How do you deal with Ezcema?

[lexiemum]

asking on behalf of my friend - has DS (2.5) with ezcema - persistently tries various remedies (all recommendations of GP or HV) etc but nothing really is helping. The only thing that provides some relief is a cream - hydro-something?

So how do you manage this in your home?

Persistent scratching - tips please

Also, it's getting worst with the weather changes so particularly bad at the moment.

Another friend suggested using pure vegetable oil from health food shops - anyone heard of this one?

you can use grape seed oil to keep it mosturised as it is what is used for baby massage. I bought something called soothe it cream for DD at a baby fair. It cost £10 but worked absolute wonders on her face and stopped her scratching straight away. It is available online.

Eczema should be treatem with a three pronged attack.
!) an emmoliant for the bath. Stop using any bubble bath etc, as the make eczema worse
2) a moisturiser, some MNetters sware by alveno cream. I prefere Epaderm which is soft parafin
3) a steroid cream for flare up, hydrocortisone/eumavate/daktacort.
Other considerations would be diet. often things that we eat can cause eczema to flare.
And washing powder, I belive the latest reccomendation from the dermatologist is surecare.

one thing i'd suggest is making sure the skin is kept very clean. alot of people seem to think it makes it worse to wash alot but my dp has bad exzema and the one thing thats guarenteed to make him flare up is not having a shower in a couple of days.

besides that like others have said the emolliant creams and gentle exzema friendly shampoos and washes. my dd started to get a patch of it at the back of her neck and a few other spots and thanks to her daddy being a bit of an expert we've managed to keep it in check and haven't needed to resort to steroids yet. we use emulave shampoo and oil based body washes (one from Little Me in Boots is paticulary good as it foams so you get a good lather). then we put Allergenics cream from the health shop on any trouble patches. works well so far.

hope your friends find this helpful

We use oilatum in the bath. Are currently bathing every other day as too much water on the skin can dry it out.

We moisturise with Diprobase.

We use hydrocortisone on DD's face and Eumovate on the rest of her body.

We use persil non bio powder and Comfort pure. Another good sensitive brand is surcare - but i personally dont like it as much.

We DONT use aqueous cream - it has been proven to aggravate eczma.

An increase in cows milk products in DD's diet tends to increase the flare up of DD's eczma.

Hydrous cream is the normal GP's suggestion after aqueous cream failed, we used it for quite a while but ot much difference.

At the risk to sound a bit blunt, there are some "popular" creams that GPs prescribe because they really don't know much about new treatments for eczema and because they are quite economical but, after months and months of applying emollient to DS at least EIGHT times a day, there were only two creams that reduced the number of applications to two: Aveeno and Eucerin 10% Urea. (The other ones were aqueous cream, hydrous cream (sp), diprobase, another very expensive french cream from La Rochelle, some homeopatic creams that were clearly a waste of time and money, and a couple more whose names I don't remember). At the end of the day she needs to go on trial and error until she finds the emollient that suits her kid, but, if I had to go through the same again I would jump straight to Eucerin or at least Aveeno once eczema is going out of control. Eczema is the one which seems to work for most people, and can be get in prescription in some occassions, but if not, it is available over the counter at Boots

Obviously, if the eczema is infected she had to go through the steps mentioned by Chapsmum in order to break the cycle and be able to control eczema just with emollients.

For a kid this age - zyrtec taken every day for a month to break the itch/scratch/itch cycle.

2 baths a day until it's under control.

No putting fingers in the cream - clean spoon each time. Throw cream away after a month (okay 2) Put cream on wet skin, as in soaking wet - it's to trap in the moisture. then put clothes straight on top.

Use the steroids until it's gone and then slowly, slowly, slowly wean off them.

Cotton clothing, non bio powder, extra rinse.

Google the Dirty Dozen and avoid them all, even at parties, even if being nagged, even if other kids have them.

It will get worse when the weather changes, but it's a good reminder to be vigilant about anything you may have slipped on.

thanks guys - reading your posts, I know she already has a daily bathtime routine with solution in bath and cream up afterwards. will jsut check which one it is and suggest the others.

anymore?, keep them coming......

Eczema? Aveeno!

just realised of a mix up of words on my first e-mail, not doing cheap advertising via posts

My DD(14 mnths) had terrible ezcema which covered whole body and scratched till it bled, we changed 3 things
1 Used Aveeno bath oil and moisturiser
2 Surcare washing powder and conditioner
3 cut out cows milk
I cant believe the difference in my child not sure if it was one of these or combination of 3 but for the first time her skin is clear and she doesnt go to sleep scratching herself, hope this helps.