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?

The only thing that helped DS was to manage his diet, and super rinse his clothes and bedding.
I took his clothes out of the washing machine, rinsed them 3 or 4 times in warm water, and spun them in between rinses with a spin dryer. Keep going until the water is clear. And use a tablespoon of white vinegar instead of fabric softener.

Your GP is a bloody disgrace for not referring you to a derm. I would complain. And GPs are not the greatest at Dermotology..

I think it might well be washing power, but other than that, and making sure everything going on her skin is non irritating and her clothes are soft natural fibres.. are you moisturising her 3 times a day? If not, do, if you have eczema you don’t have the normal oily skin barrier. Are you using steroids for long enough (the eczema is also in the deeper layers of skin, so you need to use it after the eczema disappears), and is the steroid strong enough? (The Derm will advise obviously); is your house very dry with central heating - if so moisturising will help, but consider getting a humidifier for her room, and turning the heating down/off when you can, it’s really drying. If she is scratching at night, bandage her up, and keep her nails really short to stop day time scratching.

Once you have beaten the eczema back keep moisturising to keep it back, and use an anti-itch cream If she still scratches when you moisturise.

I’d try all this before you get into diet - it’s more likely environmental. Tweaking diet can help, but take advice and do it properly - there’s a lot of bollocks talked.

Many kids do grow out of it so take heart.

OP check all your washing powders, shower gels and shampoo etc for methylisothiazolinone (commonly referred to as MI)

My dermatologist told me about 20% of the population are allergic to it and the rash looks exactly like mine did all over my body.

It's a commonly used as a preservative in personal care goods and it's bloody awful.

You could try poxclin on it to soothe the itching. I used it on my daughter when she was covered in chicken pox and scratching all the time. It works instantly. You can buy it from Boots. Quite pricey at £15 ish, but really worth it

Please, please, please go and buy your daughter E40 Itch Relief Cream and E40 the E40 Ecxema Repair cream. Also Sudocrem is good as well. Apply morning and night. It looks so sore bless her. Lifelong excema sufferer but I have just the odd very small patches with this regime.

I don't think that will work.

What you suggested is great for the itch of eczema.

What the OP's poor sausage has is urticaria.
It will leave itchy eczema in its wake which will be soothed by the type of products you suggested, get it won't help chronic urticaria. It's a different issue, different reason for the itch but entirely related to eczema in that urticaria leaves eczema once it's been dealt with.

My mistake, sorry

Allergy tests to find and eliminate cause. Hydrocortisone to get on top of worst bits.
Emollient

I haven't read all the thread do sorry if mentioned before:

• liquid non bio detergent, non perfumed and without unnecessary additives. Liquid is easier to rinse. Double rinse all the time. No fabric conditioners
• 1 hour at least between applying hydrocortisone and emollient. Aveeno works really well for my son, others say it's rubbish. Trial and error unfortunately
• do not use aqueous cream, it is petroleum based and can make eczema much worse
• 100% cotton clothing and bedding
• your poor's DS immune system is obviously reacting to something: food, something in the environment, unfortunately hard to pinpoint. Try to encase his pillow, duvet and mattress and wash the covers at 60° and extra rinse weekly, in case it is dust mites.
• expensive but I really swear by our HEPA air purifier, it made a massive difference for my son

-piriton at bedtime, poor mite must be very itchy and uncomfortable, hopefully the Piriton will allow him to sleep short-term until you find the cause.

Good luck OP, horrible to see them like this x

Sorry your DD not your DS.

What helped my eczema was using vaseline. It worked better than cream prescribed my doctor.
Also using non bio for my washing powder and changing my body wash to sanex.

We found the lotions and potions from medical professionals did not solve the issue, except for short term relief with hydrocortisone but this isn't a long term solution.

Then I started using natural creams with no chemicals listed in the ingredients and it's made a huge difference. Eg Weleda skin food.

Good luck, it's hard to find the right answers for your child

Sorry not read full thread but my son had really bad excema as a toddler (grew out of it) and the only thing that worked was oats in the bath. The potions and lotions made it worse and we tried loads of them! Ask, handful of oats in a muslin or pair of old tights and swirl around bath. Squeeze onto skin as well. Your pic looks so painful. Hope you find solution

Oh and oat baths! Brilliant for some instant relief. How could I forget

It sounds like you are doing everything right. The only thing I would suggest if you haven’t tried it is oilatum in the bath. It worked really well for DS when his was flaring

We had to get DS Scratching under control as he was causing himself real pain and it was affecting his sleep.

These were brilliant. He actually used to ask for them when it was really bad.

