Babies and Excema

[Allschwil]

I am wondering if our son has mild excema on his cheeks. Can anyone please describe how I can tell? Ta

Dear Allschwill, my sons eczema comes in patches of red dry skin, it gets flakey and itchy. Some patches are quite small but others can get quite extensive. He gets Oilatum bath, Aqueous cream and Emulsifying ointment (similar to Diprobase but cheaper and comes in a big tub, unlike Diprobase which comes in dinky little tubes!)on prescription. Liberal coatings of these generally keep his skin under control but the really bad patches are treated with a steroid cream. Unfortunately, every time we feel his skin is improving he starts to cut another tooth and it gets loads worse again. Five teeth down and lots still to go!
I think if you are in any doubt or if it gets worse it might be worth seeing your health visitor for a check.

I took my daughter to a homeopath when she had a patch around her mouth that wouldn't clear up - doctor had recommended steroids which I don't really like - they gave her a three day course of sulphur and pulsatilla (I THINK!) which did the trick. The cream I have always used with a lot of success is Calendula and I know it's not great for the really cracking/bleeding variety but it works a treat on small patches.

My doctor prescribed a 500g container of DiproBase cream for my daughter. I cannot get anything to clear up the sore bits in her elbow creases though. Also what is good for clearing up the dry skin on her scalp?

My son had very dry skin on his scalp so at bathtime I massaged some baby oil into his scalp and then washed his hair with Johnson's baby shampoo. It worked wonders. Only have to do it every 2 or 3 days now but then he is a bit of a bald baby!!

Josie, I haven't gone trough all the advice you've already got(not enough time today!) so if I'm repeating anyone else -sorry. My daughter had exzema from birth which started like cradle cap. The poor thing used to nearly tear her ears off with the itching until the G.P. prescribed Atarax syrup.It was fantastic as the itching stopped which gave us all a well earned rest. She also had a milk allergy until she was about 18mths old and because of this I had to introduce each new food separately over a week at a time. By doing this I found that yoghurt and bananas were the things that set off the exzema. Not typical problem foods. I have heard that tomatoes are one of the more common types. The water in my area is also said to be bad for this condition and spookily we went on holiday to Ireland for two weeks and the exzema cleared completely! It did return mildly when we got back but she now has the most beautiful skin without any signs of having had such a bad start. Ask your Dr. about Atarax as I can't begin to tell you the difference it made to all our lives. Good luck.

My son has bad excema, and we have just changed bath stuff and skin cream. We have now got Oilatum for the bath and Diprobase cream, and what a difference as we were using Balneum and Unguentum Merk, but they seemed to lose effect recently and his skin was getting worse again and we were having to use the steroid cream as well. We have also found out that he is having problems with enlarged Adenoids, so yet another bottle of stuff to be taken 3 times a day, next thing to take is for his hay fever.

Binza
Why is the water in your area said to bad for exzema, do you know? what sort of water is good for exzema? all information gratefully received!

The local water does seem to make a difference in some eczema cases. The water in NW London is very hard and has lots of lime. When I bath my 10 month old baby who has extensive eczema, he tears at his skin, it is awful. The sad thing is he loves baths but I have to ration them to a couple a week. When we go to visit my parents in Bournemouth, his eczema clears up @80%, as does my husbands... the explanation from my husband and my GP is that the water in Dorset is softer and has less lime. In Bournemouth my son has a bath every day and his skin is like silk after a few days. The benefits are so remarkable we are looking for a house down there and plan to relocate asap. The water might not improve all eczema but it can make a difference. I also only give filtered water, not tap water, as a drink, dont know if it is effective but it tastes better.

Sml
Now that you mention it saying the water is "bad" does sound a little odd! However, I was told by my G.P. that another patient of hers had recently been transferred through the army to my area and that her exzema had got significanly worse. I think it's probably for the reasons that Pj mentions i.e. hard water and full of lime. I do know that our dog prefers any water -dirty puddles,smelly stuff out of the waterbutt rather than it out of the tap!! In summer we have had to go onto a borehole for our water and when you pour it into a glass you can see how cloudy it is. I'm with the dog and don't drink it unless it's been in the purifier first! You could try adding cammomile to bath water for exzema as that is very soothing for the skin. Hope this helps.

Yes oatmeal is great. I put a handful in an old popsock and tie it to the tap so the bath water runs through. The oats do soften the water, as do Aveeno products which are oatbased and available on prescription.

Anyone out there have any experience with Chinese medicine? We have been using it for 2 weeks on our 17 month old. The first week saw an improvement but a rapid decline in the second. I'd be interested in anyone elses experiences.

Not quite sure how your 17m/old is being treated, but I've had great sucess in the past as an adult (with excema dating from when I was 6 or 7). First time the relief was within a week, and my skin steadily got better. Now, 5 years on, I'm back with the same chinese doc, and have been seeing her for same skin problems for about 12 months. Unfortunately, these problems seem reluctant to shift this time around, and I'm about to chuck it in as it costs so much.
Keep up with seeing the doc for a few months at least, to at least give it a chance.

