eczema remedies

[Lovelilies]

Ds (2) has had eczema since he was tiny. We've always used oilatum bath and double base gel with some hydrocortisone cream if needed on red bits.
Generally, I'd say it's quite mild, sometimes there's none at all.

Recently he's has a couple of flare ups inside elbows, across chest. He often wakes in the night scratching and crying

Thinking of trying something different, it appears that the bath/ emollient is actually making things worse..
He hates having cream put on at all.

He's under the paeds for possible allergy to food (?) but still waiting for specialist.. Bloods have shown he's anaemic HB around 100 but ferritin of only 2!
Been on sytron iron supplement for 3 months. Haven't tried exclusion diets yet, was waiting for allergy specialist advice before proceeding.
It seems he has some absorption problems, diarrhoea most of the time
Apart from all that, he's thriving; 59th centile height and weight, eats and drinks well. Was BF til 18months.

Any new ideas gratefully received!

*50th, not 59th!

Bump

My 16wk old DD uses Aveeno cream & Aveeno oil for bath which helps. Like yours she has it mild thankfully x

Just woken crying and scratching

do try changing his bath stuff and emollient. What can work one minute and not another can change very quickly.

I read some brilliant advice on here that contradicted the advice my GP gave me - basically put the emollient on first, thickly, let is soak in for about twenty minutes and then add steroid. My gp always said do it the other way around, but it definitely works better with emollient first. I think that poster had been to Harley Street!

Whatever you do, don't use aqueous cream. It is often prescribed but often makes things worse as it is a wash, not an emollient and contains a perfume.

You could give aveeno a go, it worked brilliantly on my ds for about two years. Also it sounds obvious, but make sure nails are short enough not to cause damage. This is something I seem to forget quite often.

It is very likely to be linked to what is going on in his gut so heal from the inside out, find triggers, add a range of oils to his diet, probiotics (food based if possible), food high in vitamin a, suppliment low acidic vitamin C (works as an antihistamine) and vitamin D.

From reading threads on here you will find that creams and triggers really do appear to be individual and take time to find, but with luck, things do get better with time!

For us, anything with petroleum and many nut and seed oils made things worse, only realised this when we stopped as the creams seemed to make his skin smooth but drove him crazy itching.

Dairy, sugar, grains and a random number of other foods triggered things as did new clothes that weren't washed.

50th centile is great for a child with constant diahorrea so he is obviously absorbing something!! My DS started growing when we figured his food triggers out!

His nails are short.. Keep them trimmed.
Will buy aveeno tomorrow.

I think we will also try cutting out dairy, see how it affects his bowels as well. Lots of people IRL have suggested that but we were waiting for test results first. He may be at uni by the time we get allergy referral!

Another thing to consider is what you are washing clothes and bedding in, and at what temperature.

I used to use Ecover non bio at 40 degrees and the washing machine started to smell because mould had developed. I switched to Ariel and did a few washes at 60 degrees to get rid of the smell. A happy side effect was that DD's eczema cleared up. Evidently it was caused by the mould in the washing machine.

DS had severe eczema from a baby to 5yrs old so I truly understand about the miseries you are going through. Its very hard to get GPs to take it seriously unfortunately.
I am happy to share what worked for us but also would give a word or two of caution about changing his diet drastically. DS always always had runny poo, and the consultant we saw was convinced that this was related to his eczema. We were reluctant to change his diet unless absolutely necessary (and believe me we were desperate to help him) so decided to try the conventional route suggested by her first. Having followed the regime for creams religiously, his eczema cleared within a few weeks. At the same time he stared to do normal poos! 2 years on, we only have the occasional flare up, and he's not shown any sign of food allergy or intolerance.
Im not saying allergies/i tolerances don't exist, but I think its worth trying other avenues first.
Phew that was a bit of a lecture sorry!
So what we did was:
Dermol 600 in the bath
Dermol 500 all over before every bath
Epaderm emollient very thickly all over body, 3x a day, extra when needed. Apply so thickly you could write your name in it! in direction of hair growth ie down the body. Pop on PJs/clothes and leave to soak in.
Diprobase emollient around eyes as needed.
Protopic applied 20 mins before emollient, 2x a day, reducing to 1x a day, in a thin layer. This is not a steroid, you may need a steroid first to reduce inflammation, we used dactacort (sp?) for a week before the protopic.
Also. Only cotton clothes/bedding, wash everything in Surcare, keep as cool as possible. Even now DS only has a thin cotton quilt, he hates being too hot.
Blimey I have gone on a bit, I hope some of that is helpful. Obviously every child is different so these creams may not help yours, but worked wonders for us.

