Advice for a toddler with severe eczema while awaiting dermatology

[Mommy250524]

So my nearly 2 year old has been suffering with eczema for the majority of his life. We have tried all the creams and steriods the doctors will prescribe I've also tried some shop brought ones and oatmeal baths. We have been referred to the dermatologist but that could take forever, meanwhile my son scratches his ankle so badly i once found him with blood all over his hands. We have had to resort to constantly keeping in bandaged but this is now causing angry break outs around the edge of the bandages. We dont let any adhesive touch the skin i use first aid kit style wound pads to ensure they are sterile and breathable. I dont know what else i can do to help him, i dont know if its habit now or if its still that itchy as we have gotten the skin on the ankle back to what looks like normal skin but as soon as you give him the slightest freedom its back to racking it. I keep his nails trimmed and have even tried to encourage rubbing which he will do when im looking but as soon as i turn around or blink hes scratching it again. Does anyone have any advice, tips or suggestions?
Thank you for reading

You can buy viscopaste bandages which come preloaded with emollient. You need to keep it hydrated. You can buy diprobase cream. Lather it on as many times as you can in a day. Stop daily bathing. It dries to skin. Hydrocortisone cream for very angy areas. A thin layer.

Can you put him in clothes with the fold over mittens? This is what we had to do

btw the only way I don’t scratch my own itchy skin overnight is by taking sedating antihistamines at night. I don’t know what is safe for a 2 year old but it might be worth asking as having poor sleep only makes it worse.

have they looked at allergies?

i have a DD who has severe eczema. We were advised to avoid anything that foamed when washing my DD and also to reduce the amount of washing where possible. We now use Dermol 500
for washing her body and hair and that has made a big difference. We were advised to
make sure we washed it all off her skin thoroughly though as apparently it can dry the skin out more if it’s left on. Also tried many creams, prescribed and not and found that the only things that worked reliably for us were Epiderm in the pump bottle and Cerave in the round tub. I make sure I keep DDs nails short so if she does scratch, it minimises the irritation. The Dermol 500 and Cerave combination works best for us and even the more stubborn patches of skin have improved, but it’s taken around six months to get to this stage. She doesn’t scratch as much anymore but when she does sometimes it seems to be out of habit more than anything else. The other thing that has helped is putting her cream on when her skin is still damp after a bath/wash.

Weleda baby products only - the shampoo and wash we used twice a week to wash our son. We still only use now several years on

La rosey . we aren’t in uk, but this is what our local doctor prescribed Ds when he was around 8months onwards for dry skin ( so for young kids ok)

https://www.laroche-posay.co.uk/en_GB/the-best-multi-purpose-skin-healing-cream.html

Wearing only Cotton or wool ie natural materials helps. Not over washing..
don’t use wet wipes, we only use wet flannel cloths

Also as your son is 2, you can still buy large sized footed sleepsuits. I would try and buy these for bedtime to help protect him from scratching ankles and feet

Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise, moisturise, moisturise. I had a conversation with a really good dermatology nurse who advised that the key to management is moisturising a minimum of 4 times a day. When the skin is dry it has greater tendency to be itchy and breakdown. The more you can do it the better.

Appears you’ve had some good advice! My daughter had extreme eczema - related to food allergies. Once trigger removed, eczema improved. Oat baths defo a good shout, so soothing for them. I agree with reducing baths then give with no products barring oats (in a sock attached to tap so water runs through oats releasing its ‘milk’ - no flakes in water - saying this for other parents reading thread looking for support), wash hair in child’s farm. No ‘too warm’ baths. Ask GP to prescribe ‘skinnies’ for sleep at night, and allergy relief liquid med (chlorophenamine) to trial (check your child allergies) - short term as things improve. I also switched to non bio SMOL wash powder, 100% cotton or bamboo only bedding and clothes, no irritating polyester. Creams and emollients can be individual, it is about trial and error, however also sometimes less is more. This is why you really could do with dermatology support sooner.

https://www.allergyuk.org/
https://www.eczema.org.uk/

Look for the food allergies, oranges etc can trigger excema.

Junior Oilatum in luke warm bath then air dry afterwards.

My eczema disappeared after I cut out washing machine liquid/powder.

Also some eczema creams made my eczema more itchy, especially if applied before bed.

Could be a milk allergy?

There’s an all natural cream called Madeleines Cream which is amazing and also salcura body wash, spray etc but I would start looking into what’s actually causing it rather than just applying topical creams which treat the symptoms. Severe skin issues are nearly always related to issues with the gut and microbiome and triggered by food sensitivities. I would eliminate wheat, gluten, dairy, egg and citrus to see if you get any improvement and investigate getting some proper testing done. A GI Map will test the gut and identify microbiome issues and food allergy testing will identify triggers. It’s hard work to cure but totally possible. DD had skin issues when she was a young child and we reversed them by working on sorting out her gut so she can now (at 18) eat anything and everything without any problems. Her cousins who have severe eczema didn’t do anything but treat symptoms with gp prescribed creams and steroids still have it very badly as teenagers and adults.

Hi @Mommy250524

My dd was the same at that age, she is nearly 13 and we had to go for more aggressive treatment in the bed as none of the creams worked. Even at times now she cam still scratch til she bleeds.

My recommendations whilst you await dermatology

1. contact gp and ask if any other hospitals have a shorter waiting list. You can use your right to choose too!. Ideally find a specialist children's hospital. If you are in the Midlands QMC in Nottingham has an absolutely amazing peads dermatology team. They are like extended family to us after 11 years.

