Best Eczema cream advice please!

[Coffeemama]

So my 15m.o is currently suffering from eczema that just seems to be getting worse and worse and I'm literally working my way through every cream out there. Seems to have got worse when we started applying sun cream earlier this summer but even now after not using that & keeping him out of sun, still seems to be flaring up all the time. He constantly scratches especially at night and then bleeds & gets very sore. Dr gave us a topical steroid for this to prevent infection but obviously this can't just be used all the time & even this takes a while to clear it. But basically...I'm looking please for any recommendations for good creams that do a good job of staying on top of it in the first place so it doesn't become itchy/bleed. It's really getting me down now tbh 😔. Horrible seeing him like this & having to limit his time outside etc as can't use suncream atm too. Any advice greatly appreciated thank you 🙏

Sorry you are finding the heat is making the itching worse🙁

We found baths with additives cooling and helpful for soothing and moisturising the skin.

Grass made both of my children itch- check what they are sitting/playing on when outside.

Lots of sun creams made them itch but
Ambresolaire waterproof ones were fine.

If the skin gets infected the only thing that worked well was iodine (old fashioned but effective)

I would go back to doctors. If it’s bleeding and hasn’t responded to steroid cream, then treatment needs to be escalated.

My son had horrendous eczema that we tried to treat through GP for 18 months. In the end we paid for a private consultation. Got a prescription for a stronger cream and it cleared up in a couple of weeks. Once we had the prescription we could reorder through nhs, but they couldn’t prescribe it in the first place. It was life changing for him. Best £200 we ever spent!

Don't be too cautious with the steroid cream and keep using it for a few days after the skin has cleared, then taper off.

Personally I'd search for the cause, eczema in young children that needs steroids should be investigated for an allergy cause according to NICE.

We've tried child's farm and that worked well for a while, diomed, prescribed The big Vaseline type tub one, aveeno oat, cetraben etc. My son has discoid eczema and we do use the steroid cream now, its really helped, especially in the elbow/ back of knee areas. All the other creams seemed to work for a while then stop. Would He take some piriton to help the itch at night? When it was cooler I found putting tight leggings on helped with the itching. He's four now and my ten year old had the same and grew out of it thank god.

Emollients will be the mainstay so focus on putting those on at least 6 times per day when flaring, which is a lot, and will be difficult to keep up with. Emollient creams are best if his skin is red and looking a little raw from scratching. Emollient ointment if his skin is dry. Wait 20 mins after applying emollient before applying steroid.

Sorry I didn't recommend any actual creams. Diprobase worked quite well for us, and aveeno with colloidal oats was good for itching.

Second Aveeno for otc emollient, but sounds like he needs a derm referral. Avoid Nivea sun products as they seem to be the worst for irritation. And don’t be frightened of the steroid cream - it needs to be used longer than you might think, as pp says.

Thank you all so much for all the advice & recommendations! I've been told by a lot of ppl now to try the Aveeno, specifically the dermexa range so it's day 1 of trying this for us today! And I'm not discounting any type of potential allergy at this stage & I've actually got a strong theory it's sun cream that's worsening it...seems to cause a big flare up that then takes ages to clear etc once he starts scratching etc. Also was throwing me a bit as the reaction doesn't seem to be immediate once applied either so it's hard to pin point really! Bit thank u all so much, seems such a common problem with our little ones doesn't it. P.s we do have the steroid cream to combat potential infection from scratching/causing cuts etc but even this doesn't seem to be any kind of miracle cure for us...but yeah, saving it for any concentrated areas from his scratching etc plus we're now giving antihistamine although he is still scratching. Hopefully it's helped a bit though. Thank you everyone!x

The steroid may need to be stronger and you may need do use it on more of the eczema.

A very sceptical me was recommended a mix of calendula and chickweed and found it made a difference. Child's farm also not bad.