Eczema!!

[crazyone1974]

My 5 year old has suffered badly with eczema since he was 9 months old.
We see dermatology every 2 weeks, sometimes more often but it's always 'here's another steroid cream' or 'continue with this steroid cream'
I'm now at the point where I feel I cannot keep using these steroid creams on him. His skin isn't getting any better.
We've tried oat baths, done nothing plus he doesn't like the smell 🙃
Lots and lots of moisturiser, antihistamines, zinc products, eumovate, trimovate, mometsone, it's never ending.

Anybody have any advice or products that you have found worked?
Also how accurate would an allergy test be (do allergies even cause eczema?)

I've just put him to bed scratching himself to bits with blood on his pyjamas I'm honestly at my wits end with it & I feel terrible for him 😭

My eczema is triggered by allergies. It’s not as severe as your son’s anymore, but it was horrific when I was a child/teen. It definitely improved as I got older as it’s manageable now. I had allergy testing and pretty much everything I was tested for (dust mites, pollen, animals etc.) came back positive. My son has eczema which worsens when he has dairy as he has CMPA, but we mainly manage to keep on top of it by avoiding allergens and putting hydromol ointment in his bath. I’d definitely get him tested for allergies, but be aware that some food allergies can’t be patch tested for (eg. delayed CMPA), they can only be diagnosed through an elimination diet.

I had eczema as a child - loved me a bleeds scratch on the back of the knees and inner elbow. My mum would slap on a thick layer of Eumovate and then a big square of gauze/cotton wool over the top so I couldn’t get at it

Allergies and eczema go hand in hand, and uncontrolled eczema and undiagnosed/unmanaged allergies are also more likely to lead to asthma. Get the allergy tests so you know if there's something triggering the eczema. Then you'll be more likely to be able to get the eczema under control. I don't know where you live but Dr Helen Cox in London is one of the foremost doctors for treating childhood eczema and allergies.

Sorry, just seen you’ve already had the eumovate. I didn’t have any diagnosed allergies when I was also your son’s age but the gauze did help to break the cycle whenever I had a flare up

Thanks everyone. He has Dermotology today so I'm gonna ask about allergy testing. Doctor put me off it years ago saying it was all needles and sometimes not accurate.

We don't do gauges but we've got skinny garments. Might ask for some gauge today.

Bit of an upset this morning putting school clothes on as it's rubbing against his skin, wish I could take it from him.

Oh this takes me back, it is so hard to cope with and to make progress. My DS made massive improvement when he caught chicken pox, almost as if healing from that caused his body to heal the eczema. He was so used to being itchy he hardly noticed the chicken pox all over him, he was about 4 years at the time. Cotton clothing, don't get too hot in clothing, keep nails short, learn to slap instead of scratch, all things you've no doubt already done. Don't fret too much about long term steroid use if it's helping to keep breakouts at bay - you're seeing a dermatologist so it's not as if you're just slathering it on unchecked. He may grow out of it, or reduce severity or flare ups. Hoping it soon improves for you both.

My daughter had bad eczema when she was little,I found scratch sleeves really helped her at bedtime, she would still scratch but it would stop her breaking the skin. We also found udder cream and cetraben were the best emollients as I would try to avoid using the steroid creams. She’s mostly grown out of now she is 10 but recently used epaderm junior cream.

One of the bloggers I follow has been dealing with her child's eczema. She doesn't do paid promotions, just shared her experience
the_home kim built
There is also a big chat there called eczemawarriors I hope that helps

Betnovate was what worked for my daughter.
Sorry if you've tried this, but I don't think you listed it. Solidarity - it's hard.

calendula lotion

Cream, cream, cream, more cream. Cut out dairy etc. The main thing was putting him in cotton or silk eczema pj's with scratch mitts. Like the sort babies wear. It stopped him ripping himself apart at night. He's a tween now and he's a different child. They do often eventually grow out of it. It's absolutely shit before that though. He and another family matter looked like burn victims during bad breakouts at the worse though. And would bloody their beds scratching.

