Has anyone tried Chinese herbs for eczema

[Pumpkin11]

I've lurked on MN but never posted before. I have a DC who had mild eczema at about a year old. However, it spread all over her body and face and we have tried everything to get it under control. Also has very bad cradle cap. We have seen a dermatologist and although their initial advice was great and the condition was controlled as soon as we tapered off steroids (as advised) it is starting to come back. No allergies.

We're at our wits end with the sleepless nights and the relentless scratching. It's miserable and I hate seeing my DC suffering.

We tried homeopathy (I know but we are desperate ) on someone's advice but I actually think it's made it worse! I just don't know what to do now. Currently using cetraben and happy with this as it really does keep skin moisturised and no reactions. We tried aveeno but it had no effect.

Has anyone tried Chinese medicine? Particularly interested in Charles Buck as he has been recommended to me by an acupunturist. Failing that throw all your magic cures at me and I will try anything!

[Pumpkin11]

Greenggoth we used to use persil non bio years before DD arrived so we just continued with this. I did read on here that bio isn't bad for the skin so did a service wash with it and then switched to ariel bio and we do an extra rinse. I didn't notice it having an effect either way but should I try something else? We follow all the other advice you listed. Also interesting about the herbalist. I've contacted a few and just waiting to hear back. Will be giving that a go.

Yep we will be cutting out dairy and see how DD responds.

Thankfully we had a better night last night. I put the steroid cream on and she slept in the scratch sleeve pj's. She did scream her lungs out initially as she couldn't claw at her head and face but calmed down once she realised they weren't coming off. Hopefully they'll stop the itch cycle.

[YepBeenThere]

I have to say I semi agree with your DH.

Homeopathy is a load of old bollocks. It's just sugar pills and water 'with memory'. Nonsense.

Herbalism, on the other hand, has something to it. A lot of modern medicine is derived from plants and herbs (aspirin comes from willow bark, for example), so herbs have active agents that can affect symptoms.

The dairy thing isn't necessarily an allergy, more like an intolerance or trigger. If she's been tested for allergies and isn't outright allergic to dairy then you don't want to restrict it from her diet forever. So after cutting it out completely for a bit, it's possible to reintroduce it again slowly to build up the tolerance. If the eczema flares again, stop the dairy. It's a bit trial and error, but honestly it's made such a difference to my DD's skin.

[BluePitchFork]

yes yes to mould.
my dc turned out to be allergic to mould and has hayfever which are triggers for dc.

[GreenGoth89]

Also be aware of any moulds/pet hair in the house can also aggravate it

[GreenGoth89]

There is nothing wrong using a traditional herbalist (very different to Chinese herbs) who have to train for 4 years + to call themselves herbalists. I had awful eczema and cradle cap from 6 weeks old onwards. I used a combo of tea tree, chickweed, lavender, chamomile and a few others either as oil or in a cream and bar a couple of flare ups (in places I couldn't see like behind my ears) I've managed to keep it under control. I'm sure you've been told but don't use fragranced washing powder and fabric softener - surcare is a good one, ecover is also ok because it's natural rather than synthetic fragrance. Don't use fabreeze - ever! Or air freshener, and limit baths to luke warm twice a week if possible and showers about the same if really needed. Don't let her wear wool, nylon or polyester, and try to have 100% cotton sheets on the bed too. In really hot weather we did need to bandage up my joints with damp cotton bandages, but it helped. Steroids aren't the devil in the short term but they can become so if used over a long period. Try a traditional and well qualified herbalist that specialises in paediatrics, if not I would get her fully allergy tested - I know that I my eczema was connected to unusual allergies (back then anyway) of soya (another ingredient worth stearin get clear of). Up essential fatty acids in her diet (nuts are good for those) and all the omegas too.

[Pumpkin11]

Can I also thank you all again as I wasn't expecting so many replies and that too so quickly.

[Pumpkin11]

I might pluck up the courage to use that on her face. The dermatologist did advise against using steroids on her face and said protopic would be a better choice. I was concerned about it being carcinogenic but he did say this wasn't the case.

Has anyone tried urtica urens ointment? The homeopathist has sent this to us but we've not received it yet. I do know natural isn't always best and have learnt the hard way with that.

DH is very against complimentary or alternative routes and I actually said I'd post on here as surely there would be loads of positive outcomes! He is now rolling his eyes at me. Took me ages to convince him about the homeopathy but he isn't impressed at all.

Also he has just pointed out we haven't had the Ige test yet and this is booked for later this month. I was confusing it with other bloods DD has had but this was requested by the dermatologist. This may shed some light then but how does it work? How would they know what she is reacting to?

[DollyTwat]

I think it was you know
However, he used it and then hardly ever had to use it as it cleared it up. So if there is a risk maybe use it to clear it up. Steroids are so damaging, he looks 65 already because of the use of steroids on his face

[DollyTwat]

I can't remember Punpkin
I DO remember it was like a miracle for him though. He was scaley and raw then he got that and it was amazing

[Pumpkin11]

Will try the dairy elimination diet from tomorrow.