Oh and Aveeno was terrible for DS, made him bleed :( but I know its great for some kids.

I guess I'd need to get the GP to prescribe the creams?

And thank you all for your suggestions!

He's gone back to sleep after I put some Aloe Propolis cream (Forever Living ) but he HATES any creams being put on

My DS3 had bad eczema, now it's fairly under control. We use: oil autumn in the bath, aveeno as moisturiser (at least 2 X a day, whole body), hydromol if he flares up anywhere and daily on his cheeks; for really bad outbreaks we have fucidin H and Elocon (both prescribed steroid creams).
I did go to the GP and asked for a referral after he turned 1 and his eczema was so bad I had to change his bed sheets daily as they were covered in blood, he just couldn't stop scratching. Seeing a dermatologist was HUGELY helpful as she had so much knowledge and great advice how to use the creams (as opposed to GP who had previously prescribed steroid creams, but not the right ones).
I would recommend seeking out a specialist via GP referral. I'd also recommend stopping the FL shite Aloe goop, God knows what's in there, you might make it worse and you are supporting MLM bastardy

Yes you'd need to see a GP but I have found them to be very hit and miss - your surgery should have a skin/allergy specialist so its worth asking for them, don't be fobbed off by the practice nurse, one tried to persuade me to do wet wrapping, do not even get me started!
The advice we were given that turned things around for us was from a Dr Helen Cox, she is actually the top paediactric allergy specialist in the Uk (google her!) and we were lucky enough to see her through private health care. If you are anywhere near London and could afford even one consultation I would highly recommend it, she literally gave DS back quality of life with her advice.

Always worth trying oatmeal in the bath, completely cleared up both my DDs eczema. Admittedly they only had it mildly, but DD2 would get it all down her lower legs, back of knees, even on her face. It is a natural emollient. I used to put a handful in the toe of a 'pop' sock, hang it over the hot tap so the water ran through it, and then tie the open end and use it as a puff to wash them with.

Aveeno is truely amazing!! Can not recommend enough!

Aveeno dos nothing for me or my kids.
Everyone is different. Diprobase for me. Dermol for the kids. (It kills the itch) double base for others.
You need to find the right emollient and use it. A LOT. Much more than you think. When DD was a toddler I would sometimes cream her up to 10x a day. And slather it on. Loads.

Maybe he's reacting to the propolis cream? It's enough of a known allergen to be included on standard allergy patch tests - see here.

You have my sympathy. DS1 has suffered with eczema since birth. After many many GP appointments we finally paid private to get him tested. It's so difficult to get them to take you seriously. It really does make me so cross when your babies scratching & ripping themselves to bits and your being told to just keep moisturising. He will grow out of it. Yes I'm sure he will, but that won't help him right now . Have you tried wet bandages?? Just to give his skin some time to heel? And cotton gloves at night seem to work here. Although I must admit. They go on once he's asleep! . Really hope you find something that works for you. I'm still finding ours but we have made progress. X X

I've nearly 50 & had eczema all my life. I've found different creams work at different times - so I keep them all and rotate them round. Currently it is a
Aveeno. I only ever wear cotton next to my skin, and wear layers so I can keep taking things off and on to make sure I don't get too hot - especially in my elbows and behind my knees. Lastly water - I only worked out as an adult I wasn't drinking enough - I don't seem to naturally get very thirsty. And when I am dehydrated my skin dries out and gets more itchy.

Good luck with finding the right cream!

trial and error I'm afraid.
dc hated putting cream on but was fine with a bath oil (eucerin, slippery stuff)

agree with everyone else: cotton fibres, regular hot washes. baths only as often as necessary as short as possible and not too warm. steroid cream when needed.