Eczema - did your child ever grow out of it?

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DD2 (5 months) has had eczema for the past 3 weeks. We're trying to get on top of it with steroid creams and emollients but every time one patch heals, it just flares up somewhere else. Do I need to prepare for the long haul? If your child had eczema, did he/she ever grow out of it and if so, when? And did they develop any related problems such as food allergies? Would love to hear everyone's experience. Thanks so much.

dd is 18 and still suffering.
house dust mite allergy.
they told me once there is a formula, something like 1% of children grow out of it with every year they grow older, (actually it must have been more than that, maybe 5%) so actually most do grow out of it.

dogonpoints - purely based on friends' experiences and what I've gleamed from the wonder of the internet.

My dd1 has had eczema since she was 2 months old. She had a big improvement after she was too but has had a bad summer this year. She is 3.4.

She has an egg allergy, grass and dust mite allergy and mild dairy/wheat allergy and asthma.

Despite the ongoing problems and showing a mild dairy/wheat allergy at recent RAST tests the paediatrician she is under has told us not to remove dairy or wheat from her diet although I am considering a second opinion.

Hope you dd2 grows out of it and doesn't show signs of allergy.

DH and his brothers suffer from asthma, hayfever, rhinitis etc so not a surprise really.

Ds had moderately bad at 1 and very bad eczema when he was 2, both times during summer, exacerbated by the heat. This summer he was largely fine. So I would say he has outgrown it at 3 years.

At the height of his eczema, I cut out diary and used Fairy washing powder. Not sure if it made a difference tbh.

sorry two, not too

My DD grew out of it by the time she was about 2. She had terrible eczema as a baby and we switched her to soya formula for a short time when I stopped bfing but it didn't make any difference. She also had a suspected egg allergy which she grew out of. She has no allergies now except hayfever.

i had awful eczema as a child, calmed down by school age when just swimming made it sore on my face, then by my teens just slightly dry on my face when using makeup so used good fragrance free moisturizer and now its completely gone, im 21!

dd 3.8 has had eczema since she was six weeks old , her doctor told us it is not always related to other allergies , & has not eliminated any foods as of yet , we use persil non bio & always give her clothes an extra rinse in the machine , the experts always tell us that the skin cycle changes every 7 years so children might grow out of their eczema , hopefully .

hope your lo clears up soon x

Thanks everyone, it really helps to hear all these stories! Luckily DD2 is a happy little thing who at the moment doesn't seem too bothered by her skin problems. I hope it stays that way.

oo interesting. dd2's skin never really bothered her at all and the doctors/consultants never believed us. Still don't in fact.

She has scratched her head and tummy a few times but more in a 'oh I can do this' kind of way.

sorry for slow reply - we tried lots of emollients before finding aveeno - then I would say it cleared up by the time she was 4 - 5 months .

had ds who had eczma almost from birth even though only breast feed got worse on weaning only now under control at age 12 even though he sheads huge amounts of skin to this day. we never did find the cause although whrn he was ill it got worse we still can tell by how dry if he is going down with something. we just soaked in bath and creamed porridge in tight leg under hot running water then squeezed out was best help

yes she had mild excema fairly constantly for the first 2 years, with flare-ups particularly when teething/poorly. Nothing except steroid cream seemed to help, emollients etc didn't do anything.

We stopped using dentinox cradle cap shampoo one day and it cleared up really fast. Now (she's 2.10) been completely clear for months except for a minor new-washing-powder-related blip and we use whatever products we like in the bath.

No food allergies yet (fingers crossed) hope your dd also grows out of it

I have had eczema from the age of 6wks and it was very bad as a child, I still have it now but have learnt how to control it and what triggers it. As a child food did trigger (dairy & strawberries mainly) but the main triggers were and still are cats/dogs, grass/soil/pollen and chemicals in creams, washing powders, soaps etc and also chemicals in tap water (washing in bottled water and rinsing bedding in bottled water after washing always clears up any flare ups). Second the recommendations for aveeno, I find it the best.

Hope your dd grows out of it.

DS 1 had angry excema from about 6 weeks - we tried lots of different creams - finally cleared up when he was 2 1/2 years old after a holiday in the sun, antihitamine liquid given daily and diprobase 4 times a day.

You can get (sometmes) tubigrip leggings and tops on presciption from doctors if it is bad too.

