AIBU to think that there must be something more we can do for this eczema

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Hello! Posting here for traffic.

Our two year old has always had mild eczema but over the last month it's got significantly worse... The itching all through the night is unbearable for us all.

We've tried all potions and lotions available both over the counter and prescribed and now the GP has said that he has no further solutions but that lots of children live with and then grow out of this type of eczema... We've booked to see a dermatologist privately but can't be seen until the New Year.

Does anyone have any advice?

My DS was very similar when little. He's now 16 and fine! We did see a private dermatologist. He advised blasting it quickly with steroid when it flared up to stop it getting out of control and needing to use more steroid. This worked. I also stopped using all washing powder on his clothes (I used wash nuts) and no shampoo or soap. He was bathed in Balneum, washed with aqueous cream. After bathing we used Aveeno and if necessary a dot of steroid. I'm not sure if was ever as bad as your poor child though but it looked similar in that it was raised and red rather than dry, flaky skin. It looks so uncomfortable. I would definitely dutch all detergents and wash products quickly.

I haven’t Read all suggestions yet, but gps generally don’t know how to treat it this badly. You need to get viscopaste bandages with tubigrip to cover to stop them leaking through to clothes. The viscopaste is covered in cream and you can keep in on overnight and day and helps to keep the skin moist so that it starts to heal, will also help prevent her ripping her skin to shreds during the night. Try allerief antihistamine before bed along with the bandages and that should take away some of the itchiness. Dermatologists can do a lot more, so keep pushing as hard as you can for referral. Docs can prescribe the viscopaste and tubigrip though, so in the meantime ask for that and the liquid antihistamine

My little boys eczema was like that and something that helped him was the oilatum bath emollient but instead of putting it in the bath I used pkain just about warm water and applied it directly to his skin neat then rinsed him off gentle pat dry then lots of cream straight on . I hope your little 1s skin improves soon it can be a tough long road to get it under control xx

Don't try everything at once, if you do you won't know what is working and what isn't working. Everyone has completely different triggers and things that work for them and so you will be given loads of advice but you just need to try one thing at a time. We had a dermatologist appointment and that was a game changer for us! Our son has allergies and eczema, cutting out food made a massive difference but didn't clear it. Eggs made his skin really bad and dairy makes it itchy. You have to cut dairy out for 6 weeks (or something like that) though before you would see a difference. Laundry powder makes a big difference for us, fairy and persil are big nos for us, we use a laundry egg at the moment. Persil was awful, I remember when he was a baby and his whole body was red raw except for where his nappy had acted as a barrier!
The bath made a massive difference the dermatologist told us to bath him every day but to use an emollient in EVERY bath, we use emulsiderm and as soon as we run out he flares up. Then when he does flare up and we use steroid creams, we have to wean him off, so 2 weeks every day, 2 weeks every other day, 2 weeks twice a week...
hopefully the dermatologist will be able to give you more personalised support, I remember reading what everyone was doing and feeling overwhelmed ! Good luck with it all....

If it's not on hands and face I'd say washing powder. Switch, but also strip wash the clothes as washing powder build up can also be a problem. Do a good hot long wash with no detergent or softener and lots and lots of rinses.

My son had horrendous eczema (bright red, bleeding, oozing, incredibly itchy) due to allergies. People would stare at him in the street.
I saw several GPs who would only prescribe moisturisers and emollients. I was putting them on 10 times a day for weeks and they weren't doing a thing. After I begged the last GP we saw for something else, they gave us a weak steroid. It did eff all.

We were in A&E the next week for something other than eczema and the consultant was shocked at how bad things were and referred us to derm right away.

3 days on strong topical steroids (Eumovate and Elecon) and the eczema was gone. Literally gone. I cried with relief for me and my son. It's now under control with an emollient routine and we spot treat mini flares with steroids before they get worse.

In summary, some GPs are shit with eczema and afraid to use strong enough medicine.

Clean your washing machine. It may not be rinsing properly.

Really loose clothes.

Weirdly swimming often turns things around but I know for other. People it can do the opposite.

There is alot more that can be done. GPs are useless when it comes to eczema. I suggest getting wraps and using a drowsy antihistamine to help especially at bedtime.

Push for an urgent referral from the gp. There are many many different creams and wraps, light therapy and then more severe drugs you can try if all else fails.

My middle son who is almost 13 has had severe eczema since around 1. We have gone through most treatment and are now on an injectable drug which has changed his life. It comes at a cost though. He is immunocompromised now for 1. But he had a quality of life now and I get to sleep and not clean blood off walls and clothing all day long.

Insist on a referral to paediatric allergy and do not be fobbed off. Another vote of confidence in Adam Fox,

Both my and DC skin changed beyond all recognition when we cut out various allergens.

My 4yo has eczema on his legs and it has always been a battle with the scratching, especially at night. I got the Comfifast Elasticated Tubular Stretch Viscose Bandage from amazon last week and the difference has been great

OMG fairy non bio does the most horrendous things to my skin!
My mum insists on using it and is constantly complaining about how itchy her skin is but won’t believe me that might be part of it because she’s totally sucked into the marketing!
You need more than a couple of days for dietary changes to have an impact. Cutting out most dairy made a huge impact on my eczema. Likewise dust triggers it and baths with Oilatum followed by daily Aveeno Lotion help massively.

