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Eczema cures! So incredibly desperate!!!!

117 replies

Kissmenever · 26/12/2021 22:05

Hi all,

My lovely dd (5) has suffered from eczema from the age of 3 months, but recently has an awful flare up to the point it’s causing her so much distress, she will cry and say “I don’t want this skin anymore mummy, I want skin like yours” this is breaking my heart so much.

We have tried:
Hydrocortisone creams / steroid creams
So many ointments and creams
Several different non bio washing detergents
Cutting out dairy

Her school teacher has even called me up saying DD is struggling to concentrate in class!
Drs just fob us off with creams and washing lotions, I have asked drs for a referral to a dermatologist, but they say it isn’t “bad enough” yet.
I have attached a photo of the eczema on her neck currently.
I’ve also heard good things about “happy skin” eczema clothes, can anyone vouch?

Thank you so much.

OP posts:
Plantpotpot · 26/12/2021 22:34

Stop her touching and cuddling the 5 guinea pigs IMMEDIATELY!!!!!! That’s an easy allergy to eliminate - do it for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference.

MamaWeasel · 26/12/2021 22:36

Oh! I just remembered, dream cream from lush is another staple of ds' regime. He gets through pots of it but it's worth the money

GoatInCaptivity · 26/12/2021 22:38

Definitely keep her from the pets (does she muzzle them to her neck?).

Animal dander is a massive trigger for me.

Looking at the location it's very common to get eczema in places where you're in close proximity to your own skin - so behind the knees, neck, inner elbow joints.

That's because often your own sweat can be a trigger (excluding the pets).

She might find wearing thin cotton turtleneck tops (after cream) helpful, especially at night (I need long sleeves in bed or I can suffer badly the next day with my arms). Or you can look at barrier creams like dermalex (or indeed both).

As pp's have said Oat baths help.

Steroids aren't great and I try and minimise their use, but sometimes you really need them to get a flare under control and you need to keep using them not just until it's a bit better, but fully clear - then stay on top of good skincare with products like aveeno/dermalex, natural clothing, no harsh laundry detergents, gentle shampoo etc.

oopsydoopsy · 26/12/2021 22:42

Haven't read the whole thread but are you anywhere near London and could you afford to go privately, even for a couple of appointments? If so I can highly recommend Dr Helen Cox who helped us sort out DS severe eczema when we were at our wits end and completely dismissed by the GP. I'll find a link to her practice.

oopsydoopsy · 26/12/2021 22:42

Here you go

www.childrensallergyclinic.com/contact/

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 26/12/2021 22:49

Steroid ointment rather than cream works best for DD. She uses cetraban as soap and as moisturiser. We bandage and glove up each night once we have massages the ointment in to keep it in place and stop her scratching. In the new year we are chucking some money at it and paying to see someone privately-his websites really informative and lots of positive reviews.

www.dermexpert.co.uk/

GoatInCaptivity · 26/12/2021 22:51

Just to add re the pets.

It's not just about keeping your DD away from them.

You need to stop any transference. So if you cuddle the pets you need to wash your hands and change your clothes before cuddling/touching your daughter. Same for the rest of the family (and if they are indoor pets they need to be in a place that's contained away from your DD).

I once had a massive flare up after DH had forgotten he'd been petting a friends dog on his lap at a friends house and came home and hugged/touched me covered in animal dander.....not a mistake he's repeated after the mess it left me in for weeks.

Kookookachuu · 26/12/2021 22:51

I haven’t read the full thread but this routine works for DS:
Bath every 3 days just plain water, Childs farm shampoo for hair
Ecover wash liquid and no fabric conditioner, extra rinse at the end of the cycle.
Cut out eggs and tomato
Child’s farm moisturising cream every two or 3 hours (heal with steroid cream first and then use child’s farm cream)
A friend also suggested lush dream cream but we haven’t tried that (it worked for her DS)
And yes, sea water helps so much (wonder if you could recreate that in the bath?)

immersivereader · 26/12/2021 22:51

Her hair needs either putting up off her neck or cutting.

