Eczema creams that work

[KMP23]

Has anyone got any recommendations for eczema creams that actually work for babies/toddlers? My daughter is 12 months and has had eczema since she was about 3 months. We've been using cetraben twice daily then and hydrocortisone when she has a flare up but it still comes and goes really frequently and really irritates her.

Creams won't cure it (as I am sure you know), but they can help deal with flare ups.

I wouldn't recommend Cetraben - it is paraffin-based and there are some studies that show paraffin can actually make eczema worse. It can be irritating, especially on young skin.

I have been using a natural balm and although it doesn't "cure" the eczema, it does help with the flare ups, reduces irritation and it doesn't have any potential irritants in it. I have tried a few, Balmonds and the like. But, I have been using one from Arcade Skincare since Christmas on me and my son and it is working well. Very thick so does form a nice layer on the skin but it isn't greasy or heavy. Quite good value too. About a tenner for a big pot.

Also - not flammable like paraffin-based creams. I was horrified when I read about how many people had died because their skin creams caused them to go up in flames!

Oh my gosh I didn't realise that about Cetraben! It was recommended by the GP so we just went with it.
Thanks!

It'll be diet. We went through every cream going for months and months. 3 days of cutting out the right allergens (dairy and egg) and it disappeared.

oil of evening primrose applied topically

My youngest has bad eczema we were in the hospital for something unrelated and the nurse caught sight of him and prescribed us zerodouble gel to use 4 times a day and we smother him in it at bedtime and it has been a game changer he used to constantly have dry flakey skin and now it's back to normal

The problem I have found with my eczema is that creams work for a while and then I have to move in to something different. It's a real trial and error.

Keeping a good diary is really beneficial. I found certain foods really aggravated it and by cutting those out reduced the problem.

It is a very good emollient, it will form a layer on the skin and help with the dryness, but there is a link between paraffin and irritation (not everyone will be irritated by it, but I don't want to take the risk). Also, I was well put off using paraffin creams after reading about all the people who died after going up in flames after using them.

OP - the problem is eczema varies enormously - what works for one person might not for another.
I have life long eczema (now controlled by immunosuppressant meds). Dd had eczema as a young child but now only has rare flare ups.

From our experience:

• There was no link with what dd ate at all. I had full allergy testing and no food allergies were found. Please be wary of restricting diet unnecessarily in babies/toddlers.
• Cetraban has been fine for both of us. Oilatum and E45 weren't.
• Stronger steroid creams in short bursts prevented longer flare ups.
• A protopic cream was a game changer for dd - she was referred by her GP to the hospital dermatology unit and it was prescribed there.
• Over the years I've tried various 'natural remedies', creams etc - none improved my eczema. What has helped though is minimising the number of products I use. With dd we've always used Aveeno body wash.

Do keep going back to your GP - eczema can be very uncomfortable for young kids.

Agree with pp what works for some doesn't for others.

I've had excema since I was a child, now in 40s.

I can't use anything with paraffin. Over the years various GPs have recomended diprobase or epaderm or cetraban and these make my skin roar.

The only thing that soothes is aveeno which they don't prescibe any more so I buy huge bottles of for myself to use.

I do use steroid cream when it's very bad, but never ointment which aggravates it.

Second what has been said above that it seems to be a case of different creams for different people. My baby started getting it at 6 months we used various creams which seemed to stop his skin from getting dry but the eczema kept coming back every time we tapered off steroids.
Aveeno has been the best for us.
He's coming up to 2 now and in the last couple of months has been almost eczema free.
I think it's a mixture of finding a cream that has helped but mainly just his body growing out of it.

I'm in my late 40s and also suffer from eczema. Agree with everyone that you need to find the cream that works for you. Steroid is very useful for flare ups. Apply lots of emollients. I didn't find any link between diet and eczema, but I flare up immediately with lots of cleaning products.

I'm not serious enough to need a dermatology referral. But if steroids don't remove the flare ups, you probably should ask for one.

However, in my area, the GP says there is no hope of getting dermatology referral with the NHS. I've put DD on a wait list for private.

If allergies cause eczema they are typically non-ige allergies and won't show up on tests. The only way to work them out is exclusion from the diet and then reintroduction to see if symptoms go/return. Obviously this is more tricky with multiple allergies. With DS we ended up doing a total exclusion diet to pinpoint the right foods. Also eczema is typically a delayed reaction so it can appear 5 days after consuming the food.

Both me and my daughter have severe eczema and Doublebase really turned things around for us. It's a thick emollient (moisturiser), almost a gel, but less greasy than an ointment. We still have patches of red but our skin in general is much more hydrated and actually soft for the first time!

All emollients can sting at first but the more you use it, the less damaged the skin will be and the less it will sting.

We get ours on prescription.

I'd agree that it's very individual what works, but I also wonder if you need to go after it a bit more intensively? For DD2 at that age, problem areas got emollient at every nappy change (plus her whole body twice a day).

We also needed a stronger steroid (and a slow taper down off it) to really get on top of things, but once properly under control, she's needed very, very little steroid.