Exczema treatments and Unguentum M - what is in it?

[AussieSim]

My 9mth old has eczema - only a relatively mild case, but I am up to the 4th cream and none have cleared it up yet. I have read many mums on MN say that Unguentum has worked on their babies, but as I am here in Germany I may not be able to just walk into a chemist/drs and ask for it. So, can someone have a look on the package and tell me what is in it and what pharmaceutical company make it? Much, much appreciated.

I also read that Chinese remedies have worked for some people, but was a bit alarmed to read one mum who said that she had been warned by a dermatologist that it might cause liver damage - does anyone know anymore about this? I want to try to avoid cortisone and steroids if possible - so any other recommendations gratefully received. DS's main problem areas are 1 cheek, 1 collar bone and both ankles.

It's ages since we've used it, but I'm pretty certain it's made by Merck, so it should be easy enough to come by in Germany! There have been reports of liver damage associated with herbal remedies, though obviously it will depend on excatly what's in them, but I would be very careful with a 9 month old, to be honest. Good luck!

AussieSim, we've used Excipial U Lipolotio (from a Swiss company whose names escapes me, sorry) with decent results. We're in Switzerland, fairly near Germany and I have a couple of German friends-- will ask them what they'd recommend, if you'd like.

A link to what's in the Unguentum is here . Tamum's right, it's made by Merck. And you can order it from Westons .

It is made by Hermal.

Contains: purified water, white soft paraffin, cetostearyl alcohol, polysorbate 40, propylene glycol, glyceryl monostearate 40-55, liquid paraffin, medium-chain triglycerides, sorbic acid, colloidal anhydrous silica, sodium hydroxide.

I would not say that any emollients have actually cleared ds' eczema up. It has gone with a routine of using emollients morning and evening, steroid cream (0.5%) in really itchy/dry areas and aqueous cream to wash with in the bath. It takes time and patience, but eventually we were able to cut right down on the steroid cream, and manage it with emollients.

HTH

That's weird! In the link I gave you it wasn't Merck who manufactured it, but Crookes. And Chinchilla's was Hermal -- maybe Merck patented a formula a while ago and the patent ran out and now there are many versions? Unguentum M is the aqueous cream, right? We used generic "aqueous cream" in the UK to good effect.

Chinchilla's right -- the recommendation for my son's eczema, was also: emollients, aqueous cream for baths and steroids where needed. The Excipial lotion I mentioned would fall under "emollient".

I think you're right, JJ, it must be that the licence ran out. When we last used it, it was called "Unguentum Merck", which was why I remembered! In fact on the Westons site they call it Unguentum M, formerly known as Unguentum Merck, so there you go! Sorry to have misled you, AussieSim.