ADVICE ON ECZEMA PLEASE! My Baby Dont Want To Be Touched! How Else Can I Treat These Symptoms?

[Leanne5489]

Hello,
I came on here to hopefully find some tips on how to treat the symptoms of Eczema on my 7 month old Son.
His cheeks, arms, elbows, legs, behind his knee's and below his chest have dry, red, sore and some times inflamed patches. The patches are small but are close together and some look joined..more have appeared recently. I have taken him to the doctors several times but they kept fobbing me off with "Bath him daily" and "Use this cream..use that cream" or "Its just dry skin"!! I have used Aqueous cream, Oilatum, Epiderm and E45 for babies and toddlers and everything has irritated it and made the patches flare up. It has got to the point where my baby dont want to be touched :( I try to keep him cool as much as I can but spring/summer is approaching and Iam dreading it for his sake :( Can anyone help?

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1254715/Eczema-cream-making-skin-worse.html

I stopped using all of the creams you mentioned and my skin cleared right up.

Thankyou for the link - I have been using aqueous cream as a soap alternative and not a moisturiser but after reading that Im just going to cut it out all together and bin it! Thanks!

Have they given you a mild hydrocortisone cream?

don't use soap in the bath just bathe in water

try Aveeno cream

why are your doctors saying it's not excema? question them and ask what it is instead

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3244814.stm

Here's another article concerning aqueous cream and children.

My friend had started using it as a facial moisturiser after her GP recommended it for her dry skin, you should have seen the mess it made!

When DS was a baby he had a few patches but they cleared up after we started going to baby massage classes. I wish I remember what the oil was...

Foxinsocks - No, they havent prescribed me anythin to use other then the creams I mentioned. What is mild hydrocortisone cream?

Activate - It was the doctor who told me bathin him in plain water would make it worse and to use Aqueous cream to prevent that from happenin but I'am definitely cuttin that out now..plain water from now on! I dont know why they wont diagnose it as eczema, I have taken him several times and demanded an answer, one doctor even called in a paediatrician who said she's sure its eczema but he then over-ruled her opinion and said it was just a bad case of dry skin! NHS cutbacks is all I can think off right now as to why they wont diagnose it.

Gettin him dressed and undressed is a struggle every day, he cries continously then afterwards his skin is red raw and inflamed again.

I use Lush's Dream Cream to get rid of my eczema-like stuff. No idea whether it would work for a baby although googling suggests people do use if for babies

here

and here

Take him back and try and see another GP

If it's sore like that, he needs something else. They often start with mild hydrocortisone - it's a mild steroid cream but helps bring down the inflammation. You don't have to use a lot but it can make a huge difference. The GP needs to prescribe it at his age.

I don't like the thought of him suffering :-(

My DS has mild to moderate eczema.I started a thread a couple of days ago about it.
I have the Lush Dream Cream for myself but I wouldn't use it on DS as it is very perfumed.
I used porridge oats in his bath tonight (popped a handful in a pop sock)and it was the first time he's ever enjoyed his bath and not been scratching like mad. I also had the water a bit cooler than usual (about 34 degrees) which may have helped.
At the moment he is on hydrocortisone (mild steroid) twice a day on the bad bits which clears them up quickly. But it is so hard keeping on top of it.
If you are using the hydrocortisone then make sure you use it at separate times (45 minute gap at least) to moisturising.
I'm going to try some Aveeno as I've heard good things.
My DS is 11.5 months btw.

We had this DS seems to be allergic to chemicals in creams. When he had c pox we stopped them skin cleared up and since we just use something natural ie no parabens sulphates etc like burts bees Waitrose bottom butter or others with 'no nasties'. Fwiw aveeno is still full of chemicals. Is not miracle cure as DS still gets odd flare up but much improved.

HTH

Thankyou to everyone for all of your comments and suggestions - they have all helped so much! I felt like I had hit a dead end but you've all given me different routes to go down now..I wish I had found this site sooner. Im actually goin to register with a different surgery all together as I dont feel a GP tellin me I have "7 minutes to tell him whats wrong" is a satisfactory way to talk to a patient!
Best wishes to you all :)

e45 can sting alot in many skin conditions. lots of clustomers have commented to me.
use emulsifying ointment as a soap substitute or bath in alpha keri bath oil and moisturise with alpha keri lotion.

