Eczema Creams

[melon1]

I have found out loads of useful information from Mumsnet regarding eczema and I need some more help! I've posted this message in the health and allergies section - can anyone give me any feedback on these creams - calendula cream, tea tree cream, aloe vera gel, lush dream cream and sk cream?

I am taking my DS now 2 to a Naturopath, but we have struggled with eczema since he was 4mths. We have used all different kinds of steroid creams and he has been given antibiotics 3 time - the last time by IV for 48hours - which was the last straw for me.

The Naturopath's thinking is that eczema is only reflecting something not going right internally and so she diagnoses and treats using diet changes and herbal remedies. I have been able to throw away the creams, especially the cortisone etc and I just use a cream to prevent infection while it is healing back up and it is based on german chamomile. Although DS has been tested for Dairy allergy and came back ok, with the naturopthat we have dropped dairy and cut back on wheat, as well as giving him some drops which target his lungs and bronchials, which is where she reckons his problem stems from. As your bub is so young and I am guessing breastfed, it might mean eliminating things from your diet like dairy, wheat, preservatives like 282, and food colourings and other synthetic additives. But of course I am not an expert, just a mum.

It sounds to me like you might be open to alternative treatments and I couldn't recommend a good naturopath strongly enough.

Thanks for your advice AussieSim, I think that my son might have problems with his respiritory system as he has been diagnosed with a chest infection last month and he was admitted to hospital just before Christmas. Do you think that the two might be linked? I know that there is a very high risk of ds being asthmatic as both asthma and eczema run in dh and my family. I am taking ds for an allergy test next week which I hope will be of some use. But my gut instinct is that he is v.sensitive to various chemicals.
ChickPea- I do use cotton wool when changing nappy and sometimes when the skin is v.dry I have used it to apply some water. I don't use anything in the bath to wash him I just use my hands to splash water on his body. Thanks for the information, I will look out for any effects after using cotton wool.
I would just like to warn anyone who has eczema in their family to try to breast feed. I have not been able to breast feed my two children for more than two weeks. With my dd I put it down to being young and ignorant about positioning and asking for help. But with ds who was 9lb 8 I went out of my way to ask hospital staff for help at each feed. The community midwifes went out of their way to encourage me and were brilliant. When ds was wighed at one week he had lost over 1lb and I was devestated. The community midwife saw that I was really upset and got hold of a breast pump. For a few days I fed ds and then I would express for 20 minutes (with nothing comming out)As he became hungrier ds would cry all the time and I sunk deeper. When ds had not past a stool for days after the initial muconium, the doctor suggested top up feeds. So I would try to feed ds, then I would express and then I would give him a bottle of which he would drink 4oz. I came to the point where I was to exhausted to think straight. Those two weeks of desperatly trying seemed like a life time to me. The midwife became worried about me and ordered me to leave the house. The four of us went for an ice cream on a lovely summers day, and I decided to give up trying to breast feed as dh was going back to work and I would be in sole charge of dd and ds. I tried to express for a few days after starting to bottle feed, but would only manage to get 10ml at most from each breast. I have never felt like such a failure in all my entire life. I feel that ds's eczema is reminding me of this every day.
I would like to point out that I am not depressed or sad every moment of the day, but it has knawing at me when things are at their worst.

sandycheeks,

I breastfeed for the first 5 months but ds still developed eczema!

that should be 'breastfed'

I had same problems with ds as you sandycheeks so I know what how dissapointed you were. I am going to try everything to breastfeed with the new one (one and a half weeks to go) but I wont beat myself up if it doesnt work. There is a huge amount of ezcema and asthma is my dh's family so I think it is partly down to genes. And I think it is like any allergy it all down to trial and error. Start a diary to see when he is at his worst and what might trigger it off. It seems like a long shot but it was the only way I could trace some sort of pattern with my ds. especially when I eliminated things one by one. Some things worked some things didnt. (Cats, dairy, dustmite bedding) I had a crainial osteopath do her magic on him and that really helped. She said because he was born by c-section that his lungs were not cleared properly and that was a cause of a lot of his chest infections, anti-biotics at one month old and regularly from then till two years old. Their is a free childrens clinic in Harly St. I very much recommend it.

Good luck with the breast feeding tiny01! Unfortunatly I have only found mumsnet in the last few months, but there's loads of support and advice for you here.
I realise that breast feeding does not mean that children won't develop eczema. My grandmother saw an article which connected the use of wet wipes with eczema. When I stopped steralising ds's bottles at 6 months I found that eczema eased on the trunk of his body. Perhaps this is just coincidence, but I do wonder if the steralising fluid had some sort of effect?

hi
first time on mumsnet and good to read messages from other mums who are in a similar position to me as i feel i'm going a little crazy with exhaustion! our little fella is 6 months and developed eczema a month ago and has woken every hour all night since then as he is so itchy. using eumavate steroid cream to get it under control as was really bad and diprobase which works but neither have got rid. he's still breatfed, i tried to put a bit of formula in his breakfast a week ago as i was running low on milk and his lip swelled up so think he has an allergy to dairy so i've stopped eating dairy and eggs. noticed a few people using aqueous - dermatology nurse advised us that research now shows that this is actually detrimental for eczema. gp had told us to use it and his skin got worse and worse. for desperate mums with cash to spend, anyone tried desensitization???