GrazingSheep · 26/12/2021 22:53

Try eliminating corn syrup and citric acid

Kookookachuu · 26/12/2021 22:53

And wet bandaging helped during bad flare ups. It took me a long time to get the balance right and the doctors were useless, I figured it all out myself after lots of googling and then trial and error.

GoatInCaptivity · 26/12/2021 22:54

@oopsydoopsy

Haven't read the whole thread but are you anywhere near London and could you afford to go privately, even for a couple of appointments? If so I can highly recommend Dr Helen Cox who helped us sort out DS severe eczema when we were at our wits end and completely dismissed by the GP. I'll find a link to her practice.

I'd suggest she needs to rule out the 5 pets as the most likely cause first before spending a fortune.

MyOtherProfile · 26/12/2021 22:55

Water softener. My son's eczema was totally cleared once we got one.

CentrifugalBumblePuppy · 26/12/2021 22:57

Oh, bless her, my heart is breaking just seeing her!

This is only our experience with advice from our consultant (this is not medical advice & I'm not medically qualified beyond first aid!). Our consultant advised only using steroids creams for 5 days (including Elecon, Fucidin, Fucibet and Tacrolimus which I think it’s a whole new catagory - her Professor was part of the development research team lol).

If we used them for longer periods, our daughter would get rebound eczema (I think that’s what they call it).

We always used steroid creams along with an emollient like Diprobase or plain petroleum jelly to help the skin’s moisture from evaporating.

It may seem paradoxical as baths strip oils from the skin but my daughter (now an adult) bathes every day & applies lots of emollient cream afterwards (no soaps with any sterates as she’s allergic to them). Even as an adult, after her baths last week I had to help her wrap her arms with Elocom, petroleum, icthypaste dressings, with bandages & compression bandages on top as taught by her specialist nurse as an inpatient; it’s not unusual to have a severe breakout at this time of year.

Oat baths have always been soothing. And she takes the antihistamine Atarax at night to ease the itching (it also makes her drowsy so useful to help her sleep).

I’d keep pushing to see a consultant; it took 5 years to keep being transferred to different consultants (we’d get the “I’m not sure, but I know a Doctor who might!” until we reached a Professor at a London hospital who’d been one consultant’s research supervisor!) and we finally had more treatment options open to us.

My daughter only wears cotton clothing & Sainsbury’s non bio is the current one she tolerates (but every child with eczema is different). We would also do extra rinses to make sure there was no residue left in her clothing (all long washes, no very short washes unfortunately).

I can only give you some tips which helped our daughter, and the above is definitely not medical advice, but every child is different. Keep an eye on her temperature or the lesion becoming very hot in case of infection (she’s had so many she’s lost count!), badger your GP for a referral, keep her cool & give her lots of love from us across the t’internet.

As an aside; we kept all kinds of animals when the kids were small - cockatiels, dogs, cats, Guinea pigs, even giant land snails! - to fire as much at their immune systems as possible. We did find that she’d be triggered by hay sometimes (but not consistently) so make sure she has a good wash if she’s in close contact with the piggies in case there’s an allergen in the hay dust that could be behind the sensitivity that’s caused this lesion.

chillie · 26/12/2021 22:57

This looks like my son did a couple of years ago. Since then he has managed to keep it bay by using skin salvation by balmonds. Get it to recover with the steroids then heavy use with the skin salvation. If you are like us then you will have multiple shoeboxes full of moisturisers, balms, lotions and creams which do not work. This one did for us! Hope it might for you too!

Natsku · 26/12/2021 22:58

I'd look into diet and environmental triggers for sure, but also ask for a prescription for protopic ointment. It worked wonders for my DD's bad eczema when she was a toddler.