Be very aware when you roll him in emollients though that it's extremely flammable, especially the clothing. And make sure you're never letting him help cook or near a BBQ or anything.

Don’t stop the steroid and have the skin split and crack, this is excruciatingly painful, and infections aren’t what you want. keep nails short and filed to prevent them breaking the skin when scratching. Trying to tap skin when it itches instead of scratching can help.

Eumovate is better for me than betnovate cream was, but they used to make betnovate ointment which is a bit greasy but sits heavier on the skin.

check shampoo doesn’t have SLS in it as this can be an irritant too.

and you can try dairy free. I love cheese but honestly it’s a massive trigger for my eczema- I’ve not eaten any for about 4 weeks and it’s made a huge difference. I’m okay with milk/butter, but often within about an hour of eating cheese, my skin is itching.

make sure school are letting him wash hands rather than using a sanitiser as that can be very drying.

I hope you find something that helps soon

*oh and with feet attached too. You could also sew some eczema mitts to long sleeves of you can't find any in his size.

Oh! And only wash him when you have to. I see people recommending daily washing etc for eczema. If you've ever had it on your hands you'd know that's madness, so wash him when he's dirty/smelly. If that's weekly or less he'll be fine.

They won't test for allergies in my experience because they usually will grow out of these allergies. But if you can pay private, I would.

Have you tried Epaderm ointment? My DC had really bad eczema and nothing worked until we got Epaderm cream. Drs will usually try all the cheapest options before prescribing Epaderm ointment. Epaderm cream wasn’t strong enough for my DC but the epaderm ointment worked. You can buy it in the pharmacy

Ive started using beef tallow cream and it has completely cleared up my severe eczema. Saw loads of adverts on instagram and decided to try it and am amazed that it actually works. The one i use is called Thunderbird Skin rescue balm.

Hello

I am 38 and have had eczema my whole life.

Firstly, the suggestions on here are great especially Betnovate which is my personal fave! But I wanted to give you advice (I am not in the medical profession so take with a pinch of salt) from an eczema sufferers point of view.

An eczema itch feels like you want to stab the skin with a knife and twist it round and round because the itch is that intense. In order to keep my eczema at bay I find it is using something that satisfies that intense itch without causing as much damage as scratching that is key to breaking the itch scratch cycle. After copious amounts of internet research and trying different things like back scratchers, slapping and pinching, bug bite relief pens, bug bite zappers, massagers, hairbrushes and deep freeze I think the absolute best tool at satisfying that itch whilst being so much softer than nails is an electronic rotating scalp massager like this one;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Electric-Scalp-Massager-Rechargeable/dp/B0DDK85VZM/ref=sr_1_11_sspa?crid=3NE20F8MW9RYY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jxzBe85eSddOAnIA1sG2skg0__XSQJd2rXjn7Co8Yfa1kmC63gCP1ywOngbBV9JYAzFm9M4Y2i3a4EV7C-zvoKtw-T8dlHYRd4SSaBir9EyY4kYMzAm8nYiCOJOb4MZkIA2Uyw_Nyj041M-fwtZsnHkj1pym2CEut4NB9YuSDJpSpBdZVm7JOwuOsZdNRDb0cRw4IILpd0E21bR0mE__ZtAnJZRzlPSCQN44D_mVxFN1dImVsbZ1KnfbUscAGuoW2M6Oc5YaOHDT9lUJEd77jfYZEZmCHkDlXxJ9K8ROYjg.sv1HKccSXl2MLDx09wBa3ms5QGvZ6zPRSYElMIsU1FA&dib_tag=se&keywords=Scalp+massager&qid=1749581109&sprefix=scalp+massager%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-11-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

Im not saying it’s 100% soft on skin but it’s so much better than scratching and in my opinion just as satisfying. A hairdryer is also quite effective.