2. light cotton clothing. Nothing heavy or synthetic. Avoid anything with tight elastic, this can irritate the skin barrier

3. wash everything daily. Nothing worn twice. Wash bedding every 2-3 days, straight away if blood present.

4)Make sure that you run his clothes on a rinse cycle at least once when you wash them to make sure no soap residue is present

5. Cool showers not baths, don't rub dry, either let him air dry or gently pat dry.

6. ignore the instructions on the steroid creams. Use them consistently until the outbreak stops completely, dont stop after 3 days like they state (what are you currently using)

7. use kids sanex (or the aldi equivalent) in place of soap and shampoo.

Personally refuse the wet and dry wraps if offered. My dd was found to be hypersensitive to the the icthamal paste that is one the dry ones, she had such a severe reaction on her hands to it that even on chemo to suppress her immune system we still cannot control the eczema on her hands.

Consider washing his clothes/bedding/towels with just water or if you need washing detergent look at Surcare- totally scent free

try adding evening primrose oil to the emollient you are using (just cut open a capsule and add it to the cream). And also look at Balmy Pyjamas - these are expensive but we found them a godsend. My dd could not tolerate a lot of emollients - Aveeno for example made her more itchy. Eventually the only one she could tolerate was aqueous cream, so it might be the emollient causing the problem. it gets much worse in hot weather. Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream also worth trying for occasional use - it's very greasy but can help.

No fabric softener - I know the clothes seem rougher without it but it can irritate

extra rinse cycle on the machine

the GP told us you have to find the moisturiser that suits their skin - for us it was double base, we tried I think cetraben and it didn’t suit at all

hydrocortisone cream for flare ups

Burts bees baby bee shampoo and wash, its free of detergents
Aveeno baby cream.

Try Piriton you can get it in liquid form for babies over 12 months, if it stops the itching it could be allergy triggered eczema and you can ask your GP for a referral to a paediatric allergy specialist,

Also, non bio powder and dry clothes, towels and bedding indoors. As I said it needs moisture. I was once told when mine were little to lather in on each time they walked past me. Impossible but aim for 5 times a day. Also keep nails short.

Lots of great advice: If you change what you do/try different creams etc. You need to stick to it for a period of time before you change creams to strategies. So you can see what works or doesn’t. Don’t use multiple creams all at once. Simple routines but lots of moisturising.

Salcura body wash if you have to use anything, high strength probiotics and homemade laundry detergent ( grated baby Castile soap, borax substitute, I carb and water).

I have suffered all my life and now try and avoid steriods unless I am really desperate. These things help:

Stop using any washing powder or other products in the machine for clothes and bed linen - just wash in hot water until the flare up has reduced significantly. Once a flare has reduced, use something like Fairy that is designed for sensitive skin (but use less than recommended and only if needed).

Stop using soap or shampoo and any other products to wash - just use water and as infrequently as possible. Epsom salts in a warm (not hot) bath can also help or even swimming in the sea/salt water.

Some of the following may go against traditional advice, but it works for me so may be worth a try:

Stop using lots of heavy creams etc as they can exacerbate the problem. A simple calendula cream (chose a very natural one with least other ingredients) only at night may help.

Get outside in the fresh air as much as possible (with exposed skin not covered in creams). The sun does help me enormously (but obviously only for short periods when it is hot to avoid sunburn). Mine clears up substantially in the summer and gets worse in the winter.

Lightweight natural fabric loose clothing (or none at all) to allow as much air to circulate next to the skin as possible.

There are different types of eczema so what works for one may not work for another. I think it comes down to trial and error to see what works for you rather than rights and wrongs.

Yes cotton clothing as well. And eliminate sugar as much as possible. I brought up 4DC with eczema. 3 still suffer in adulthood to some extent.

All the creams the doctor has prescribed seem to irritate it more, we put the creams on and all the patches (and they are all over) go bright red and the next day all seem bigger and angrier, the steroid creams helped to start with but now they don't seem to do anything, we don't bath him daily as i know this can make it worse. Doctors have never mentioned that it could be allergies. Me and dad both have eczema but not to this degree and i do have allergies to dust and animal dander

If it's that bad I'd be taking him to the children's A&E and explaining that you have been referred to dermatology and that the prescribed treatments are not helping. What you really don't want is it getting infected.

Have you looked at alba health that’s what I’d do

Dermatology and GP's were no help with my DD's eczema, like you the creams they gave us just made the skin red and angry - we realised it was allergy related when the rash appeared in seconds when we happened to be in a pharmacy and the pharmacist told us, the rash then turned into eczema - we saw a paediatric allergies consultant privately and he gave us an NHS prescription and referred us to his NHS clinic, she had to take anti-histimines and go dairy free to get the eczema cleared and eventually she grew out of it around age 5.

Burts Bees sensitive baby wash was the only thing that didn't make her eczema worse and the Aveeno baby emollient - you couldn't really get it easily in the UK at the time but i think its available in supermarkets now.

For DS his eczema was just in one place and again we saw someone privately who was an eczema specialist consultant Dr i'd read about in The Times. One lot of cream from him cleared up the eczema for good.

@MrsPatrickDempsey this. When our sons was really bad we used epaderm emoillient five times a day in a thick layer all over his body and it really helped. We were also prescribed protopic by the dermatologist which was a godsend, have they given you this option?