Infected eczema yet again

[fraggy]

Hi

Just need to vent a little :)

My 1 yr old ds has eczema all over the top half of his body which is constantly being treated for infections. We are now on our 4th lot of antibiotics and looks like we are going back for more tomorrow. He now has lots of little red spots all over his face which seem to be getting worse even with the medicine. When we take him to the Dr all they say is " you have to make sure you manage it properly", we bath him everyday and use various creams etc several times throughout the day.

Does anyone now if the infections are common or am I doing something wrong.

Thanks
x

My DD suffers from eczema which has been infected at times. We bath her with Dermol instead of soap but maybe you have already tried this as you say you use various creams. I do find though that infections have arisen on DD because I have forgotten to moisture an area, , but not saying that is true in your case.

at the moment we use oilatum in the bath and also wash with Dermol, at the moment we are using epiderm on his skin and with as a steroid given to us by the doctor. I think part of the problem is he is always scratching himself which makes things worse.

Just feels like not matter what I do nothing works, the doctors think I'm nuts as I'm there all the time :o

posted on your other thread:

I wonder if there is a chronic underlying infection. If this is the case, you will need a longer course of specific antibiotics for the infection to get rid of it

Has your doctor sent off any swabs to determine what bacteria are responsible for the infection?

Also, if mild steroid creams and loads of moisturiser are not shifting the eczema you need to press your GP for a referral. Your DS might need a stronger creams to clear his skin. For such a young child, these sorts of medicines should really be given under hospital supervision.

My DS2 had awful eczema all over his body, but we managed to get control over it through a short course of a very strong steroid cream, a long course of antibiotics to clear up all the infection (under the supervision of a consultant) and loads and loads and loads of emollient. Now, we just apply aveeno 6 times a day all over his body and use a mild steroid cream when needed. Under that regime, his skin is really clear.

HTH

thanks for your replies,

I'm taking him back to the doctor tomorrow so will hopefully get a better result. I was also thinking of changing him onto soya milk but not sure of it is the best thing for him.

Fraggy I'm sure you know all this stuff but does he wear ScratchSleeves to stop him scratching? Really helped our ds.

I REALLY sympathise with you, eczema is awful.

Soya milk isn't really a good thing to try, as babies and children who are allergic to cow's milk are usually also allergic to soya milk as well. A change like that should be discussed with your doctor first.

Saying that, I'm new to managing eczema as my son is only four months old and he's had eczema since he was two months old. I raised the soya milk question to my health visitor and she explained.

quick update

saw the dr on Friday who has put on a really strong antibiotic and allergy medicine to stop him scratching. Things are looking a little better although still not great, we also put him on soya milk as dr said it was ok to try, we are back on Friday to see the same dr.

He has scratch mitts on the pj's but he can take them off, I spoke to my hv who told me about special in all one suits you can get (said it was like wet wrap?) so going to ask about them as well

I get more upset about it than he my ds which I suppose is a good thing :)

Hi - I try to use as many natural products as possible on my little boy. His eczema used to be really severe and after trying all sorts of conventional medicine which sometimes made it worse(!), a friend of mine suggested some alternatives. One of those is chickweed lotion available from many non-High Street health shops, which reduces itching and is very soothing, and the other is Themba - another cream that you can get from Little Herbal International. Neither of these creams contains steroids or antibiotics. The combination needs perserverance, but my boy's eczema started to improve after three months, and is now completely under control. On top of that, the lady I spoke to at Little Herbal suggested I stop using products with Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (it's in everything!)and use organic oats in the bath (suspend a sock full of oats under the tap when running the water). Plus she said to cut down on dairy and get evening primrose + fish oil supplement (vegepa) from Igennus.
Hope this helps! At least you know you're not pumping chemicals into your child...