Dolly is it called protopic? If so we do have that I've just not used it yet as the side effects scare me.

[DollyTwat]

My exh has really bad eczema. He went to a Chinese herbalist in Birminghamwho also gave him a diet sheet of things to avoid. So he took the pills and stuck to the diet for 3 months and it really cleared it up

He went back and got more pills, but let the diet slip massively and it all came back

So I had private health insurance at the time which included him, and he saw a dermatologist privately and got a non steroid cream prescribed which I believe he still uses today. He only really gets it on his hands and round his eyes now

I wish I could remember the name of the cream, but it was expensive and your gp won't want to prescribe it

[BluePitchFork]

you can turn intolerant/allergic in an instant.
it is very common to be dairy intolerant following a d&v infection.

[incywincyspidergirl]

I know dairy definitely isn't good for eczema. DD loves oat milk

[incywincyspidergirl]

My daughter has eczema
Lots of GP apps and dermatologists
No improvement
Then I was signposted to an amazing nutritionist lady who does food allergy testing ( if you're in Sussex I'll give you her details)
DD turns out to be allergic to yeast & dairy
Within 6-8 weeks of cutting out these foods her skin is 100 times better
Someone else went to see her & it was a wheat allergy. Same thing-6-8 weeks skin much better.

[Pumpkin11]

Is it possible though to suddenly react to a certain food?

[Pumpkin11]

Could it be dairy related? She used to complain a lot about having stomach ache but hasn't done since being on movicol. Someone did tell me to cut out milk but the dermatologist said there's no point restricting her diet if she's not allergic. Will give this a go.

Thank you

[YepBeenThere]

DD had/has really bad eczema. Been under a dermatologist for a year, had all the allergy tests, etc.

We tried cutting out gluten, which helped a little bit but not loads. So we re-introduced gluten and cut out dairy and it made a massive difference. I really recommend trying it for a couple of weeks at least.

[AnotherTimeMaybe]

Like some other PPs said: diet diet diet! It all starts from within, her body is reacting badly to something
At minimum cut dairy and wait couple of weeks. But you must cut all dairy even products with just a bit butter as ingredient
Also keep food diary , it could be the egg she had or the bread etc

[Pumpkin11]

*Scared me off the herbs!

[Pumpkin11]

You've all scared me off the steroids now! Apart from itchy of course but think I'll definitely avoid.

Bigmama can you please explain steroid withdrawal? How would you deal with this?

Blue she was ok with eggs before that and also recently when her skin was all clear she has been eating them. She was put on piriton and loritadine but they didn't help. I thought elecon was quite strong? I have put it on her tonight and do find that it works quickly.

[Pumpkin11]

Thank you all so much for your responses.

nobeer the renal failure thing has really scared me off. I didn't realise there were significant side effects to the herbs.

itchy I'm so pleased it worked for you. DD has been admitted once for an infection and has had a couple since.

Bigmama I tasted the bread and wasn't impressed! She likes sandwiches and toast though so would cause all hell to break loose if she doesn't get it! I did keep a food diary for a while but couldn't pinpoint anything at all.

Our GP was useless. At her worst she wasn't prescribed steroid cream as the nurse practitioner thought aveeno would shift it all. The eczema nurse was horrified and insisted they prescribe a steroid. They wouldn't even refer us to a dermatologist until the eczema nurse asked them and cited the NICE guidelines to them.

What I'm finding though is when her scalp is clear the eczema clears and as soon as she gets the cradle cap it flares up the eczema again. To date I haven't found anything to keep the cradle cap at bay.

[BluePitchFork]

hmm, most vaccines contain egg, maybe have a look at that?
have you tried antihistamines? helps with the itching as well.
lomg term low dose steroid use is not a problem at all. those creams are very low dose.

[Misnomer]

We had a very good dermatologist so she worked through the various options and if one wasn't working she would switch us over to something else. We got there in the end. We were referred to an allergy specialist and a nutritionist because in my daughters case it was food related. This was all through the NHS, by the way. I don't think I would have considered the Chinese medicine route, to be honest (despite the exclamation review above in this thread). I think the thing that made the most difference was using the steroid cream for longer. I think I was so wary of using it that I kept it to a minimum but this wasn't actually enough to get it under control.

Good luck, op. I remember how awful it was when my daughter was scratching herself raw and unable to sleep. Very luckily she has out grown the worst of it. I hope yours does too.

[bluecarpet]

Don't use them
Don't use then
Don't use them
Don't use them

Did I mention not to use them

If they work then they probably contain strong steroids. I have seen kids in kidney and liver failure through use of Chinese "herbs"that were actually very strong immunosuppressive drugs.

[BigMamaFratelli]

Sorry if you already know this pumpkin but steroid withdrawal can cause a reaction that can easily be mistaken for Eczema.