My DD was very bad when she was a baby and toddler. Turned out she had a recurrent infection and we had to tackle first. We also found pro topic to be amazing and Fucibit for the infection. She’s fine now apart from dry hands sometimes.

Try SMOL for laundry.

Oat baths are brilliant.

Allergies - my DS had terrible eczema when younger, he was allergic to peanuts and eggs. We didn't find this out until he had a full blown reaction but as soon as we cut them both out the eczema disappeared.

You need proper steroid treatment my son's had been under control using 1,% hydrocortisone we've had it on a repeat prescription for years but over the last year he's had more and more flare ups- he's nearly 9 now. We've recently been prescribed eumovate which has been amazing it's made his skin significantly better after only a couple of days. Now we're still using it but not twice a day just once the hope is we'll be able to use it less and less and eventually just at weekends.

Thank you so much all! I really appreciate you taking the time to help.

I'm on pharmacy online to order more Eumovate and will use for a few days without worrying that I'm doing more harm than good.

Do you just use bandages or put something on them at night?

I'll get Benadryl too, Piriton doesn't seem to be working anymore.

Dream Cream from Lush.
An absolute miracle for my 5 year old son and that's after having eczema from birth and trying every prescribed cream going. We also saw a dermatologist.

It's not aimed at children's eczema but it's brilliant stuff and worth a try.

The poor dolt. I have eczema and flare ups are the worst. I sought specialist help, and unfortunately there is no easy cure. I avoid steroid creams as much as possible as you fall into a big catch-22 of pain relief but eczema becomes worse.

What works for me is during flare ups no diary, no soy and no gluten. Limit baths/showers. I use a goat's milk soothing cream to pump moisture back into my skin.

If by chance you have another baby and breastfeed, breast milk is the golden elixir for eczema. During bad flare ups, I wish I could buy it.

@YellowMonday

The poor dolt. I have eczema and flare ups are the worst. I sought specialist help, and unfortunately there is no easy cure. I avoid steroid creams as much as possible as you fall into a big catch-22 of pain relief but eczema becomes worse.

What works for me is during flare ups no diary, no soy and no gluten. Limit baths/showers. I use a goat's milk soothing cream to pump moisture back into my skin.

If by chance you have another baby and breastfeed, breast milk is the golden elixir for eczema. During bad flare ups, I wish I could buy it.

That's the thing that HAS changed - I've stopped breastfeeding her...

Could that be it? I can't feed her forever, I can't even if I wanted to.

Fairy non-bio is dreadful stuff. When DS was little I used Filetti, then we moved country and I couldn't get it anymore and I found that M&S non-bio was OK. DS did outgrow the eczema but has remained very sensitive to washing powder and can come out in a rash, and now I use Tru Earth which works well for him.

Aveeno products worked well to keep him moisturised, Skin Relief or Dermexa and cream rather than lotion.

What they all said plus I really can't bathe my DD more than once a week. And even that is a bit too much sometimes.

Absolutely keep pushing with the gp, especially if they are not giving you enough steroid cream, and see if you can get a referral to a specialist, my little one has suffered really bad with eczema and one thing we think is a dust mite allergy. What helped us was removing all cuddly toys from the bed, new pillow and duvet, and obviously washing sheets regularly, good luck and don't let the gp fob you off

It's usually part of a number of allergies.

DS has mild eczema, he is always sniffling and under the asthma team, no obvious allergies.

I've heard removing certain foods really help, a vegan diet.

Push GP for a referral to dermatologist, they will be able to prescribe things that the GP can't. You may really have to push for this but it will make the world of difference.

My DD has had everything under the sun including many not licensed for children (but safe when used in certain amounts and following strict instructions), the dermatologist have much more experience with these things and a lot more treatment options.

Clothing 100% cotton (h&m are good for this), we also changed to a washing machine with an allergy setting. Don't put liquid or powder in the drum, only in the draw, no softener.

We reduced baths and washing hair (not ideal but it actually helped out DD).

Please don't make the mistake we made, we tried every miracle cream other parents recommended. Not only did they not work, the upset or stinging caused by some actually made it harder to get DD to 'comply' with having creams put on when we did get our referral!

Good luck, you will get it under control, it just takes time.

Whilst you wait for dermatology I suggest you use 50:50 ointment as an emollient multiple times a day and give piriton and pain relief. Use a clean spoon to get the 50:50 from the tub to ensure you don't introduce germs. Avoid bathing unless dirty as washing dries the skin so much. Don't ever use soap. Wash hair over the bath so shampoo doesn't get in the body. Avoid getting too hot or too cold. Eczema clothing with built in gloves are helpful as ointments are really greasy. Keep finger nails short as well to reduce the damage scratching does.

We had a terrible time with eczema; very potent steroid got it under control but needs prescribing and supervision of dermatologist.

I had eczema like this as a child. My advice to you is to think less about what you are using to treat the problem and think more about what is causing it. And I'd start by thinking food allergy and "paediatric allergy specialist".

When I was 9 I was put on an exclusion diet for a few months (this requires medical supervision). Within a few weeks my allergies to cows milk protein and citrus fruit were picked up and within a few months the eczema was gone.

Not all eczema is food related of course but I certainly wouldnt wait years before finding out.