for his forehead and also his eczema patches on his face. This sorted out the forehead issue straight away and is helping on the face.

We also use Oilatum in the bath, and nothing else. Have tried Balneum but didn't seem to have an effect. I use nothing else on his skin apart from some Aqueous cream.

The rather long and short of it is that I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on his treatment and if there are any particular thoughts on the creams that we are using. I know that a lot of kids have it worse and I am very grateful that he does not have a worse case. It just seems like all this stuff that I am doing simply keeps everything in a status quo rather than solving anything and I don't want to keep on putting this stuff on my child's skin. I have also read that Aqueous cream is not that good and contains SLS.

I have considered cutting out cow's milk. Is it in any way known that these sort of intolerances/allergies can be inherited? Three of my siblings and several other relatives had cow's milk intolerances as children. They have all grown out of it. Should I try it or is it not worth it?

Sorry for the ramble, wanted to give as much information as possible. Thanks!

Hi Lazyline - I am 29 and have had eczema almost all of my life and it is so hard to pinpoint any one thing that causes/makes it worse/better.
I use aqueous cream to keep the skin supple but over the years was prescribed many steroid creams which have inevitably thinned my skin so my hands look a lot older than 29! However, the steroids are needed to calm flare ups and as long as it's only occasionally, I would keep on with the Eumovate etc until your GP says. My DD (5) had very dry skin as a baby and toddler with similar patches over her body but I simply used aqueous cream for a couple of days and only infacare in the bath with Tesco all over body wash and it didn't last long and she now has beautifully olive, soft skin.I also swapped fabric softener to Surcare and only have Persil non-bio as the perfumes other companies use are really harsh.
Have you considered changing from cow's milk to goat's milk?
At the moment, I'm on the Cambridge Diet and the counsellor did say she thought my eczema would improve from having a lot less lactose - and she's right.
I'd make sure you dust regularly (something I don't often do) and make sure the house isn't too hot. Recently, I think it was Dermasilk who were looking for children to trial their underclothes for them ( they help eczema sufferers) and they let them keep the clothes (which are v expensive) afterwards. You could always contact them or have a look at their products if you think it might help. Also, the Eczema Society send me regular e-newsletters which often have some good advice about treatments etc. Hope this 'waffle' helps!!!

Thanks, luciemule. I have been thinking about the cow's milk, yes. Do I need to just change the milk though? What about all the milk powders and stuff in biscuits and the like? Does anyone know about that?

I only use natural washing products and don't use a spray polish, just a dampl cloth. I am convinced that it is not down to anything like that.

Eurgh, it's so annoying!

I think that unless your DS has an allergy to cow's milk, then reducing it as much as possible might work (drinking milk/formula etc. I'm sure the odd biscuit etc containing milk would be fine. Maybe check with your GP though.
I also remember reading somewhere about people with eczema lacking a certain group of fats in their body (GCA's or something similar - I think I made those letters up but I think it began with G) and that by increasing those in the diet, the skin would clear up. A lack of those fats, means that the skin dries out and itches etc.

Hi Lazyline, have just read your message and responses re allergies/eczema etc..and possible effect of cow's milk. My ds developed severe eczema on his face and head as a very young baby as soon as he went from breast to cow's formula milk. As he was so young I didn't want to use chemical products on him so on the advice of a homeopath, I switched him to a brand of goat's milk formula. Almost overnight, his skin dramatically improved.When he was old enough we put him onto normal goat's milk bought from asda, tesco etc.. and he now has the most beautiful, smooth completely eczema free skin!...and without the use of any creams.Goat's milk yogurts, cheeses etc..are also readily available in most supermarkets so it's not too difficult a change to make. I am not especially strict about him not eating any cow's milk products...i am aware that cow's milk is in many products, but by changing the main foods..milk,yogurt,cheese a large amount of cow's milk is removed from his diet. This may not be the answer to your child's problem but I would strongly recommend giving goat's milk a try. Have a look at this website for more info on how goat's milk may help you: www.sthelensfarm.co.uk

Thanks both of you for your help. I have bought some goat and soya milk, some goats cheese, yoghurt and some soya spread, so hopefully changing these main things might have an impact.

Am planning on trying the new diet for 2 weeks and then stopping all creams for a little bit to see how we go. Fingers crossed!

