Can anyone advise me on hand soaps or creams for eczema?

[TheCappster]

dd2 (5) has a very small amount of eczema - we only need to put her cream on occasionally now

but her hands are getting very dry and a bit scaly and red, probably because of her handwashing after painting and going to the loo etc

I wonder if there's anything we can do about this - obviously we are putting her creams on her hands again at night but is there a better soap for her to be using or a cream she can put on her hands after? (she tends to go overboard with most things in a tub, and whenever we put her cream on after a bath we have to work very hard to stop her turning herself into a huge slippery mess!)

i don't have eczema but i do get horribly dry, cracked skin on my hands if i use most soaps

simple soap works best for me. anyhting with any perfume in it instantly makes my hands flare up

I also use the barefoot botanicals SOS hand cream which works wonders on my skin (expensive though)

Epaderm can be used as a soap substitute, it's very moisturising (quite waxy - will stick to the sink and leave residues everywhere though), a lighter alternative is aqueous cream which would also work reasonably well as a hand soap alternative. Both of these are available on prescription. If you'd prefer a natural, non petroleum moisturiser I've just discovered Waitrose bottom butter, it's intended as a barrier cream for babies nappies, but it contains only olive oil, hydrogenated olive oil and camomile, it smells great and has a nice consistency. I've been using it on my baby DS's face as he has very dry skin (perhaps the beginnings of eczema which my older DD had badly as a baby).

Try Dermol or Doublebase moisturiser. Another good tip is to coat the children's hands in Vaseline before they paint etc. It really helps my daughter who has very severe eczema.

ooh - thanks for all these, will have a lurk around Boots

we have Epaderm but there is NO WAY I am leaving her unsupervised in a bathroom with it. You should see the havoc she wreaked with a small tin of lip balm

My little boy had really dry scaly rash diagnosed as excema at about 8 weeks.
Tried everything, most of which aggravated it. Including Diprobase, horrible stuff, Oilatum (ended up running water through sock with porridge oats in while he was a baby for bath) Did stop dairy which helped (used soya milk). Use aveeno moisturiser which is good.
But wanted something to wash him with that did not aggravate the skin.

I my self have very sensitive skin and use Dermalogica products which you cant by in general pharmacies. One day i decided to give my special cleansing gel a try,it is fairly expensive, but you only need a tiny amount, and it lasts for ages. It does not strip moisture from their skin. Have been using it on him ever since. He is now nearly 2 1/2 We stopped needing tp moisturise after a while, now just occasionally.
You can get Dermalogica special cleansing gel, from beauticians or over internet.

Get to boots and get yourself some aveeno. After handwashing put this on her. It's like miracle stuff for ezcema and dry skin. Search it on here and you will see lots of people advocating it. Can buy over the counter.

Aveeno is fantastic. Available on prescription also.

DS has chronic urtacaria and we use simple soap at home, and he has a bar at after school club. He has the E45 soap, perfume free handwash at school as its easier to use after painting etc.

He also has oilatum, double base prescribed and I use a non-bio washing powder.

DD has eczema and psoriasis (mostly under control).

Products we find help:

Weleda Baby calendula lotion (can get in most supermarkets, doesn't cost a fortune and a little goes a long way). One thing we like is that being calendula, it soothes and has a slight antibac property which is helpful if she is itchy and scratching.

GP recommended using no soap in baths at all. We can now use soap in moderation - for us, Trevarno Skincare (google) camomile soap has been the best. We also make sure all her skin products do not contain SLS (which can irritate sensitive skins) or strong perfumes/colours. The Trevarno soap does not look cheap, but only DD uses it and she only gets through apx 3 bars a year, so it works out ok. Plus, if I order by 'phone in the morning, it is not unheard of for the soap to arrive in the next morning's post (I only use standard delivery).

We use Boots baby moisturising cream on dd's hands. Is your dd at school? Dd has a tube in her tray at school to use as all day without cream is too long and her hands were getting really sore.

We have to constantly remind her to actually use it though!

Also, if your dd is at school, could she use her own soap there rather than the soap provided at school?

Lots of schools use anti bacterial liquid soap which can be very harsh to skin. Normal bar of soap (E45, Aveeno, etc.) is much milder. Could you let her have her own soap at school?

DS2 has bad eczema and I try only to use soap on him if absolutely necessary (eg after going to the loo). Otherwise, I just rinse with water. We also never use the anti-infection gels or sprays on his skin (they have these in most schools and they are often very harsh).

Also, make sure that she is drying her hands really thoroughly every time she washes them. She may need help with this at school. Certainly DS1 (5.1) is utterly hopeless at drying his hands. For some reason having damp hands dries out and irritates the skin.

oilatum make a soap which you can buy a the chemist

Hiya,

My DD has eczema, we tried so many things!
Aveeno - no change.
Oilatum - made it worse!
Aqueous Cream - no change.
Numerous others - no change!

She now has, and has done for a while because it's brilliant - Doublebase cream.
She has to get it on prescription. We put it on a few times a day.

She also has eumovate, again by the GP only, for when it's really bad - we call that the 'magic cream' - it's superb!

you can use emulsifying ointment as a soap substitute too.