5 yo eczema spreading

[TheStuffalo]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post for advice.

5 yo DS started getting eczema when he was 3ish behind his knees and inside his elbows. It was contained to this area and at first we treated it successfully using zeroderm and it cleared up in the summer.

when he was 4yo, he got asthma and after a blood test he scored 6/6 for a dust mite allergy (we had an emergency trip to hospital). We carried on treating his eczema with cream and it would flare on and off but it is now progressively getting worse. We started treating it with a steroid cream given to us by the GP - first hydrocortisone for a week. This seemed to work but then it deteriorated again so last month we were prescribed Fucidin. We used this for 5 days behind his knees/elbows and it worked but now not only has it gone back to square one but has spread all over his body. Legs/arma/back/groin/elbows. When I say spread, I mean he's scratching all over and causing all these little marks.
the scratching happens mainly at night and he won't stop. I called the GP but the next appointment they have is in 2 weeks time and nothing sooner.
I really need some help to control this as I didn't imagine it would spread to this extent.

things we have done:

• nails cut super short
• hoover daily (I'm saving to get the carpets in his room taken up)
• a special hoover for his bed to get rid of dustmites
• calamine lotion (although not for the past week as I can't find any at local chemists)
• Using cetraben x 2 day
• cotton pjs
• cotton bedding
• anti allergy pillow and duvet.
• bedding washed once a week at 90degrews and tumble dried
• air purifier in his room (not sure how good this is tbh)
• antihistamie before bed

putting cream on him is such a struggle. He cries and screams and wails but I get it done. I have tried getting him to wear gloves to bed but no joy. I bought really expensive pjs with mits from an eczema website but he refuses to wear it to bed.

I bought a scratch star and roller from cosi care but he's not interested.

please tell me what more can I do? Since using fucidin it's gotten so much worse. I'm really reluctant to use a steroid.

his sleep is terrible because of the scratching and he gets so irritable. I'm really not sure what else I can do. I'm hoping to get the carpets up in March but am hoovering regularly.

any tips much appreciated.

I'd cut out dairy and if that doesn't work cut out egg. They are the top triggers for eczema from diet.

You have my sympathy, eczema sucks. It sounds like you're doing lots of good stuff.

Hydrocortisone is a weak steroid so if it worked but then the eczema came back, he might just need a stronger steroid.

I think fucidin is just an antibiotic.

So I'd be thinking of requesting some stronger topical steroids. My son's eczema was terrible when an infant and he needed stronger creams (like Synalar and Eumovate). We'd do a few days until skin was better and then taper down slowly.

Can't help with dust mites as my son's is triggered by foods x

So tough, I know

Maybe reduce sugar too? DDS's eczema flares up when she's had too much

@Scootboot thanks for replying. We did an allergy blood test because of his asthma and milk and egg didn't come up as an allergy but house dust mites did. I feel like it would be so much easier if it was food related as I feel like food is easier to control than dust mites which are microscopic and everywhere!

@coxesorangepippin i'll try this. We could do with reducing sugar generally and see if that helps. We used to be relatively strict with sugar until he was 2 and now he has something sugary at least once a day but just one thing, not heaps unless he's at a party.

@Alloveragain3 oh no!! The GP told us that it was a steroid and antibiotic 2in1 cream so I just used that and no moisturiser on the days we were doing it as it was already distressing enough as it was doing one cream. I've probably made his skin worse by not moisturising as usual 🤦🏽‍♀️

AFAIK fucidin is an antibiotic only while fuciderm contains steroids too. Minefield!

Allergy blood tests only show ige-mediated allergies. Eczema is typically the result of non-ige mediated allergies. You cant test for non-ige apart from eliminating it from the diet and see if symptoms get better and then eating the allergen again to see if symptoms return.

Also known as 'Fucidin H'?

Yes, sorry, Fuciderm may well be the veterinary name (I'm a vet!), and Fucidin H is the human version.

Just "Fucidin" would be antibiotics alone though.

If he hates the emollient being applied I would suggest it may sting? Worth trying a different one? I can only use diprobase. Kids use Dermol.
Apply loads. Much much more frequently. Not twice a day. At least five times.
What do you wash clothes in? I’m allergic to MI and many many people are. It’s in lots of liquids.
How often does he bathe and what products do you use?

It is just the Fucidin, I've just checked. This means I haven't been applying the steroids like I thought I had and he's also had 5 days of no proper moisturiser 🤦🏽‍♀️ maybe he's also had a bad reaction the Fucidin? I've only applied it to the backs of the knees and elbows so not sure why the eczema is now everywhere.

@Wolfiefan we tried a different cream once and he said that one was stinging so we stopped using it. With cetraben he just says it feels wet so I've assumed it's more of a texture thing. He's the type of kid that doesn't like to stand still for a minute so I also think it's the act of having to stay put for a few seconds that makes him hate it. He's also clocked on that his little sister doesn't have to moisturise like he does and he thinks it's wildly unfair. It's a good tip to do it more often so we'll try and work around that before and after school and weekends.

we've been using fairy non bio since DS was a baby so I assumed it's not that although I'm open to trying other things.

I saw an old post on here where someone said a water softener helped their child so might look into that too as we live in a hard water area.

Has anyone tried the Boots Calamine & Glycerin Cream??

I thought calamine was drying so wouldn’t use that. Is the Fairy a liquid? Could be MI allergy. I also give an extra rinse cycle in the machine.
Do look at what he’s using to bathe with and how often. It really makes a difference.