I am a chronic skin disease patient and have been treated at St Thomas's in London which is fab hospital. We were treated like you by Gps for years till I I got to St Thomas's who had all the latest treatments and understood exactly how I felt. Does your child have infantile eczema i.e born with it? If so you will HAVE to see a Dermatologist as you will need proper support and treatment. If not, then something is triggering the outbreaks and you need toknow what it is . Maybe things have changed in the last 20 years but told then infantile eczema was the worst. Sorry to be so blunt but I went through hell with my skin till I got to a proper Dermatologist. Go for it !

I have kids suffering from this. In all the years ,and there have been many, all the prescriptions and potions the only thing that has EVER worked is good old sudocreme.
It as also worked on a friend who has tried to get rid of a nasty patch of eczema on her leg that she'd had for a year. It worked within a week when all the stuff her doctor prescribed hadn't help much , she'd over the moon.

Another 'Yes' from me for hydrocortisone, either .5% or 1%.

Use it to get your Ds's skin under control and then use emollient and apply it 4, 5 or even 6 times a day - whenever you change his nappy.

Try to make applying emollient an enjoyable experience for him so use the same type of actions as baby massage. When he's older making it enjoyable may mean chasing him around the house while giggling maddly!

Look at the eczema society site www.eczema.org and consider joining - that's where I got the information re aquacious cream being bad from. They have excellent fact sheets.

Try not to let eczema rule his and your life. He can still go in a paddling pool - just put some oilatum in it. He can still play with sand or paint but make sure that when you wash his hands you put emollient on afterwards.

I thought my son would never grow out of eczema - but he is slowly getting better and I hope that your DS will too.

My Dermatologist recommends mixing emolient with hydrocortisone so only one application. Hydrocortisone thins the skin and should never be used on the face.

Thankyou for all of your responses. I will give everythin a go to try and find somethin that will help clear it up.

Celibin - It started to appear around 3 months old, I have been to the doctors numerous amounts of times but as always they prescribe me another cream for 'dry skin' and each time it makes it worse. Iam goin to register with another surgery once the bank holiday weekend is over so it can be taken seriously and dealt with properly. Sorry to hear you have had such a tough time! Thanks for your advice and best wishes to you :)

Bigbuttons - I used Sudocreme on it when it very first started to appear and although it did bring bits of the soreness down, I dont think it was strong enough to keep on top of it because it gradually got worse :(
Pleased to hear it helped your children and friend though, must have been a relief for you!

Elbandito - Thankyou for the link. Neither me or my partner have eczema so this is all new and very frustratin to us so I'll definitely join and learn as much as I can. I have been usin Oilatum in his baths the last couple of months but Ive come to the conclusion its not helpin :( Ive heard of Aveeno Baby Bath Treatments, its expensive but Im willin to give anythin a try! Its very re-assurin to hear your Son is gradually gettin better :)

I bathed him yesterday in plain water and smothered him in Vaseline afterwards (a tip from a friend)..the patches are obviously still there but today is by far the best its looked soreness wise!?

Different things certainly work for different children. YOu have to try them all until you find something. Aveno made my kids worse believe it or not, but I know loads of people swear by it.
Good luck in your search[busmile]

There was a great article in the daily mail about skin salvation that was invented by a mum who had a daughter with eczema and this cream worked. I've used it on myself and helped with the itching and redness. I brought it from www.pureandgentle.com great website with loads of information too!

Leanne I have had eczema all my life, and all of those heavy sorts of creams you mention made things a million times worse. When I went to the GP and told her that she said "well I can't help you if you won't stick to your skincare regime."

I only use Burts Bees creams now, and my skin has been almost totally clear for about three years.

Trying different stuff is really expensive - if you PM me with your address I will put some of my daughter's Baby Bee moisturiser in a wee pot and post it to you.

At least then you could use it for a week or so and then you wouldn't waste money on it if it's not the right thing, but it has been the best thing I have ever ever used.

I made my own version of 'skin salvation', it's very easy to do and a lot more potent. I can't believe the price that woman is charging for a pot of basically oil, beeswax and some infused herbs. I think it's criminal in all honesty. I think if people are desperate they'll pay anything. I hate to see other people's misery capitalised upon. The skin salvation made no difference to my children's eczema at all, my own salve was better, but the sudocreme has been that best.