Please come and advise me on eczema

[orangeandlemons]

Dd5 has always had bits of eczema which have been manageable.

However the last few months have seen repeated flare ups. By this I mean it just appears randomly for no reason. Some of these have become infected.

I have always applied emolioent twice a day as advised by doc to kep it at bay. However this doesn't keep it at bay. I took her bck to doctors who said use hydrocortisone when needed. Reapply until cleared.

But it just keeps coming back, all the time. She has 2 sorts, round dry bits on her arms and legs, and big rashes all over her chest tummy and pelvis. Sometimes some of these go for a couple of days, but they always come back unless we use hyrocortisone repeatedly. She also has oilatum bath oil.

She only wear cotton, and all stuff is washed carefully. But it is a constant battle against it all the time. Whatever I do doesn't seem to work. Hydrocortisone takes ages to shift it, and then as soon as I stop usinit, it is back within a day.

Any advice? Is this normal?

My ds has had similar flare ups with eczema. It used to be manageable with emollients and hydrocortisone for a few days if it flared up but recently it's got a lot worse. We've been back to gp and got a different emollient, diprobase, were previously using cetraben. At the moment we haven't worked out what is triggering it. He's having allergy tests next week so hopefully we'll get some answers.

If its been a couple of weeks since your last visit to the gp I'd be inclined to go back and see if you can try something else. IME you need to pester to get them to take notice!

Also have a look on the allergies board as there's lots of people with experience of eczema over there.

Hope you find something that works soon :)

Also forgot to add that ds is 5, is your dd the same age? I'm not sure if that's significant? His eczema definitely got worse about halfway through his first term at school. I'm not sure if that's relevant or not though!

We've been through several emoillients and sttled on cetraban. I just getso confused by it all. Been brushed off by doctor a couple of times, probably because it isn't severe enough.

My dd2 had bad eczema but I have been using Aveeno since she was one year old and it has cleared. I started off with Aveeno baby which is not available in the UK but got a friend to send it form the USA. When dd turned 2, I started using the adult Aveeno bought from Boots and it does a very good job.

Have you tried applying your emollient more than twice a day? DS' eczema used to be so rough that I applied Doublebase at every nappy change - so more like six times a day or more - and that helped a lot. His affected areas were face, arms and legs, so it could be a bit of a faff, but we just couldn't get away with less or we had the steroids out all the time.

We are down to once or twice a day now (age 3.5). We use Oilatum Junior in the bath and Doublebase gel, by the way, and having tried other stuff along the way we're firmly sticking with that combination. Diprobase, Cetraben (sp?), E45 and Aqueous Cream all make it worse for some reason - not got to the bottom of why, but GP wasn't too surprised when I told him.

Could the increase in flare ups have to do with too many baths/swimming pool?
We were told not to give more than one and absolutely maximum two baths a week with junior oilatum in it and never use any other bath foam etc.

The only thing that works on mine and ds' eczema is Aveeno which we get on prescription from the gp, I have to put it on about 5/6 times a day on my hands. It's got oats in which seem to be the only thing that stop mine from burning.

My DD started with small patches of eczema at a few months which escalated to extensive atopic eczema at 6 months. She is now 14 years old and we are still struggling. Eczema is for some people extremely debilitating and the frustrating thing is that there is no one cure for all because each child is different. what works for one may not for another in fact what works for one can sometimes make the condition worse for others. several people have found their child allergic to the very creams prescribed for treating it. I don't wish to be negative but if your child is struggling then you may well have to try many different approaches to find the best solution or combination of solutions to help him. We have tried everything from herbal, homeopathic, Chinese, numerous "miracle" cures with no real impact. The holistic approach makes most sense though - look at the whole child and consider what the body and mind is dealing with. my daughter will flare up when she is under stress or worry combined with a poor diet, excessive heat and/or external allergens e.g. Pollen or cats etc. No one thing cures her but a combination or cocktail of things will set her off and a cocktail of remedies will normally help e.g Piriton, eumovate, epiderm and when things are bad elecon. Drinking lots of water seems to help lubricate from the inside and a water softer has helped as well as boosting her nutrition with evening primrose oil and omega oils plus a probiotic supplement. I wish you luck and strength because unfortunately you will face times of desperation and sadly conflicting advice from health professionals because the reality is that there is no standard treatment. Try the national eczema society for extra advice and tips. Good luck!

Nothing seems to set it off. It is just random. Cold and wet weather are big triggers. It always improves in the summer.

