Patchy rash/possibly eczema on my 2 years olds skin

[FoRahman]

Hi All,

My 2 year old daughter has some rashes or possibly eczema on her skin (thighs front and back, on her back and arms) and it keeps her up at night with constant itching. We now have to help scratch it and it also keeps us up. Her GP advised we apply 'Cetraben' ointment on a regular basis and from time to time apply a steroid cream called 'Eumovate' ointment ONLY when things get worse. The problem is we should not be using this cream often and when we stop things always get worse. This has been a never ending cycle for over a year and we are getting the same advice from the GP again this week.

Has anyone else dealt with a similar issue and any advice would be appreciated please?

Read up about steroid use. Using steroids for a day here or there is a waste of time. They are not as dangerous as many people think and, if used properly, are not dangerous at all. Its far more damaging to the skin to have constant damage caused by eczema.

That steroid is moderately potent. For best results you need to be following some sort of regime. Generally speaking you start off daily for one week, then every other day and then try and get to a point where you only apply at weekends. You then maintain with moisturiser.

Whacking it on every now and then is likely to never really let the skin heal properly and it will just come back.

It does look like eczema to me.

Also, different moisture creams work better for different people. It took me months of experimentation to find something that worked well for my son.

Don't give up. There's no quick with with eczema, but you will find something that works.

Just to add, sadly many GPs are pretty clueless about chronic eczema. If you can get a dermatology referral that would be great, but as yours is relatively mild they might not (my son has it all over).

It's worth thinking about triggers, but despite common belief, most eczema isn't caused by food allergies.