Teen won’t treat eczema

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She itches all the time. I’ve tried bribery, I’ve tried sanctions, and nothing works.

She simply will not put emollient on at all. Her arms and back have red patches all over them.

I’m not allowed near it. She has always been difficult about ever since she was tiny.

It is an ongoing battle. I’ve tried everything to get her to do it, and she simply will not.

I feel like a crap mother

What does she say when asked? I know emollient cream really can sting, I’ve found doublebase better received.

She’s a teenager. I’d let her make the decision here about her own body. It’s not going to be life threatening or cause long-standing damage if she doesn’t treat it.

Have you tried an emollient in her bath instead? Same effect, different application. Oilatum can be good for that, even for teens and adults.

Why won’t she? If the eczema is bad then emollient alone won’t help. What does the GP/dermatologist say?

I have eczema, it's much better now but as a teen it was horrendous, all over my face and arms.

I would have done anything to stop the maddening itchy hotness of it.
(In fact I used to slap it because that would weirdly stop the itch for a bit.)

So to hear that your daughter refuses is very confusing, because there's no stage where it just stops being horrible if untreated. I too wonder if a painful feeling to the creams in the past has caused this - I found all the steroid creams stung.

Your first issue is to try and understand her why she refuses, instead of just insisting she does it. Good luck.

Suggest to her about putting something in the bath.

I have suffered from bad eczema and sometimes the skin is so cracked and sore that putting cream on stung and was awful.

I found the bath better as the initial sting would go and you could relax while it soaked deep in

DP has horrendous eczema. Wasn't cleared up by antibiotics, and he uses every cream there is. Even he moans it stings and he's 21. He takes a piriton before bed to relieve the itching, and uses a steroid cream when it's really bad. He showers too much because it relives the itchiness but dries it out at the same time.
You need to take her to the doctor for something else, the creams really do sting. I think piriton to stop the itchiness might be the first point of call though.

God what a nightmare. She might be in a sort of denial about her condition. You know how it feels to be a teenage girl. It's not easy at the best of times. But to then have a chronic skin condition thrown into the mix? I expect she has been teased about it more than once while growing up. People - especially youngsters - can be horrible cruel little bastards.

Perhaps there's a bit of "if I ignore it, it will go away", or blocking it out rather than dealing with it.

Emollients are not particularly pleasant to use. They feel greasy and it gets on your clothes (and doesn't come out in the wash). Oilatum in the bath does help, but again, it's greasy. (Can't get it in your hair, etc.)

It's really important that she embraces it and starts to treat it properly. You said she "won't allow you near it". And it may be that you have transferred some of your worry about it to her, so your stressing about her eczema makes the whole thing worse for her.

I really feel for you. Here are a couple of suggestions:

Speak to your local pharmacist about the problem and see if there are any creams they can suggest that might seem more appealing to a teenage girl. If they find something, do NOT say that it came from you. Say something like a colleague at work also has the same thing and gave you this to pass on to her.

Have a look online for teenage support groups for eczema - you will find lots of information about how this affects young people and their self-esteem.

Do not speak to your daughter about eczema unless she brings it up first. (Unless she's having a bad outbreak and needs medical attention.)

If you don't already know - find out if it is allergy driven and eliminate as many allergens as you can from your home.

Look up celebrities with eczema (e.g. Kim Kardashian has psoraisis and has spoken about it, and some of her snaps show patches). This is handy to know just in case you get a chance to mention that oh, so-and-so has that.

Good luck. Eczema is a real bugger but it can be managed and sometimes it just clears up and goes away, although that can take a long time.

Have you tried allergy testing.

I used to have eczema/psoriasis all down my back, face , neck, behind my knees and in the crook of my arms. I used to have stuff on my scalp.

Noticed a clearing up of it when we were in the US on holiday (couldn’t eat the bread as it all seemed to be loaded with sugar and I hated it)

Dr said he thought I was imagining it but if I wanted to I could go with out dairy then wheat then eggs for 1 week then start adding the abstinence’s in one week at a time and when I had done that come back and he would give me some medication.

