Does DS aged 3 have to live with eczema forever??

[ineedduckie]

After months of trying to work out what is wrong with DS's skin it tuns out has eczema. Cue the emollient cream, paraffin baths and steroid creams. The patches get better, flare up again, sometimes to the point of bleeding, new patches appear, it's a never ending cycle. Even when the sores are at their best they never disappear, they leave a grey/pinkish patch; before flaring up again
This all started about 4 months ago, and he's now got patches all over his legs and on his hands and wrists. Frankly, it looks disgusting. And it has been ruling his life for months, I wouldn't say he's self conscious, he's too young for that, but he talks about them regularly; plus they're itchy!
I've been to the GP so many times I've lost faith. Would a referral to a dermatologist help? Or having him allergy tested (we have a cat)?
Help!

Our lives changed after we got a water softener (the type that needs blocks of salt every month); my ds was much the same and it improved his skin overnight. We discovered it in a holiday cottage that had one. It doesn't work for everyone but it might be worth asking around if you know anyone with one to see if you can try out a bath?!

Some children also do grow out of it so do not despair. It's miserable isn't it?

Thanks groveregg we are in a hard water area, but I don't think the water softener is an option for us as we are tenants. We want to move out soon but if we restrict our search to houses with a water softener I think we'll end up homeless...

If the patches never clear up, does the GP know this? DS2 has eczema and we had Oilatum and hydrocortisone for it, and we were always scared to use the hydrocortisone for too long (various GPs telling us to use it for a few days only) and I thought that it never clearing was normal. Then I told a different GP this, and got a stronger cream, and suddenly the patches would clear up and there are times that we're just using Oilatum.

Also, a paediatrician (who was treating DS for croup) told us that we weren't using enough Oilatum - she said that eczema is primarily a dry skin condition, and we should be using 3-4 times as much emollient as hydrocortisone (or whatever) - the hydrocortisone will treat the inflammation, but it's important to also treat the dry skin. No-one had ever told us that guideline before. (Still not very good at following it - tend to be prompted to cream him by him scratching rather than from habit.)

NICE Guidance for atopic eczema in children: the indications for referral include where the eczema is judged not to be responding satisfactorily to therapy. Might come in useful when discussing a referral with your GP. If you look in the Allergies topic on MN, you will see quite a few posts about eczema, e.g. this

My daughter used to get eczema a little on her thighs and they would regularly bleed. She was given doublebase and Hydrocortisone by the doctor. My doctor told me the Hydrocortisone would not do any long term damage and even for a child who has eczema on his/her face it can be used regularly. Anyway, she is now 11 and hasn't had any signs of it for a couple of years. Every parent I know whose child had it when younger says it has gone or greatly reduced.

Bathing does try the skin out, so if you can cope with every other day or I know one Mum who lets her daughter put a small amount of shampoo on her and her daughter has a one minute shower and she reckons this works wonders - I guess because it's just quickly rinsing the dirt away.

Sorry to hear about your DS. My ds was the same when he was 3. He's 11 now, and he still sometimes gets patches but he's clear for most of the time now.

Obviously I don't know whether the same will happen to your ds, but just to let you know it is possible

That's interesting mad. I was always very wary of using the hydro cortisone cream. We have had to use it slot in the past and the skin is definitely thinner in the area we used it. It's very fragile too as if she scratched in that area at all it scrapes or bleeds , there is also some discolouration (only slight) in other areas we used it.

I found using paraban and sulphate free products and going dairy free has helped dds eczema immensely. However that is expensive unfortunately and diet wise it can be a big decision for some and should t be taken lightly if you pla. To do it long term. That's what helped dd. I hope you figure out how to help your ds. Allergy testing wouldn't hurt although its not always accurate false negatives and false positives are very common.

You're stuck managing this forever, but it can definitely be better than this. It often settles down with age.

Steroid cream is scary, but most of us don't use enough when a flare up is bad. It needs to be an obvious smear across the red bits, not a well rubbed in morsel.

I'm really bad at making sure DD uses enough moisturiser, because when she is OK, I completely forget. You need a daily routine that incorporates moisturising. DD has a hand cream in her school bag. Nursery should be able to help too with simple emollients.

And one of the very best magic tricks we've found are tubifast garments at night - they hold the creams against the skin. They have really really helped. If DD is bad, she creams up and wears them overnight for a few days and she's fixed. In fact, they were the breakthrough for her. They are well expensive, and can be prescribed. If you can't get them on a script I would beg borrow or steal to get some.

if it is ruling his life then yes, a referral would be worth exploring. do you think your gp would be willing to refer on to a specialist?

i sympathise - eczema is a horrible condition and too often there is an attitude that we should just live with it. there are ways to improve matters though, and seeing a dermatologist really helped for us.

i agree with a previous poster about avoiding too many baths as they dry out skin. heat aggravates my son's eczema too.

They have a good chance of growing out of it.

My DD developed it 30 hours after a stupid MW gave her a bottle of cowsmilk despite labels all over her cot saying 'NO cowsmilk products due to family Hx of allergies'. It spread all over her face, legs, arms and trunk. I was heartbroken. I will never forget her running excitedly into the sea in Florida before I could stop her and screaming in agony as the saltwater hit the open cracks behind her knees.

She is now 25, free of it and has been since she was nine. She had a steady improvement from the age of 4.