HELP PLEASe - Can Anyone Recommend a Cream/Treatment for Exzema

[BROWNYtherednosereindeer]

My friends little girl (19 months old) is suffering terribly with Exzema (despite being fully breastfed for over 12 months).

Poor little mite is covered in dry, sore, red skin and her mum has to cream her constantly - even putting a clean coat on her every day (her pillowcase has blood on it every night .

She's just returned from the doctors, who said that she'll see a specialist in FEBRUARY!!

I've told her that I'll ask you for some advice.

Thanks!!

We also tried the Elena Schalburg creams. A couple of things I didn't like about the products was that they contain almond oil which is a known allergen and when I asked her to tell me what the 'herbal extract' was in her products I got no answer.

As my DS had serious allergies I wanted to know what he was coming into contact with. It may have been a secet ingredient but still eczema sufferers are so often allergy prone.

I have an 8 month old whose eczema got a lot worse after we started to wean him. Having tried lots of creams / lotions we have ended up (reluctantly) taking him off dairy products and using Epaderm, as both a soap substitute and emollient. Fortunately this formula seems to have worked wonders - even though Epaderm is a nightmare to apply. Trying to maintain a grip on him in the bath after washing him with this stuff can only be compared to chasing a large goldfish round the tub!!!

My 3 year old charge suffers with exzma.

We find the following really help her:
Surcare washing liquid (with an extra rince cycle)
ONLY using E45 childrens bubble bath (IF we use anything)
and we have now found these lovely products (availiable in Tesco with the 'childrens' soaps etc) called "happy Halo" (i think) they are a range of soaps that dont conatin (m)any chemicals and are all natural ingrediants (made by someone who didnt want child exposed to chemicals in soaps) and they say may help exzma /asthma sufferers.

They REALLY seemed to have helped her. we dont know if shes grown out of it or if its a coincidence but i really suggest its worth a try cause over the last 3 or 4 months it has almost gone completly

A lot of us have used Elena's creams with great success.,... there are several threads on ths :

Eaney - Elena happens to live near me so I went to see her and saw where and how she prepared her creams. DS's Eczema cleared in 3 days with her creams.... she had said so and it was so!
FIL has been suffering from really bad psoriasis and was on several treatments for it and it's only her cream which have helped. I don't think it's completely gone (bear in mind both his legs were completely full of it) but he says he fills 10 times better.

So do you know what the herbal extract is?

Also do you not think that almond oil is a little risky in preparations used on people who in all liklihood are highly allergenic.

Allergenics (you can get at Boots) is brilliant - was recommended in Observer few years ago and I never use anything else.

[any different suggestions?}

My friend uses chickweed cream.

2 baths a day in lukewarm water, only for 5 mins as she will likely scratch.
Immediately pull her onto a towel, but do not dry her.
From a new jar of whatever cream she is using, use a clean spoon from the dishwasher and take out one spoonful.
Cream the still wet body from head to foot (her daughter is old enough to help, I used the term "slow cream" to stop ds stratching himself whilst applying it)
The still wet and now creamy body should be put into some 100% cotton clothes. I used to put PJs inside out when it was really bad so the seams were on the outside.

The spoon and the wet body are the things that make this work. Putting cream on dry skin is pretty useless. Cream with glycerin in is very good, it can be added to creams by a pharmacist or you can buy it yourself (well you can in NZ)

Now for the inside - Probiotics every morning with breakfast, mixed with flax seed oil and something to help it mix up - I used pureed fruit when ds was this age.

We like diprobase for bathing
Cetomacrogol with lpc 1% and glycerin 10% (made by chemist) for after bathing
For bleeding faces we use emulsifying ointment -which is like an unscented vaseline. It's a pretty hard one to react to - and if she does scratch it will lessen the impact.

How old is the child?

I tried everything with DS even chinese herbal and homeopathic but don't think either helped.

Do you know if it is wet or dry eczema? Wet starts off as little blisters and then burst. Dry will respond well to creams but wet is trickier to treat. My DS had both.

She needs to get in under control and in my experience steriod cream is the most effective at this. Once under control the creaming and occassional use of steroid cream will keep it in check. It took me a long time (and a lot of money) to accept this.

this may sound like a very strange question but do u know any farmers. i had really bad ecxema when i was wee. my skin would tear bleed and weep if i moved then my uncle (who worked on a farm) brought stuff home that was for putting on cows udders to stop sunburn and it went only occasionally get it on my wrist elbow and ankle. not sure what its called though

Havent read all the posts but DD has eczma and we do the following:

Cream all over twice a day with diprobase - fab stuff. We also use hydrocortisone as and when(although recently had to up to the more strong stuff ).

Use oilatum in the bath water.

Dont use soap as far as possible - check out the horns and halos soaps and shampoos though - no sls etc.

DO NOT USE AQUEOUS CREAM. Apparently it has been shown to make eczma worse - so my gp tells me anyhow.

DD had a cows milk protein allergy but has largely grown out of it. Anything with milk in mustnt be left on her skin after eating or that will make it worse.

HTH
x

ALso

Was given the name of some good stuff by some other MNers called protopic which is supposed to be great but havent tried it yet.

The best thing that can be done for eczma is to not let the skin dry out.

Thanks everyone, Eaney, little girl is about 19/20 months old and I think she has dry eczema

Homeopathic remedy cream "graphites" is fab for the itching - have used it on DD for years. you can get it in Boots. DD is also allergic to cow & goats milk & most pesticides. Going organic has helped an awful lot. HTH

DH has used Cannestan (yep the thrush cream) for bad itching and is currently using Kamillosan (yep - the nipple cream) - swears by it...

Oops - just read that it is for a 19/20 month old - would try Kamilosan, not the canestan...

When DS's eczema got infected it was a fungal and bacterial infection so I can see how cannesten could work. We had a special steroid with antifungal and antibacterial agents.

With dry eczema keeping the skin creamed is important using whichever cream you find best. Check ingredients and ensure there are no nut oils just in case child has allergies. I really would avoid bathing as much as possible. I have eczema on my hands and every time I wash my hands they sting like crazy and it dries them out dreadfully.

HAve a look at this website especially the water softner bits Health House

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Just bumping!

I have had eczema all my life and the only thing that worked for me was changing my diet. Some creams work temporarily, but they are usually just masking the problem.

I had always been told by doctors that there is no cure, but then I met a Chinese doctor who told me to cut all acid out of my diet (so no fruit except bananas and melons, no tomatoes, no citrus juice, no wine). She said Western diets contain more acid than the human system can cope with.

I was told it would take 3 months to see results, but it worked within a few weeks. I do now drink some wine and eat fruit (although I never drink orange juice). Whenever the eczema looks like flaring up again, I cut back and the eczema dies down.

My ds is 8 months and having been eczema-free when on breastmilk, has come up in a few scaly patches since being weaned. I will try to limit acicity in his diet and see what happens.

I realise this may not work for everyone, but it had miraculous results for me and it's worth a try.