Dd1 has allergies to milk and eggs which we obviously completely avoid, however she also gets some ezcema, particularly small patches on her arms and legs which she itches. I tried hydrocortisone etc but found it didn't really work. We've just tried SOS creme ad her skin is now beautifully soft and patch free. Its completely natural and is meant to be good for those coming off seroid cremes. However it is rather expensive and may not work for you. But maybe worth a go...

oops meant steroid

does it run in your family lazyline? dh gets bad eczema and ds often gets it badly on his face. I'm pretty sure ds doesn't have any allergies and it just appears that he has sensitive skin.

Dd had bad eczema as a baby and now (she is 6), she hardly gets it at all apart from hayfever season so I think it is possible for their skin to improve with age.

Eczema itself doesn't run in the family, though there are several cases of dairy intolerance which cause sensitive skin/eczema patches.

Thanks for the SOS recommendation, mamado, shall look into that.

foxinsocks, the thought has crossed my mind. He has always had some sensitive skin, he always looked a little dry IYSWIM since he was born. Maybe it's just him. Shall try the non dairy anyway, hopefully it will help. I know that he might grow out of it, but I feel awful for him because he obviously itches.

def worth trying the dairy free diet for a bit then

might also be worth trying a more emollient cream on him like diprobase or eumobase (like thicker aqueous cream - it's worth trying a few because one could suit his skin and not another)

good luck with it - it's awful when they scratch

(fwiw, dd had an egg, milk and soya allergy as a baby - dh has an egg and chicken allergy and I had a milk intolerance as a child which I outgrew. Both of us have hayfever. The minute we discovered her allergies, her skin improved immensely. I hope it is the same for you but unfortunately, eczema is often not that simple!)

After 3 years of the treatments you are using, ds2's excema is getting much better. We have just discovered that Sudocrem works brilliantly just before flare up time - takes a little longer than hydrocortisone, but works well for us.

The thing that was really wonderful was seeing ds's skin change overnight on holiday in Dorset (calm, shallow seas - in summer, of course!) when he was 18 months old and went in the sea up to his neck. It was almost miraculous seeing the improvement after a few days.

When I was a teenager my eczema got so bad on my hands and feet, that huge splits appeared all over them and I got terrible infections etc. However our family holiday to france was during a bad flare up on my feet but because I spent everyday in the sea, you'd never have known I had eczema on returning to the UK. A few months later, I tried bathing in sea salt (thinking that must have been the reason) only it didn't do a thing so it must have been a combination of sea/sand/minerals and the sun etc. I was very impressed though.

So is sea water supposed to be good for eczema?

Maybe it's all the sewage.....

yes it is supposed to be good and I did notice a difference within a day. You can get lots of different creams and lotions containing sea minerals (there's something like dead sea mineral cream or something) - perhaps it's worth a try in conjuntion with goats milk. Personally, Oilatum made my eczema more itchy and sore but it's different for everyone. Sometimes I can use one sort of makeup or moisturiser for months and it's fine and then suddenly, like yesterday, my whole face and hands flared up and I can't use anything as it stings like putting acid on my face.
I also find my eczema is worse when the leaves are changing. My grandfather told me that it would be like that and he was right. I guess it might be due to the seasonal change in temperature, rather than there being leaves or no leaves on the trees!

Guess that is cut out dairy RR rather than cut out fairy?! (My pharmacist told me to only ever use Fairy for washing clothes by the way - I had never used bio powders of course, but I think it has helped a bit.)

Interesting about the sea water. Shame I live slap bang in the middle of the country though!