Putting cream on her is such a pain. She just wriggles and squirms and is generally naughty whenever we start. She hates it. She also gets cold so this adds to the general pain of it all. This was unbearable when it was -10 in the winter. I can only cope with twice a day. Then you have to wait 5 mims to put hydrocortisone on, an the whole process drags on and on.

How do other people cope with this. How I wish for a compliant daughter

My daughter suffered with eczema she is 9 now and we haven't had a flare up for almost a year. We gave up on doc and consulted a homeopath when she was 18 months old - fantastic results - she worked out triggers when I hadn't been able to and taught me how to think holistically. I would recommend wholeheartedly! Also 'porridge baths' - pop oats into a muslin ( or old pop sock) and put in bath - water will go milky, always seemed to take the angry redness put of eczema. Good luck!

Totally agree about oats in the bath and holistic approach. As for wriggly daughter we used to sing about The wiggly worms as we squeezed out the cream. We made it into a game. It worked sometimes for us as she loved singing. It may be worth trying.

I would urge anyone (or for their child) with a skin condition like eczema or psoriasis to try dream cream from lush.

It totally cured my daughters flare ups and she hasn't (touch wood) had one in a few years. My mum has seen a big improvement in her psoriasis too. Definitely worth a try.

There is a new double base out called doublebase dayleve. It only needs to be applied twice a day unlike other emollients which should ideally be applied four times a day at least. Might be worth asking gp to prescribe.

I've no idea if this will apply to you, but some people are actually allergic to the emolliants. So just stop them if they make things worse (or just not better). The key is working out what she is allergic to, but obviously that is easier said than done. I've suffered for years so your DD really has my sympathy.

Second what Chaotica says - neither DS nor I can use Diprobase for this reason (it stings us on application, and leaves our skin more irritated).

We did stop using it for a bit. The whole of her skin got worse and worse. I am however interested in switching, as it could be causing flare ups, as well still working as a moisturiser.

I dream of the day I don't have to battle with 100's of lotions and potions twice a day.

OP, I'd forgotten - at one point I convinced myself the Doublebase wasn't working and switched to a trial of E45 - I soon found out it was! But I wholly second trial and error if you're not sure your current one is working.

I found burdock and chickweed cream from amphora very soothing when I had nightmare eczema a few years ago (www.amphora-retail.com/burdock-chickweed-cream-60ml-p-893.html) - it might be worth a try.

dd1 used to get really big patches of red raw, weeping infected eczema. The steroid creams would improve things but it never properly cleared until we could totally clear the infection with an anti microbial wash called octenisan. Several courses of antibiotics didn't even touch it.

You rub the was into wet skin, leave it three minutes with your lo wrapped in a towel and the wash it off in the bath.

Then top to toe with aveeno. And we'd reapply the cream three times a day.

Aveeno also do a bath oil that we've found much better than oilatum, which tbh I'm fairly sure made her skin worse.

Now she's 2.3 and only has the odd little patch, and it very rarely gets infected. She only has a bath twice a week, but I know some people find daily baths help. It's all trial an error to see what suits your child, which an be awful for you if something you try ends up making them worse.

A friend of my mum had a DS that had such severe eczema that they tried everything - any cream you can think of, dairy free diet, wet wraps, the works. In the end the nhs referred them to a Chinese herbalist and it was virtually clear in three months.

Just looking at the responses show that every person who suffered with eczema is different and each needs to be looked at separately. it is definitely worth pushing for allergy and patch testing from a consultant as it will highlight some things that may help. This is when you will find out what elements within creams your child may be allergic to along with other useful stuff, although sometimes random. We know my dd can only use ointment not cream as creams usually contains chlorocresol which she is allergic to and also cement dust and leather! It won't have all the answers but at least helps in the battle of what needs to be avoided.

Hi, if its helpful we we're told by great ormond street consultant that the ointments were much better than the creams (although very messy).

I expect you may have tried these things, but here goes anyway (based on my own experience only, not dc). A foot off a pair of tights filled with oats in the bath, as you might use for chicken pox, can be soothing and is also a soft way of scratching the really itchy bits. Dermol alongside doublebase is much better than doublebase alone because it's anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-microbial so it helps stop any problems alongside the eczema and keeps the treatment simple. It's a nice consistency too. The third thing I'm a bit embarrassed to even mention because I'm a big believer in western medicine and very sceptical about the alternative end of the spectrum, but my eczema cleared up for about six months after drinking and washing in the disgusting water from Harrogate Spa. This may well have been a coincidence but felt like magic at the time. That said, hydrocortisone is still the main thing that really works.