Eczema veterans?

[YunoYurbubson]

My 2yo has always had bad eczema on his feet. We have a moisturising lotion, cream, oilatum wash and steroid cream. I tend to put bepanthen when he gets deep, bleeding cracks (but that is not on dr orders).

Now he is getting patches all up his legs, on his tummy and a patch on his face.

I know there are much worse things, but to be honest I am panicking. His feet are so hugely painful for him, they affect his sleep every night, he is so good about his creams and wearing his socks, and people are always commenting on his feet(they look ghastly).

The thought of fucking bastarding eczema spreading all over - I could cry for him. And these little patches are just how his feet started. Like I said; panicking.

I feel like I want to ramp up what we're doing about it.

I feel like I don't have the right knowledge or creams deal with it. The moisturising stuff - we put it on every day and every night and the eczema just gets better and worse as it feels like it.

Shall I take him to a dermatologist? Have you done that? Did it help?

What did help?

What shall I do?

Hi didn't want to leave your post unanswered as I know how you feel.
My dd2 had terrible excema as a baby and now ages two is almost over the worst.
Hers is largely managed by diet as she is allergic to lots of foods.
It would be worth your while seeing a dermatologist and a dietician. Have you noticed any links to diet and flare ups?
We are starting it all over again with dd3 ( nearly 4 months) who is currently asleep on my lap with socks on her hands.
Good luck with everything and re post in allergies lots of good advice there

Thank you gya. I had not thought about seeing a dietician.

I will definitely look into allergy testing as I just feel the creams and lotions and potions don't really have any effect.

I have a vague idea that I asked for allergy testing once before and was told he was too young.

I have not noticed any patterns with regard to diet and flare ups. Perhaps I should try keeping a diary.

Sorry to hear you have eczema in the family too. It's wretched isn't it.

Hello, I wanted to let you know that you're not alone...

I had horrible eczema from birth practically and my parents were at their wit's end. I did eventually grow out of it but it was found that I had a dairy and egg allergy (which I also grew out of).

I would just say that you should ensure you get referred to a dietician and allergy testing by your GP as there are a lot of charlatans out there who are happy to take your money but won't necessarily do any good.

Yes truly wretched..
Dd2 had her first tests at 8 months and has continued to have them and will continue.
Her skin is miles clearer than it was, as a baby she looked like she d been burned on her cheeks and she spent every night itching till she bled.
I had days of thinking I should never have had her as her quality of life was so poor..
Now come through it and has lovely clear skin over most of her body most of the time.
Sucks that dd3 has it but at least I know how to deal with it.

Yes definitely go to a dermatologist. Push for it now and get in the system.

My skin flare ups and dhs have no rhyme or reason. But dd's, when she was a baby, had dreadful eczema, her little face looked awful and it was related to an allergy and now her skin is completely fine. But I don't want to give you false hope because sometimes eczema does just happen sadly.

Will a dermatologist look at the diet aspect too?

And can I just cut out dairy from his and my diets for a couple of weeks to see if it helps, or would that not be sensible?

Thank you, by the way, for the sympathy, solidarity and realism.

Yes they should look at the diet angle.

Was it only on his feet for a while?

Have you tried changing washing powders too (always worth experimenting even if it proves fruitless!).

Tbh most if not all doctors would tell you not to exclude foods from their diets unless you firmly suspect something but I can't see it will do any harm if it's on a short term basis to see if it makes any noticeable difference.

Ones to try (one by one), dairy, eggs, tomatoes.