My 18 mo has suffered from eczema since he was born it seems. his birth was really stressfull and I was in ICU and he was Special care nursery for the first three days, he was also bottle fed though i went on to completely breastfeed him once I got him 'back' recnt studies seem to indicate that babies seperated from mums very early on like in neonatal icu or scn are much more likely to develope eczema. we tried hydrocortisone reluctantly but he was so uncomfortable we would have tried anything, and while it cleared the rash initially it always came back so we stopped using it. the water in your area makes a huge difference, hard water is so harsh on skin and certainly makes it worse. I put either seaweed or deadsea bath salts in his bath and use Beelief eczema cream (see www.beelief.com) which makes a huge difference as it stops the itch. he's allergic to all dairy products so we use soya milk etc. (he also seemed to be allergic to goats milk) He has hadhomeopathy ?sp and it certainly helped but he still gets itchy at the base of his spine and tops of his arms, worse now that the weather is colder so we're going to try acupuncture and chinese medicine as I have heard great reports.

Dear Shiv
Definately worth trying Chinese medicine... try and get a recommendation for a practitioner if you can. Steriod creams are not the answer if you can find an alternative. Now that it's getting colder, try putting more bowls of water around the house near radiators etc, to try and re moisten the air. Also consider putting in a water softener. My MIL has one, and saves buckets on washing powder and electricity as her water is so soft.
Don't forget that if your son is on soya milk to make sure he gets enough calcium through his food. Try chickpeas (hummous was a BIG hit with my son), tinned sardines (YUK, but big hit also) and kidney beans/ pulses. No doubt you've talked to your HV about it, but let me know if you need more ideas. (Sorry, I've digressed!!)
Good Luck

My son (and my husband when he was little - 90% coverage!) suffered from excema. Have you tried SK Cream (avilable from Margaret Evans Tel : 01526 832491 or info at [email protected]). It's totally natural and REALLY helped my son's excema. The people who manufacture it are not a big business (I think their main business is cow farming!) so keep trying the number - they sometimes can't answer. Also....another good ongoing treatment (for when it's flaired up or in remission) is giving your baby flax seed oil in his daily diet. You can get it at most health food shops (try to get the organic ones) - mix the oil in any cold foods he's having (it can't be warmed as it goes rancid). Hope this helps...
(PS Hope I haven't repeated what someone else has suggested - I didn't have a chance to through all the replies!)

does anyone have a contact no or url for the national excema society?

Hi carriemac, it's www.eczema.org
HTH

Any advice for my 25 year old daughter please? She only had mild childhood eczema but since her university years (and living in disgusting student digs) she has suffered really badly and is red and raw a great deal of the time. She lives in London so the water probably doesn't help. She is seeing Chinese herbalist right now and the herbs have certainly made a positive difference but at £5.50 a day she doesn't think she'll be able to afford to continue with them indefinitely. Air conditioning at work doesn't improve things - she has replaced all carpets with woden floors but really she could do with a miracle to stop the itching and give her a more normal life. All help gratefuly received.

Be careful about Chinese medicine. My dermatology consultant said that there is evidence it causes liver damage. I had enquired about it for my 14 year old son so I would be really concerned about young babies and toddlers being given chinses remedies.

sorry - chinese remedies

Check the Elena Schalburg range (there is also a recent thread on this)... Elena is currently advertising on the home page of this site.

Tippuk, what washing powder/liquid does she use for her clothes? Might be worth checking if she has changed her soap or washing powder from what you used at home. Or any cleaning products she uses. There must be something triggering it and aggravating it, whether it is dietary or environmental she will have to try to pin it down. Has she had any allergy tests done?

Tippuk - your daughter sounds very much like me - I never suffered from eczema as a child and it only really took hold when I was in my early 20s. I have tried loads of treatments, both conventional and complementary, and have found that i)the only things that really make a difference are strong steroid creams and ii)that the effects seem to be quite short lived, so that a particular prescription may work for a couple of months but then stops.
I have, however, been prescribed a new cream called Fucibet which contains an anti-biotic as well as steroids. This works on the principle that eczema gets chronically infected (not always obviously) and whilst the infection remains the skin cannot heal. I've had a really good result with this, although it's too early to tell what the long term outcome might be.
I've been patch-tested by the dermatologist on a couple of occasions and have not found it particularly useful. Whilst it has showed up, in my case, various allergies, simply avoiding these allergens does not make the eczema go away.
One thing I have found is that handling certain raw foods (things like potatoes, carrots and many other veggies)irritates the skin on my hands tremendously - has your daughter been doing a lot more food preparation recently? Might be worth avoiding. Hope this helps.