Hey, i found that using a wool duvet helped with my little boy’s eczema. He has baavet wool mattress protector, pillow and duvet. He doesn’t Sweat under it as they are temperature regulating! I found out that the anti allergy bedding has chemicals used in them, https://www.allergyuk.org/our-services/allergyuk-products/sainsburys-home-anti-allergy-bedding/#:~:text=Fiber%20used%20in%20our%20Anti,%2C%20Fungi%2FMould%20and%20Bacteria.

Try using natural products that have no chemical used in them. Hope this helps

I found fairy non bio was horrific for my son's eczema! It even made his older sister break out behind the knees and inside the elbows, and she'd never had eczema before! Ive since learned eczema in those locations screams a reaction to something in the clothing.

I switched to ecover non bio and also ran an extra rinse with every wash. My DD's patches disappeared and my DS's greatly reduced. We still get odd patches on his back but nothing on body creases anymore

@Wolfiefan thanks, MIL said it might help soothe the itching but I didn't realise it was drying

@Welshdotty i'll have a search now for a wool duvet! I take it the habitat duvet is no good then?

@TwinkleStarWhatAre I think it's time to try something else and try the extra rinse too. Thank you.

has anyone used an eco egg washer? I'll give ecover a go in the meantime

Have a look at https://eczema.org/
You need to use as much emollient as you can, as pp said, many times a day.
If it stings, use an ointment rather than cream. Something like cetraben ointment has a nice buttery texture rather than greasy, but everyone has their own preferences.
Steroid to get it back under control.
Calamine is drying, so avoid this.
Not sure what you do about baths/showers, but keep the water cool. Avoid soap/bubble bath/scented products as much as possible. And emollient immediately afterwards to stop skin drying out.
Hope you find something that helps soon.

i would suggest something 100% natural

I'm sorry to hear that your son has this, it's distressing to watch them in scratching frenzies. My partner is allergic to dust mite protein & mould/fungus since he was a baby. Told he would grow out of it, yeah right. So, he has eczema and asthma & has been in skin hospitals with the eczema. We've tried all sorts, special mattresses & vacuums etc. Stress exacerbates it and he has ADHD, I've read there's a link. He uses Mometasone Fuorate (not sure if spelling correct) which I think is a steroid & helps control it if he gets a flare. He has to be constantly reminded to put the emollient cetraben on. He had a long period of no flares and we think maybe the removing carpets, curtains and fabric couches helped plus his previous home was in a damp area & his home had mould. I saw one of these tv specialist dermatologists saying that people with eczema have skin that allows more staphylococci to invade & cause infections, obviously the intense scratching exacerbates this and she advocated weak bleach baths, about a third of a cup to kill the microbes & this has helped my partner dampen down flares. Obviously you need to verify this with a health professional, it might not be suitable for a young lad. He had some temporary relief with Gladskin, Aveeno and oatmeal baths but these things seem to only work temporarily then the eczema bursts back through. Good luck, I hope you find something to help & he grows out of it.

We use E45 eczema repair all over twice a day but in the time we've been using it the price has gone from £11 to £20!

Sorry forgot to add re bath - we were using child's farm until he was about four but when the eczema became worse we switched to using the epaderm (or zeroderm?) ointment and rubbing it on his skin in the bath like a cleanser and using oilatum as a shampoo/bodywash. We tend to bathe him every other day and use a cooler bath although he sometimes insists on adding hot water which I don't think is good for him.

thank you @CherryRipe1 i'll add the query re the weak bleach bath to ask the doctor as I've seen a few threads talk about this but won't do it unless recommend as he's so young and I don't want to risk anything. I'm sorry your partner is suffering so much.

@bakewellbride ouch that is a ridiculous price rise!!

Couldnt read and run x

For us, what worked was cutting out dairy which turned a corner and treated the foare up with a stronger steroid at the sane time.. DD4 was a OTT milk drinker-cheese eater- all kinds of dairy you name it she eats it all up, she loves them.

We just tried stopping dairy as a last resort and she never had flare-ups once the last one treated by steroid. Now being managed by vaseline twice a day, using child's farm sensitive wash for shower, zero fabric softener on washing.

And recently realised she reacts to soft boiled egg 😐

Not saying this will work your LO. But saying you got to try what you havent and see if anything changes.. try changing diet for two weeks and see how you get on

Oh and while the steroid did its work, we put that vest type of gloves on her for nights as she couldnt sleep with all the scratching(till it bled)

The gloves that they cannot remove. Put them inside their pjs

There’s lots of research going on at the moment about low vitamin D and its effect on eczema. Example here I would start him on a supplement, the gummies are easy for younger children.

Fucidin is normally prescribed for impetigo, so I’m wondering why your GP prescribed that. Is there any orange coloured crust on his eczema? As an alternative treatment, if his eczema is infected from scratching then Fucibet is a combination steroid and antibiotic cream which might work better.

Just thought I would update you - went to see the GP last week and what I thought was the eczema spreading was a skin infection. I feel so guilty but we have antibiotics now and I am thankful the infection wasn't as bad as it could have been. I really didn't think it was bad enough to warrant a call to 111 but next time I'll go that route instead of waiting two weeks for a GP appointment.

we are going back for a review in two weeks before getting a referral to the dermatologist. I'm also looking into getting a water softener.