Can someone who knows about eczema come and talk to me about it please

[Saltire]

as I am not sure if DS1 has it or an allergy or soemthing else. When he was younger he would get "cheese grater" patches on his skin and I was given aqueous cream to rub in. Its never been a huge problem, and he is now 12. Then about October last year he got 2 maxssive red patches on his shins, which was very itchy. We assumed it had been caused by his shin pads for football.

Anyway it has never healed up, and since we moved in february have got a lot worse - also he has tiny red patches all over his groin, thighs,arms,back and chest. Tiny little patches, not much bigger than my little finger nail

I have had him at gp here, and they couldn't tell me what was causing it to flare up - he's never had it this bad before, and they keep prescribing hydroctorisone, which I am really not happy about using.
I am smearing him in aqueous cream 3 times a day and he is using it to shower, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better
it looks very similar to this

I would really appreciate some advice and help with this. It's starting to bother him as it can be seen all over his arms when he wears a t-shirt, and the patches on his shins are really big, about the size of the palm of my hand and the skin is broken and it looks unsightly

bump

Poor thing.

My only advice is to steer clear of hydrocortisone and aqueous cream. Try to use as much natural stuff as possible.

IMO there's normally a reason behind eczema. Have you looked at his diet? Common causes are dairy and wheat. Do you have pets? As it's changed since you've moved I'm thinking it's an allergy to something in the house - dust mites etc. Do you have carpets?

It's not pets, because we had 2 dogs while he was growing up and have had our current one for 2 years.
He doesn't eat an excessive amount of dairy - not sure about wheat - but if it was wheat, surely it would have appeared in this condition before now?

Kerry - we moved from Hampshire to Yorkshire.

No new foods, or washing powders,

There were new carpets put down before we moved in (its a married quarter) and also all the other carpets were chemically cleaned due to previous occupants having dogs
House was repainted top to bottom before we moved in

What about carpets?

I come onto every thread about eczema and shout about Aveeno. I don't work for the company (honest) but I read (and continue to read) such positive things about it on here. It worked wonders for my DD and you can get cream and bath oil on prescription too.

my DH has eczema, his flares up with fresh juices and doctor pepper!, finds gold old E45 cream works wonders x

thats good not gold! :0

I don't know - it's never been like this before. As I said in OP he's had odd flare ups off cheese grater rough skin but nothing as bad as this. Also, I got him to avoid bath/shower for a couple of days (not good in teenager) and it helped the big patches on his legs - but not completely- but the rest is as bad as ever.

This is why I wondered if it could be an allergy, simply because it's never been like this, and if you take the legs out teh equation then it's a recent thing

Ahem, dd1 is more allergic to aveeno than you can possibly imagine! If you're of an allergic disposition then you probably need something free from perfume/lanolin/parabens, petrochemicals etc. Eg dermasalve ( is hideously expensive but can get it on prescription). Also non perfumed non bio washing powder eg surcare, with extra rinses.

That picture doesn't look like typical contact eczema to me, more like an allergic reaction (we have all varieties in this family!). Would push for a referral...

He has aqueous cream, which is getting smeared all over.

The hydrocortisone and antibiotic creams made the patches on his legs go all hot,red and shiny and had green patches in them . So I stopped using it

The picture in the link you have provided looks a bit like psoriasis which you can develop at any age and is where the skin cells divide too rapidly producing silvery scales which can itch. The basic treatment would be the same - aqueous creams and steroid creams (hydrocortisone)

It sounds like the GP who has seen it wanted to try hydrocortisone, have you tried it?

Please do not be too wary of using the hydrocortisone creams they really can help and any adverse effects are associated with prolonged use of very strong versions.

Both me dh and both dcs suffer; for each of us we have had to find a combination of creams that help us.Bearing that in mind I would go back to the gp and ask for something else to try. There is no one treatment for excema so that gps just offer what they have found helpful before.

As for other things to try I find allergenics very good (from holland and barrett) and lots of people rave about dream cream from Lush although the smell might put him off.

But to be honest you should seek medical advice just in case it isn't excema at all.

good luck

The doc has said that he thinks it exzema, but if it doesn't clear up within a month then they will refer him to hospital to see a dermatologist