Eczema & dermatologist recommendations

[PrincessChick]

My DH suffers from eczema patches on his body and seborrheic dermatitis on his head. These are self diagnosed I might add and he hasn't seen a doctor about this. All the patches are fairly small. Things that seem to trigger bad outbreaks include biological washing powder, artificial fragrances and stress. He has new patches on his arms at the moment, but we haven't used anything different at home and we already use basic cleaning products and toiletries (unscented, eco, allergy friendly stuff). We attributed the elbow patches to his work desk (new office) but can't work out where the patches on the tops go his arms have come from. We don't think it's a food allergy but again, we don't really know that. He's loathe to see his GP as he doesn't want to use steroid creams. Can anyone point us in the right direction for up-to-date info or even a dermatology recommendation? We're in Sussex, but London wouldn't be out of the question.

Why not start with a GP? You could get a proper diagnosis and some suggested treatment. (Why so anti steroid? IME they are for a short time to get the problem under control.)

Well.. He has used a steroid cream and canestan cream on his legs when a bout of ring worm left him with patches of eczema. The creams didn't really do anything and he's still left with some paler patches 2 years on. He saw a different gp about these patches a couple of months back and, again, he was told to buy cream over the counter. Another tube down and these patches haven't improved. He hasn't seen anyone about his face and head (where the patches are most persistent) and cause him the most bother. I think he'd really like to root out the cause rather than just apply steroid cream. He's also read a lot of negative press on the internet. We just wonder if a gp has the specialist knowledge for this kind of thing. I have suggested that he go for several years now. Maybe I'll just prompt him to go back....

Sorry for typos, long day with 8mo dd!!

Steroids could be part of the solution. You also need a good emollient like diprobase, doublebase, Dermol etc (different ones work for different people.) if he has patches in his hair he may need a prescribed shampoo and I'd suggest using a prescribed product to wash in.
Referral to dermatologist if he follows GP advice but doesn't improve. (Both myself and my kids have eczema. We've all used steroid creams at some point but no scarring!)