we were advisa=ed to switch to soya milk when dd was about 6 months old but it didnt really make much difference. All thise postings are fascinating because they show how many little kids suffer from eczema, and also that what works for one child may not work at all for another child.I dd's case the only thing that really 'nailed' it was wet wraps using 1:10 propaderm iontment ( quite a strong steroid) which we were reluctant to use. Hiwever it cleared up her excema, which was fairly serious, in about 10 days and it has NEVER returned in anything like the way it was originally. We currently keep things at bay with 1% HC and aveeno cream on prescription.You just have to keep trying - we tried so many creams, natural, homeopathic stuff, prescription stuff, about 16 creams in all.So wet wraps may work for you - they are a hassle but worth it imo.

Hello, first time here and have read a lot of good info off you mums, thanks! My daughter who is 4 suffers with moderate to severe excema and has lots of allergies both of which affect her quality of life to quite a high degree. Im at my wits end now, ive had 4 years of sleepless nights, years of looking at my daughters pretty face and seeing nothing but swellings, scratches and red scaley skin and a different opinion from every professional i have met. Sicne 18mnths old she has been on steroids/antibiotics and moisturisers inc. diprobase/doublebase /fucidin/fucibet/hc/eumovate/betnovate/piriton/phenergan - the list is endless, nothing works, she has now been on eumovate since Nov with no sign of it becoming managable. I have just been prescribed aveeno cream (we have the bath oatmeal stuff) and im hopeful after reading the reports on here. Failing that, the doc has suggested a new treatment called Elidel - does anyone know of this? Also, i am interested in trying to find an alternative way of dealing with it, eg homeopathy, cranial ostepathy etc - can anyone offer advice/suggestions??!!

hi nixz, yes I would recommend the cranial osteopthy. If you get the number for the free clinic in Harley st. They specialise in children if you live near enough to London if not they can give you a clinic near you. Good luck.

Thanx Tiny, i have contacted the british Osteopathy org. hopefully they will give me some info on where i can find a reputable clinic in the north west. Have you used the treatment before? What experiences did you have?

yes, It was a client of mine and she came to my house to do it for my son, unfortunatly only once but she gave me fantastic advice and did some head thingy for him. She said because he was a emengency c-section that the plates of his skull didnt get the chance do what they should when the head desends the birth canal and that the his lungs didnt get cleared properly. She said the doctors would probably want to give him an inhaler but that I should try not to. He certainly was a lot calmer and between that and no dairy I havnt looked back. I have had other client rave about it for colic and cranky babys.

My daughter was also born by c-section, i will definately give it a try!

I find that v. interesting so maybe it makes sense and he also had molding because of the contractions so his little head was a bit flat at the back and to one side. Good luck with your ds. I hope you get some sleep.

I am going through a similar thing as Donnie right now, wet wrapping my ds with 1:10. I am on my fourth night tonight and I can see a difference. Thanks to advise on here I have started using Aveeno cream on the areas that have not been affected as much as his forearms and it seems to control it well. I am just waiting until the forearms are better and hope that the 1% HC and Aveeno can take care of it from then on. Sadly though his face is covered in big red welts and I just can't shift them. I breastfed fully until he was six months and then mixed with soya formula until about a month ago (ds is 11 months) and now he is down to one breastfeed a day and using goats milk for the rest. I couldn't recommend Aveeno highly enough - ds's skin actually feels like a proper baby's skin now (apart from the areas still being dealt with!)

Nixz - here is a lnik to a thread I started about Elidel and Protopic. here . We had some fab results with protopic but there are some new concerns about it's usage of which you should be made aware. Like you, we tried aevery available treatment for our ds' eczema and eventually got a referral to Dr David Atherton at Great Ormond St. He prescribed a course of oral steroids as in his opinion ds' eczema was so severe, creams alone would never clear it. Within 2 days of taking the steroids (prednisolone) his skin was clearing up, it was like a miracle. He continued on these steroids for 12 months in ever-decreasing amounts and his skin has been moreorless clear since. Any flare-ups since this treatment were controlled wiht protopic but Im not sure if this is still an option. Can you demand a referral to Dr A, he really is the best around IMO.

Bunny3, thanks very much for your advice, i havent read the thread yet - just on my way to! We have an appt with a paediatrician next wednesday so hopefully some results will come from that. My gp has been really unhelpful actually, the last dr, who was a locum, said that the only option for her was to live in a bubble. That went down like a lead balloon as you can imagine! Thanks again!

re: cancer scare, this is something i really need to investigate, i was aware that the longterm side effects were not certain, its just the thought of cancer...... if anyone finds anything more out please keep me posted!!!