DS 2 has it at the moment and we use the tubigrip leggings and tops, daily baths with dermol 600 and dermol 200, antihistamine liquid, betnovate steroids, and a great thick cream called epiderm (very thick - hence the need for the extra tubigrip pj's) It has cleared up in a couple of weeks - now just need to keep it away!!!

Good luck

Yes, my niece had is very badly. She is now 6 and has completely gone. I also know of others this has happened to..

It*

Haven't read whole thread (am meant to be washing up) but yes my dd2 had horrific excema from almost birth till about 11 mo and is now 13mo. Looking lots better still there in patches but nowhere near as bad.

She is allergic to dairy, soya, egg, wheat and a variety of veg and fruits.

will try to post some before and after pics for you to look at.

i had eczema really bad from a baby, i had it on my eye lids, behind my knees, on my hands, sholders, upper arms behind my ears and in my arm pits. it was really painfull and horrible. i had daily courses of creams, baths and bandages.

by the time i was 7 it had mostly cleared up, i occasional get the odd flare up now and then when i eat things i know i shouldnt but nowhere near as bad, and like cassell i've lernt how to controll it.

Tried to post photos but can't seem to do it..

i havent had time to read all the posts so sorry if i repeat some of the things previously mentioned...

i am nearly 16 and have suffered from ezcema for as long as i can remember

i used to cry and scream all through the night and scratch myself raw

i was always told i would grow out of it, first when i was 6, then 7, then 11, then 14, yet here i am, still with ezcema.

however from years of trial and error, FINALLY i have it under control and you cant even notice my skin, apart from a tiny bit on my hands.

so here are my tips... they wont work for everyone but you can try.... they work for me :)

firstly, showers/baths were a killer for me. try rinsing off skin with cold water at the end of a shower and then 'hug' dry. this cools skin before moisturising.

i cant use any aqueous creams as they trap in heat and irritate my skin more, however some people find they work well for them. instead i use AVEENO, which i love. you can get it on prescription in the uk which helps :)

if neither or these work, try using straight olive oil, its really natural and an amazing moisturiser. it can be a little messy but sinks in really really quickly.

so, moisturise twice a day, i know its a chore but try and made it as bearable as possibly, for example, warming up cream a bit in the winter.

for those flareups, (i always get back skin when it gets cold outside and the heating goes on, and again in the spring when it goes off and the weather improves,) ask you doctor for a steroid cream. as soon as dry skin or red blotchy patched appears apply cream immediately. you have to catch flareups in time. if however, cream stings and hurts when applied, try using ice packs and stress balls. another thing is hotwater bottles but try the ice first.

oilatum bath oil is ggood to use when the weather changes as it keeps skin moist while your body adjusts to the climate.

probably the most important thing to keep my ezcema under control are anti-histamines.i take cetrizine every day in the morning and ucerax in the evenings. these make you drouzy so you sleep all night without scratching. they do not affect me in the mornings and i still do wake in the night sometimes but not because im ripping my skin appart. i used to get so tired, even if i was sleeping all night due to the scratching. sleep loss increased greatly when i turned 13.

so although i still suffer from ezcema although i was told countlessly i would grow out of it, i barely even notice it now, and have learnt to live with it :)

i think thats all... please ask me if you have any questions

i am thinking of setting up a website to help and advise people on how to live with eczema. do you thing this is a good idea and would work?

good luck

avalon

I would recommend Aveeno.

I know this is not that helpful for a 5 month old, but I suffered for years and tried all sorts. What really made the difference for me was I removed every single air freshner. It had a dramatic improvement.

Ds had fairly bad eczema from newborn until about 4 years old. He was bf until 16 months and had dairy and egg allergies when we introduced these during weaning. He is now 8 and has dry skin but it rarely gets sore and no longer has food allergies. He still has seasonal flare ups of red patches behind his knees when the cherry trees are blossoming or if he eats lots of 'party' food, ie lots of additives. We manage it now by moisturising daily with aqeous cream, using piriton at bedtime during flare ups and keeping his finger nails short.

I have learnt that every case responds differently to the various treatments and just when you think you've cracked it the cream you were relying on stops being effective! Hydrocostisone was a big relief when ds was really sore but its important not to use it too much.

Ds2 had eczema from about 3 months old.
I tried lots of different prescription creams and oilatums, but nothing seemed to help.
I then one day bought a tub of Johnsons naturals cream, applied it twice a day to sore patches, and after a week, his skin cleared up. he was about 18 months at the time.
6 months later, his skin is clear. I did not change any food or washing powders etc