HI LAZYLINE,BEEN THROUGH LOTS WITH MY DD TOO. WE NOW HAVE A DERMATOLOGIST WE SEE. I NEVER FOUND MANY CREAMS WERE BRIL, THEY ALL USED TO STING DD. DONT KNOW IF YOU HAVE FOUND THIS AT ALL. USED TO USE AQUEOUS IN THE BEGGINGING BUT SOON ASKED FOR SOMETHING ELSE, THEY USED TO SAY ITS THE CHEAPEST. WE NOW USE DIPROBASE CREAM EMMOLLIENT IN A LARGE PUMP ACTION BOTTLE,BEEN USING IT FOR YEARS FOR HER. BEST WE HAVE FOUND, APART FROM WHEN WE USED TO WET WRAP. FOR THIS I STRONGLY RECCOMMEND EPADERM. OILATUM IN THE BATH WE HAVE USED TOO BUT AROUND THAT TIME SHE WAS REAL BAD AND I WASNT SURE IF IT WAS HELPING OR NOT. NOW USE DERMOL 500 LOTION, REAL GOOD LIKE A LIGHT MOISTERISER BUT CAN BE USED AS A SOAP SUBSTITUTE. I HAVE EVEN PUT IT THROUGH HER HAIR WHEN NIT COMBING INSTEAD OF A CONDITIONER AND HAIR COMES OUT FINE IF YOU WWORRY ABOUT SHAMPOOS. WE USE THE SAME STERIOD EUMOVATE FOR FLARE UPS AS IT WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT SEEMED TO HELP AT THE TIME. ONLY INSTRUCTED ONCE A DAY FOR NO LONGER THAN 2 WEEKS. USED TO DO ONE AND A HALF WEEKS TO BE SAFE. SURECARE WASHING POWDER IS GOOD AND COTON COMFORTS CLOTHING. WE LIVE NEAR THE SEA AND HAS HELPED IN PAST BUT DONT FEEL TO LOW ABOUT BEING IN THE COUNTRY LOL. ITS ON OUR DOORSTEP BUT USED TO FIND I COULDNT TAKE HER MUCH AS THEN THE HEAT AND SUNS A PROBLEM AS WE CANT USE SUN CREAMS AND YOU KNOW HOW QUICK YOU BURN AT THE BEACH! MY DD HAS ALLERGIES NOW FOLLOWING LOTS OF SKIN PRICK TESTS BUT NOT TO DAIRY. CAN YOU HAVE HER TESTED? I TRIED GOATS MILK FOR A LONG WHILE WHEN SHE WAS VERY YOUNG BUT DIDNT HELP. GOOD LUCK

We have used Aveeno on DS for over a year now - the oilin the bath and the lotion afterwards - he had such bad excema for the first year of his life - used to scratch thoguh his skin and bleed over everything - he still has the odd itch now and then but I have to say the cream has changed our lives and allowed us to get a good nights sleep without him waking up covered in blood!!

I have recommended it to countless friends and so many of them agree that it is the best thing that they have tried.

Aqueous cream bring DS's skin up so badly - our german doctor told us that he had stopped prescribing it as new info had come out that it done more harm than good for dry skin conditions!!

I've only just had a sustained period of being eczema free (34!) and 'did' all the diets whilst young (no dairy = no Esster Eggs - a tragedy!) have recently found as below that Diprobase and Dermol are fantastic, and when young oilatum baths were the thing that kept me going.

Mine's stress related I'm absolutely sure of - so the swimming in the sea thing (which also worked) was possibly as much about being relaxed & on holiday I think??

Lots of love hugs and sympathy - it was a blight, but keeping on top of the dry skin is the key as the dryness itself causes the itches to spread. Also keeping in cool (heat!) and not scratchy clothing in non-bio powder were essntial for me!

This SOS cream worked wonders for my niece.

I haven't had a chance to read all the answers to your post, but wanted to add my experience. Both my sons have excema. But my youngest has quite severe atypical excema. He gets it is strange places including his eyelids, around his mouth and also on his nose. He also gets it on the end of his penis and all over his bottom. Not to mention the usual knee, legs and ankle patches!

Anyway, the usual treatments from the GP were useless. We also tried various over the counter creams. Eventually, we ended up seeing a dermatologist who initially treated him with various steroid creams. You can't use them on the very sensitive part of the body though including the eyelids, mouth and penis.

Recently, we have started a new treatment: probiotic cream which is an immunosuppressent drug in the form of a cream. Touch wood - it it working. It is non-steroidal so can be used everywhere. However, it has only been on the market for children for 8 years(and in our case we are actually using an adult dose as his excema is so bad) so no one knows the long term effects. I spoke at length with both my dermatoligist and GP who both agreed that at this point there really was no other option.

Anyway, not sure if any of this will help or not but I always find it worth reading other people's experiences for informtaion.

I forgot to say that my dermatologist says that the only real cure treatment for his excema is to move to Sri Lanka

Thank you all for your advice and experiences. I am definitely going to have a look at that SOS cream. I don't think that the aqueous cream is making it any worse, but not sure that it's actually helping his other dry skin, which whilst it doesn't appear to be eczema, is still causing him to scratch.

Fingers crossed the dairy will work, though I don't think it will TBH. If not, I shall start looking at some of the different creams that have been recommended here, so thank you!

I feel bad moaning about it actually, because his eczema isn't extreme like a lot of kids, but I hate the fact that he isn't old enough to tell me if it stings or if somewhere itches a bit.

Thanks ladies.