Im also yet to try these products as they are pretty pricey but I’m interested to know how well they work; https://cosi-care.com/collections/products

In terms of emollients I have tried them all pretty much and it’s down to what the individual prefers, but I use Oilatum shower gel, diprobase cream and lipobase cream on my face. For wet wraps I use yellow soft paraffin. In terms of steroids my go to is Betnovate but Dermovate is the strongest and I always have this on hand if the Betnovate doesn’t work.

With regard to the dermatologist it sounds like they have kept you on creams and steroids so far which is like the first stage of eczema treatment, the next stage is to go to immunosuppressants. I highly recommend tacrolimus (topical cream) it’s horrible to use for the first 3 days as it gives a burning sensation but after that it is absolutely incredible at long term reduction in itching and allergic reactions. I was actually on an oral immunosuppressant when I was younger but that comes with other risks. The next stage after that is light therapy (very costly to the NHS) which I have not had but I’ve heard works amazingly.

I would definitely try buying a rotating scalp massager to help satisfy the itch and also ask about tacrolimus.

Oooh, in the vein of the massager, how about a Tens machine?

I gave myself hot water bottle burns on my bum cheeks recently and wanted to scratch so so badly. Got a Tens machine for £20 on Deliveroo within the hour. Sweet relief.

Sending love and solidarity! My three year old suffered terribly with eczema as a baby, and still does if we don’t keep on top of it. What really helped us was a maintenance regime, where basically we use a steroid once a week on the areas where he flares (which is all over pretty much!). We have also been prescribed protopic cream for the areas of his body that don’t respond to steroids/areas where the eczema comes back straight after steroid treatment/weaning off them. He LIVES in eczema gloves (skinnies) so that he can’t make himself bleed.

In terms of allergies, we have been under the allergy clinic and had all sorts of allergy testing. They clarified that whilst a significant chunk of people have eczema AND allergies, it’s only in a very small percentage of people whereby the allergy CAUSES the eczema-usually it’s just due to genetics and/or their natural skin make up! Having this clarified really helped me stop searching for triggers and accepting that this is just his skin and we just have to manage the impact as much as possible, but the only way we’ve been able to do that is essentially preventing it from flaring as opposed to treating once it’s flared.

I would talk to dermatology about a maintenance regime and/or protopic treatments if you haven’t already.

I have found the eczema very very hard to cope with. It takes over your life and the treatment regime is gruelling. I think my little boy has about seven different creams for different areas of his body on different days of the week. The mental load is huge and it’s really affected my mood. I cried at the dermatologist last week and she completed understood (were really struggling with his hands at the moment). It’s hard to describe the stress that comes with it to other people which is why I wanted to share our experience and send you some love! You’re not alone xx

I’ve just looked that up and I’m tempted!

This is exactly right, people with atopic dermatitis (eczema) have hardly any lipid matrix around the cells in the stratum cornerman (upper most layer of skin) and the skin therefore gets dry and cracked and isn’t as well protected from allergens which then irritate the skin. That is why it is important to apply emollient creams as that acts as a barrier similar to the lipid matrix.

Protopic is the brand name for tacrolimus which is a topical immunosuppressant which I have found great to use and it’s safe to use on the face and round the eyes as well. The first 3 days of use I find awful as it feels like it’s burning but after that it’s great!

How did you appointment go?
I have had eczema all my life, only got manageable in my late 30’s (sorry).
Steroid creams/ointments are good but when skin get better you stop & skin flares up again, it’s a vicious circle.
In adulthood I had to resort to wearing cotton gloves to bed to stop me scratching! Also, always went for ointments rather than creams, more greasy so the skin doesn’t dry out, which can cause the itch.
As previously suggested push for allergy tests. I had them with some impressive outcomes.
Theres also bath oils to use purely in the bath or apply to the skin as a wash (I use Balneum Plus)
I now have to take an antihistamine every day (all year) & unfortunately immunosuppressants which pretty much solved it for me (apart from the odd flare up when under high stress).
Hope your dermatologist can help xx

I also use Protopic & found it to be very good

Milton bath, epaderm moisturiser and happy skin eczema soothing leggings for night time