MoiraNotRuby · 26/12/2021 23:01

Oh I feel for you both so much. DS had excema as a baby and toddler, we ended up taking him to a herbal medicine practitioner (not the same thing as homeopathy) - she gave us this disgusting tincture and it actually worked. He has never had it recur although he has quite sensitive skin eg. burns easily, can't swim in sea water etc. I hope you find something that helps.

Marcipex · 26/12/2021 23:04

My sons mild eczema accelerated from age 10 when he had an awful teacher, until by 14 he was covered in it and bleeding all over.
He had two courses of antibiotics when it got infected , one useless and one successful. He was exempted from school pe because of changing.
We tried cutting out dairy rigorously after a gp said ‘well it’s worth a try’ and he was visibly better in a week and almost perfect in a month.
If he had eg a small ice cream he would break out again.
For about five years he was totally dairy free and he had outgrown it by the time he went to uni.
He reintroduced pizza in the uni years and now eats everything and is fine.

I’m just saying all this to give you hope; it won’t be forever and you will find her triggers.
I would insist on a referral to a dermatologist.

Does she sit with her hand on her chin on that side? Check what she is washing hands with at school/granny/anywhere else she goes.

(I’m a bit worried about the Guinea pigs to be honest. I certainly wouldn’t replace them when they expire. Sorry to be blunt.)

Nomoreusernames1244 · 26/12/2021 23:05

Chinese herbal medicine.

I worked on some clinical trials which showed effectiveness- all the dr’s and staff associated with the trial use it now.

Avicenna.co.uk is a reputable clinic. Issue is CHM isn’t regulated so it’s finding a proper practitioner that’s the tough bit.

Usuallyhappycamper · 26/12/2021 23:07

Salcura bioskin junior outbreak cream worked miracles for us when ds skin was bad. Child's farm didn't work for him, but it has been praised by many. Stay away from the usual emollients that have petroleum jelly in.

ElephantandGrasshopper · 26/12/2021 23:11

Do keep pushing for a dermatology appointment. It sounds like she might need a stronger steroid than hydrocortisone, but gps don't usually prescribe them. Make a gp appointment whenever her skin flares, keep going back, and someone will eventually refer you. Once you have seen dermatology they may refer you for allergy tests too.

In the meantime, have you given piriton? If that helps then it is likely an allergy. You need to use a lot of emollient, 4x a day or more. I would stick with prescribed ones as they tend to be unscented and more effective than anything you buy off the shelf.

I'd recommend scratch sleeves for night time scratching. I have to keep ds' hair very short because any long bits aggravate his skin. Could shed also be allergic to shampoo? I use aveeno wash on ds's hair, but only wash it very infrequently because even that isn't great for his skin.

immersivereader · 26/12/2021 23:13

Definitely cut the sugar, it's inflamed

Also, have you tried bleach baths?

immersivereader · 26/12/2021 23:14

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4433517-aibu-to-think-that-there-must-be-something-more-we-can-do-for-this-eczema

^

Recent, still live thread on same subject. Flowers op, it's so tough

Totallydefeated · 26/12/2021 23:15

Oh, that looks so painful, the poor thing.

Tried everything for mine, it was awful, steroids would help a bit but then it would come back with a vengeance as soon as they were stopped.

What cured it (rather than ‘treated’ it), was seeing a homeopath and following her remedy regime over a few weeks. I have no idea how it worked - I suppose it shouldn’t have done under current medical/scientific knowledge, but it did. And I thank my lucky stars I was desperate enough to give it a go!

I know this isn’t a MN-approved view, before anyone scoffs.

Been gone for years and years now, without any sign of a return. Quite life changing.

PossiblyPertunia · 26/12/2021 23:18

My sons eczema is solely caused by his food allergies. He is intolerant to diary, soy, wheat and beef!
I would try a low fodmap diet for a few weeks and if her eczema improves, reintroduce one food type at a time and see if you can pinpoint what she is reacting to. It sounds like a lot of effort but I promise you it can make all the difference! My sons skin was red red raw, cracked and bleeding constantly and now you would never know he had eczema.
No cream is going to help her, all it does is creates a barrier on the area!