ScratchSleeves: Home page www.amazon.co.uk/stores/ScratchSleeves/Homepage/page/1D05342E-38E0-4B56-A71A-57398875DBDB?channel=Store%20share%20-%20&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Please don't stop dairy without medical advice. It's a key food group for that age.
Also don't bother with homeopathy. It is useless.
I hope your little girl gets some relief from some of the other suggestions though.

My DD had eczema like this and we tried everything.
The only thing that cleared it up was strong cream on prescription

Elocon ointment (0.1% mometasone furoate)

After that it disappeared. Only occasionally flares up if she gets too hot, we have to be careful with central heating.

been here with dc at that age and he's a bit of an itchy boy now in winter but this is what helped us

wash dc clothes separately in fairy non bio and double rinse

100% cotton clothes

keep bedroom cool temp

porridge baths every night for 5 days in a row then twice per week and now only when itchy (fill a cloth eg the foot of a tight leg or a square of muslim with a golf ball size mound of cheap porridge oats and secure with hair bobble) i make these up in advance and always have a few ready
leave it in bath with hot tap running til bath water the right level. let it cool down and the oils etc from porridge oats will seep out. be careful as it makes bath super slippy. when cool enough water will look milky/cloudy. pop dc into bath and wash with oaty fabric ball. try not to rinse off too much if washing hair. dry dc and put on 2 thin layers of aveeno letting it dry in before next one then hydrocortisone on worst parts.

we eventually saw dermatologist after trying every cream as some made dc skin worse - i kept a chart of ingredients and suspect dc is allergic to lanolin. stronger creams were prescribed which helped

also "red food" can cause flareups so limit strawberries, tomatoes etc.

use hydrocortisone sparingly 3 times per day for 5 days to get it under control - at one point dc scratched shoulder so much in sleep skin got infected so antibiotic/antifungal cream needed

i feel your pain but it does get better eventually

Agree that GPs are rubbish when it comes to eczema. Had to really push to get anything stronger than hydrocortisone for DS2; luckily as DS1 also had eczema (and milk allergy) I had experience and knew to push, this was when DS2 had bleeding cheeks it was so bad and they were still reluctant to prescribe. Right strength and right amount is key, also lots of emollient when it's under control, bathe at most once per week.

Cut out all foods containing dairy (and maybe soya too), this is the only thing that had a dramatic affect on our DD. Shes so much better now and only has a slight patch appear once every now and again. Made a massive difference to her and there are so many dairy alternatives around its easy to do.

I forgot to mention. A bleach bath is incredible for eczema - kills bacteria, reduces inflammation, and moisturizes your skin all in the same treatment.

I use 3 times a week when I have a flare up on my legs. Annoyingly my most ongoing eczema is on my eyelids and around my eyes so the bath doesn't help.

Just check in with your doctor first.

Yellow monday dermol 600 has something in it that works like bleach. It works keeping my kids eczema at bay but not you know scary bleach.

I have eczema and Severe Psoriasis.
I recommend suggest Ecover Zero for washing powder (I buy a huge sack from Ecover themselves) & extra rinse, & everybody's clothes have to be washed with it, as otherwise there is a residue of other products perfumes left in the machine.

Get your hands on any emollients and try them - my skin likes a revolving selection of certain ones, otherwise they stop working for me. Currently using Epaderm Ointment, Zeroderm Ointment and Aproderm Ointment.
No soap whatsoever. I currently use Epaderm Cream for washing.

Try not to get too hot - heat makes itching worse

And yes steroid ointment (Cream doesn't work to well for me - has to be ointment) and enough of it. Look for fingertip dosage. Key is not to stop suddenly, it has to be used for long enough and cut down gradually.

Oats in the bath (sock or tea bag)

Hello! Just a quick update because you were all so kind to take the time to help us out and because I know some people are following for advice too.

On a mixture of your advice and some papers I read I've been using Eumovate 0.5% every night (ordered from a pharmacy online) alongside Diprobase twice a day, with Hydromol in the bath, scratch sleeve PJ's and swapped the Piriton antihistamine for Benadryl and I think you'll agree that the difference in 5 days is amazing!

I think that the Eumovate/Diprobase & Benadryl are the changes that have made the most difference.

I'll do two more days of Eumovate and then stick to the rest.

She still had 'spots' under her skin - any ideas what it is? They aren't raised at all.

So glad you've seen an improvement OP! I would taper off the Eumovate rather than just stopping- you could try every other day, then down to twice a week before stopping. There will be inflammation in the lower layers of skin that you won't be able to see. (Learnt that from my dd's eczema nurses)

Although I never found our health visitor much use for other things, it was actually them that referred my DD to the paediatric eczema team at the hospital after we got nowhere with our GP. Maybe worth getting in touch with them to try and get a referral? Our team have been incredible and have made such a difference to my dd. I'd push for a referral any way you can!