Wheat and dairy were the culprits and within days of being without them I had a clear scalp and skin everywhere.

I can tell if I have eaten something that contains wheat or dairy when I am out because my fellow diners comment that my neck goes beetroot red, spreads up to my face, scalp and down my back then the itching starts and by the morning I have eczema starting again.

Thanks for all replies!!!

She has both emollient and steroid. The steroid is for flares. She will use that, but hates the feel of all the emollients. Even double base. So the steroid reduces the flair, and then of course it just flares up again. She has had bath stuff, but the main problem areas are her arms and upper back. Which don’t soak in the water as much as something like legs.

It’s quite bad on her arms, I think the term is Geographica? If it’s left it gets quite bad and she itches it all the time😖

Just had yet another long conversation about it with her. She has promised to try yet again😖😖😖

It’s worth trying different emollients. Many of them make my skin feel horrid. I hate Doublebase!

My 16 yr old is the same

He picks at it, the scarring is horrendous

So far she’s rejected cetraben, aveeno, oilatum diprobase and one other. I even bought the expensive lush cream, but that was ‘slimey’😖

She like my stuff which has menthol in it. But as it also has paraffin in it, I’m a bit reluctant to let her use it. In case she stands too near a Bunsen burnet at school😬

How about Dermol? Worth getting some testers from a dermatologist if you can.

Have a look at eczema outreach support.
They are a fab charity who work with kids with eczema. They've just started a club for teens, called the xy club, with Instagram stuff and things - we've been involved with them for years, and they really are fantastic.
Talking to others with the same issues might help, and she might get some advice on creams that she'll tolerate better.
One thing that worked wonders for me, but stung like hell, but isn't greasy or slimy, was aloe propolis cream. Unfortunately it's made by forever living, so I have moral issues on the odd occasion I buy it (always from eBay, then I don't get hassle from sellers, and it's normally people who've given up and are selling off their old stock).
But, honestly, eczema outreach are fab, give them a go.

I will try them, thanks for that.

Last nights conversation:

Aveeno? Too slimy
Doublebase? Too jelly
Belneum? Too grease.

And they all smell apparently....😖

I think she needs to take the responsibility. Make an appointment with your GP and take her. She needs to do all the talking and come up with a plan for her skin. Either it is up to you in which case she should follow your plan or it is up to her in which case she follows the plan formed with her doctor . In the latter case , if she doesn't get on with it her skin will be worse.
She is going through that really annoying teen stage of wanting to have some control over life in theory but holding back and leaving it to you.

I hate using emollients. They make me feel like I’m sticky and sweaty and unattractive. They smell because they are unscented and are unpleasant to use. Could you try decanting some into a tub and mixing in a drop of lavender essential oil maybe? I second dermol to use in the shower (you can get on prescription if it helps). Have you tried eucerin? It’s packaged a bit nicer and might be more appealing... If you’ve never explored dietary stuff then cutting dairy and wheat may be worth trialling....

The smell of those creams makes me feel sick too. I like the idea of a drop of lavender.

I will try the dietary stuff. Thanks for the help guys.

I wouldn’t cut anything out of the diet without advice. Has she been patch tested? I’m allergic to MI. It’s in lots and lots of things and apparently it’s a really common thing to react to. Worth adding good oils to diet. Like oily fish. And stay hydrated too.

What’s MI? She only gets it on her arms and upper back. Wouldn’t patch testing be for overall skin problems rather than single areas?

Ah. I’ve got to spell it now!!
Methylisothiazolinone.
I think.
It’s a preservative found in liquids. So shampoo and shower gel and dishwashing liquid. Liquid clothes detergent and conditioner.
The dermatologist said they had seen someone with a rash on the top of the buttocks. Turned out to be shampoo. Coming into contact with the skin as it was rinsed off.

Ds is 14 and he has eczema on his arms, torso and behind his knees. He hates using anything on it especially as he has sensory issues so struggles with the feeling and smell. Gp just says they have to be used to makes things better, she's right but it's not easy.

Unfortunately he also has acne on his face and back. He takes oral antibiotics for those and we just about manage to get him to use cream on his face. Eczema and acne are not a great combination!