Eczema nightmare

[JoannaG31]

Hi all,
my 6 month old has developed eczema out of the blue. I’m waiting for allergy test but in the meantime I’ve been to the gp a number of times but nothing is working. I can not put any emollient on his skin without him screaming and it looking like I’ve tipped boiling water over him. Could this be from the parafin? This seems to be the case with any cream is this normal? He wakes every 45mins through the night crying and itching. I’m not sure who’s crying more these days him or me it’s heartbreaking

Oh no. This is so difficult. Make sure he has cotton mittens. Also make sure he's not too hot. What worked for us saw Aveeno and steroids. In the end we saw a dermatologist. I also washed his clothes without detergent (used something called washnuts) and never shampood his hair or used any soap/ shower gel. We had a bath product called balneum. I just used a flannel and washed his hair with the bath water. All of that got the eczema under control, a few flare ups but it was fine.

As my son has grown up, he gradually grew out of eczema but now has asthma instead. He started the asthma around 8 years old. Now he's 19, no trace of eczema.

Yup been there, the emmoilents recommended by the hospital dermatology dept had my baby daughter turning bright red. I found that Burts Bees baby bee sensitive bath/hair and Aveeno baby soothing relief cream were the only things that didn't trigger her after much trial and error. For my DD it was all linked to allergies, she ended up dairy free on oat milk, but also on anti-histimines because her bowel was allergic to dairy and her skin had an allergic reaction to histamine (urticaria) both of which triggered the eczema, she eventually grew out of it.

For my second child I went private and was prescribed one short course of 'hit it hard' cream which cleared DS's eczema up for good but he didn't have DD's allergies - eczema isn't easy, GPs seem to start with the mildest cream and don't investigate allergies.

Glad to hear he grew out of it. I’m praying mine will do the same x

Oh bless her, I’ve been to see the dermatologist and given a strong steroid which I’m a little worried to use if I’m honest I’ve heard so many stories of it coming back with a vengeance 😫 was driving around in the car at 4am just to get him back to sleep and stop the itching cycle absolute nightmare

DS was 3 when this was recommended to us, so not sure if your child is too young, but an allergy specialist recommended giving him baths with a small amount of bleach in to kill bacteria in the eczema and also stop the itching. It worked miracles:

https://www.southtees.nhs.uk/resources/bleach-baths-for-eczema/

Try amd avoid bathing him until the breakout is under control. Also don't use any fabric conditioner etc on his bedding, cloths. I hope it gets better

The dermatologist we saw said to zap it as soon as it starts with the string steroid. It didn't come back worse, just got rid of it quickly and before it 'took hold'. By all means, try the other methods to control it, but whilst it's out of control you should use the steroid to relieve poor baby.

This has been a miracle for my DD’s eczema which was all over her face round her eyes and mouth especially: https://salcuraskincare.com/products/bioskin-junior-outbreak-rescue-cream?currency=GBP&variant=32264908800135&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=524df65e38f7&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19494953513&gbraid=0AAAAADwpWldlYLKzO1Ef9aJAI04rhNLxH&gclid=Cj0KCQjwh5vFBhCyARIsAHBx2wyUKelXTm6Q9u6mmvbQGCw8OM3A4q3lL-5nK_t7nmysIs_8Vtg77kQaApoCEALw_wcB

I read that detergent is a really common trigger for eczema and although it wasn't for either of my two in the end, I did go through a trial and error phase of trying to remove detergents from anything DD can into contact with which was quite tricky because detergents are in washing capsules, handsoap, shampoo, shower gel etc.

Oats in the bath can be quite soothing, Aveeno baby do oat bath sachets that you can get in Boots and this is the only emollient I found that didn't cause a bad reaction with DD https://www.aveeno.co.uk/baby/products/soothing-relief-emollient-cream diprobase, dermal 500 etc were awful for her skin.

I’ll give the aveeno a try! Mine is the same every single emollient he is red raw with patches of hives 😭 poor thing. Hoping having a water softener installed may help with bath time but who knows, I’ve exhausted all options now so I think the steroids are needed.

What steroid cream / strength have you been prescribed?

Please do try the steriods, the more you allow it to continue the harder it is to stabilise. I used to be told to use E45 but it has lanolin in which I was allergic to and it made my skin rage. So please do check what you are putting on him.

Cleaning and any perfumed products and food [esp dairy] are very regular triggers, it is of course best to really try and find out what is causing it in the first place.

Sometimes it can be a reaction to dust mites. My son developed it at a similar age and it improved with washing bedding regularly at 60 and getting rid of old carpets I'm favour of laminate that could be wet dusted. Not an easy or cheap fix, but I was desperate and noticed he got worse when he was playing on carpets. Also synthetic clothing was a major trigger. He grew out of it when he was about 6 but he improved steadily from the age of about 3. His was bad on his tummy and responded well to extra virgin coconut oil (which might be a trigger for some). Also used aveeno successfully. Hope you find something that helps your LO.

As someone who has lived with eczema for 50+ years, finding the right emollient is the key... I use emulsifying ointment, melted with warm water and then slathered on and then washed off, then pat dry and apply a moisturizer - I use zerobase. I do this every day. Finding the right moisturising regimen is the key to good eczema control. It took me about 39 years to work this out!

We’ve been prescribed betnovate which I think is pretty strong. Just a little concerned as the dermatologist said use it for three weeks and apply a thick layer twice a day so he’s shiny. I feel that’s way too much to use?

I’ve just brought an air purifier for our bedroom but actually now you’ve said that I did notice when he was rolling around down stairs on the rug his face started going red and itchy.

Yes that is exactly what the dermatologist said best to hit it hard in the beginning or it becomes harder to control. Allergy testing in 2 weeks so hopefully something may show up

Has your child been eating eggs, cut those out see if any improvement
They can grow out of the egg reaction and eczema often improves as they get older. However I've a teen who still gets it who of course won't use cream I suggest.
Hope improves soon good luck

@JoannaG31 looking at my sons prescription from a derm it was a tub mixed by the pharmacist of:
Betamethasone Valerate 0.1% cream 10g
Fusidic Acid cream 15g (this may have been because it was infected)
In Diprobase cream 200g
to be applied four times a day sparingly - and no other creams/washes to be used except Dove Cream sensitive bar for washing hair/body.
Cleared it up for good in under a month.

However DS's eczema although bad wasn't allergy linked, he never had the all over hives/urticaria rash that turned into an eczema rash that DD had - for her it was Aveeno baby soothing cream and taking daily medicine for her allergies that resolved her eczema.

Maybe try putting him down on a pure cotton material even when he's not in bed. And 100% soft cotton clothing if not already, I found the higher cotton thread counts on bedding to be a lot smoother and cooling for the skin, but predictably much more expensive. Daily vacuuming if he has carpet in his bedroom and you can't put down a hard floor. If scratching is a real problem you can buy 'scratch sleeves' that go on like a cardigan, with silk over the hands (might be a bit young for them but we used them from at least 1 year and they helped when he had chicken pox). It's awful watching them suffer, but most of them do grow out of it and it might be something that doesn't last very long.