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 e had some great advice already and I would second contacting Allergy UK and Eczema UK.

I would also have a read of this on CMPA and this on house dust mites as they were the main allergens that affected my DSis’ eczema

Has he had allergy testing ? We had to go private as the NHS wait was 1 year and I couldn't wait any longer. Allergic to Peanuts, sesame, dairy and egg and his skin was like day and night when I changed his diet. It was totally life-changing

Honestly I'd be looking for an allergy referral too.

I'd be chasing the dermatologist and allergy specialist for cancellations regularly and i'd be considering finding the money to go privately if its that bad.
Specialists often charge self funded patients less than insured ones so check.

It's not cheap but not crazy. I spend about £250 to get a diagnosis and £800 in total on my son.

While this wont be affordable for everyone...it is for many if they want.

my friend sat relentlessly complaining about the nhs while watching for son suffer for almost 2 years saying they didnt have the money to pay for a specialist like me.
In that time they went abroad 3 times... 🫠
Sometimes its unaffordable, sometimes its a question of prioritisation.

@SalmonOnFinnCrisp
I agree. We are overseas and allergy tests always done as standard for children like this with extreme skin issues or if you say you think they have allergies.

The costs of going private are really reasonable overseas in west Europe. If you can’t get in uk, I would contact a few clinics, explain your issue and how you could like allergy blood and skin tests and a skin check up done and almost all would see you fine as foreigner paying. In Germany or Austria for example you’re just looking for ‘Facharzt’ private doctor. Get one on a big city and they will speak great English and you can have full a-z done for a few hundred euros max. get a kinderarzt that specialises in young children.

There’s an excellent allergy clinic at Evelina London based on st Thomas’ hospital. I would ask your gp to send a referral for him to attend also

Zinc oxide and perhaps less heavy creams, not thick ointments. Do look up the Facebook ITSAN site- he may have developed topical steroid withdrawal where his body is reacting to the steroids themselves. Lots of advice there. Also beethebrave on Instagram xx

Please try colloidal silver, order a high strength off Amazon , comes from a Greek lab I think … put it into a spray bottle , spray affected areas cover with sterile wrap twice a day. Cleared my child’s eczema at the same age , worked better then steroid cream . She had eczema very bad on her arms and hands. ❤️ we had tried everything .

Definitely look at allergies, my friends son had an oat allergy so all the oat baths and oat creams were making him worse.

I'm in an allergy parenting group as my daughter has a lot of allergies and so many of the other children have eczema as well. The organiser of the group has set up free from families if you want to look her up

I would start by making some simple changes like the washing advice - especially not drying outside. Some of the children I know have to have this done as the pollen on the clothing makes their eczema worse. Shower/bath after being outside for similar reasons.

Try to strip back the number for creams to reduce variables to work out which are helping and which are making it worse

We do cloth nappies and for this we use powdered washing powder with no softener in and adjusting the dose to the size of the washing load and it is surprisingly how little washing powder you need. It also highlights the need/benefit of running a hot empty cycle once a month. I haven't used softener in clothes for about 15 years after discovering that my itchy skin was due to soap products. I switched to solid soap and shampoo at the same time and the itching that has plagued me all my life went! I avoid products with SLS in now.