Eczema getting worse in this warm weather!! Please help

[laura3737]

Hi all, can anyone else or let me know their own experiences! My DS has had eczema from 3 months, he has just turned 2. We have had a lot of support from the NHS and seen a dermatologist at the hospital regularly. The problem is we are not getting anywhere and I am feeling really fed up

DS son wears comfifast bandages all the time and I constantly cover him in liquid paraffin 50% or emulsifying ointment, use eumovate most days on his very sore bits and bath him in oilatum plus every night. He itches constantly and now the weather is getting warmer I am desperate to get him out of his bandages. He is also allergic to Milk, egg whites and fish! But he has never had a skin test. Has anyone seen this work and improved eczema or are the things they can test for too limited????

Or should I look at retrying all the various creams available? We have been using the same creams for the last 1.5 years. I am so worried he has used steroid creams for so long now. I really just want a magic solution now!!!

maybe have fewer baths as they dehydrate the skin? my ds2's is getting more widespared as well and the worst patch on one hand is really irritated

Did they diagnose those allergies from blood tests? I would go for the skin prick tests if you haven't had them already, if only just to rule out other allergens that might not have been tested already (but only if it won't hurt him too much or his skin can put up with it).

(dd's egg allergy looked mild in her blood test but he skin reaction from the skin prick test was far more severe so I do think it is worth looking at both tbh, especially if they are offering them to you)

Have you thought it could be connected to the increase in the pollen count rather/as well as the warmer weather?

My DS has shocking eczema. He improves in this nice warm, breezy weather. The sun is good for him. When it gets v.hot and sweaty he gets worse.

But he is allergic to grass and tree pollen so as soon as my friends with hayfever start sneezing I know DS is going to flare up.

Oilatum doesnt suit all children. You can try balnaum instead.

You can cut down on his baths but its hard to keep them clean if you do. I comprimise by bathing everynight but only very quickly, no soaking.

DS has allergy skin test. He still hasnt forgiven me. It helped in that I realise he is an allergic person so I need to be aware of possible allergens.

DS is older (6). His school uniform comes off as soon as he gets home. It helps to get the day's dust of him.

Good luck with it. Its horrible.

Thanks for responding so quickly. I think I will try and cut back on his baths and try balnaum as I have not tried that one yet.

I will also speak to our doctor but when I saw them last they thought doing a skin test was too limited!!! As you can only test for about 10 different things - is that right?

to be honest Laura, I can't remember how many things they tested dd for. I think they can test against a wide range of groups of allergies when they do the blood tests.

For some reason they did both the blood test and skin prick tests with dd and I was pleased they did as it highlighted the egg was more of an issue (which we knew but the blood test hadn't marked it down as severe). It also showed her as having a reaction to milk (we knew she had a milk allergy from her reaction when we tried her with dairy as a baby) when the blood test had given a negative for this.

I think, even though it may be limited, it is worth doing? They might ask you to choose which 10. Think we had fish, egg white, milk, cat, dog, grass pollen, dust (can't remember if we had that one) and a few others. Was so long ago that I really can't be sure.

I mean, if you think there may be an allergen there that hasn't been picked up, it might be worth doing?

I guess if it's a shot in the dark (which is possibly what the doctors think?) then perhaps you want to rethink.

I can only speak from my experience and I think if I was you, I'd want to check some other allergens maybe? In case there is something obvious that hasn't been picked up?

and like chegirl, all of us are far worse in the summer because of the grass pollen and tree pollens. Ours have all started this week and it's pretty hideous already (whatever charming pollen has decided to rear its head!).

So you may find it's not the heat (though this always makes them more uncomfortable I think) but some form of hayfever.

and sorry you feel so fed up . Is soul destroying and you sound like you are doing everything you can.

Hi laura, my DS's eczema and my own are nothing compared to what you've been going through but when I suffered really bad prickly heat one summer I realised that a major trigger for my own skin nasties was mineral oil/petroleum-based products. I haven't had any trouble with my eczema since I stopped using them about six years ago.

When DS1 developed eczema as a baby I tried all the usuals - oilatum, balaneum, aqueous cream, and others. His eczema just seemed to get worse until I stopped using anything with mineral oil in on him. He's five now and has quite dry skin so I have to keep him well moisturised but he hasn't had any trouble from eczema since - about three years now.

Agree about the pollen though, today it is making my skin feel really uncomfortable and itchy and my eyes are streaming.

I'm in exactly the same situation as you Laura. I'm trying to change things for ds now the weather is changing as he's much worse when he's hot. He wears Comfifast suits 24/7 in winter but they make him far too hot in summer and add to the problem. We've just had some new one's prescribed called Skinnies which seem much better. They've only just come out but the dermatology unit should have the details. They come in blue as well as white which isn't important I know but looks lovely when you're used to them looking like little astronauts! I'm also trying Epaderm now which is a little lighter than the Hydromol cream we were using and that seems to keep him cooler although he is drying out a bit.
In my experience if you can cut down the scratching then you don't have to use steroids quite as often. I also only bath ds a couple of times a week, it always turns into a scratching battlefield so I'd rather was mucky!

Although I was reluctant at first he's now having both Citirizine and Piriton daily and it has made a difference. The immunologist worked out the doses at the hospital so ask them if your ds isn't already on any antihistamines.

We've had both skin prick tests and blood tests to identify allergies. If you can keep a food diary to try identify what makes it worse it will help them with the testing although sometimes it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

You have my sympathy, it's a horrible situation to be in and impossible to understand if you've never had to deal with severe eczema. Good luck!

My son has had eczema since he was a little baby and it almost dissapeared for 5 months last year. Then in January it flared up again
the doctor said it could be to do with him having a cold virus but I dont agree.
Apparently it is worse in 2 year olds and then they sometimes outgrow it by age 4.
My son seems to be worse when he gets hot and sweaty from a tantrum.
He has piriton twice a day and I smother him in Doublebase gel 4 times a day aswell as bathing him in Balneum oil and use aqueous cream as a soap substitute.
The doctor wont let us have any more steroid ointment aty the moment- so he always has some redness which we cant get rid of, its so frustrating!