10 month old with dry skin condition- desperate for advice.

[Jzee]

My baby had suffered from dry patches of skin on his arms and legs for quite a few months. Our Gp recommended, Oilatum, Aqueous cream, along with hydrocortisone cream which I should use each day. The problem does seem to go away temporarily with the hydrocortisone cream, but I have been told by various chemists that I shouldn't use it long term, and on a baby? I'm not keen on our Gp and his ideas and I would much rather get something homeopathic. Can anyone suggest anything? I have also been using, sweet almond oil, E45 and a couple of other creams sold over the counter.

I started my son on Eye-Q at that age for the very same reason. My FIL suggested cod liver oil, but that has too much vit A, the 'vitmin advisor lady' in Boots suggested the Eye-Q, it's not the best taste in the world, but easily disguised in a yoghurt. DS is now comming up 3 and has skin like silk. Oh, and it's highly reccommended for brain function as well!

Aveeno
Available from Boots, based on oats. Fantastic.
I heard about it from the wise ones here months ago.

The only one we've used thats been effective was a cream we bought in France- Avene. Not sure if they have it here...

jzee, i would only use hydrocortisone cream on a flare-up, no more frequently than 3days twice a day then stop. ds has v dry skin and excema. cows milk causes his flare ups and overheating. i put fleece 'jamas on him one night this wk and his legs are worse than they have been in months. the e45 products are fantastic, ( i now use them as well) you could use emulsifying ointment 4 or 5 times a day it will only do good. I think getting to the root of the problem was more effective for me. now i avoid cows milk as a drink but not altogether as it could actually increase his intolerance. oh and be careful to use only non-bio washing powder and never use fabric softener

Thanks for all your advice, I have tried Aveeno, and it didn't make a difference. I would like to get to the source of the problem. I shall avoid him having dairy for a couple of days and see if it makes a difference and also avoid fabric conditioner. I'll try anything to avoid a visit to our GP -very long story. Can anyone recommend a skin sensitive sun tan lotion as maybe that has aggrivated the problem?

Honestly - try 'greasing' him up from the inside with the Eye-Q

I will give it a go and thanks for your help

going to get some tomorrow will let you know how we get on. how long does it take to work?

Jzee, what hidrocortisone cream are using? 0.5, 1.0, 2.5? How long can you use it depends on its strenght, it should only be used on flare ups. Don't be afraid of it, any dermatologist I have seen has said that the effects of HC are nothing compared to the damage eczema can cause if left untreated. Of course, it has to be used sensibly.

About emollients, I think it's a good idea to forget about aqueous cream (many excema babies are also sensitive to it, in our case...well, we thought it was a placebo, but many say it's great as a soap), we have found Eucerin 10% Urea unvaluable (you can get it from Boots) but can only be applied when the skin is not open otherwise stings. Diprobase is not as efficient as Eucerin but it doesn't sting and can be used while the skin heals.

About homeopathy, we used graphites but I think is a good idea to find a very good homeopath as they will only work if the dose is correct and considering they consider even the personality of the child there are lots of variants.

There are many threads about this under Allergies, I will try to find the latest ones for you to have a look.

here they are:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=29&threadid=27392&stamp=040616072106\about hidrocortisone{}

sorry, hope it works now:

about hidrocortisone

Chandra : thanks for your advice, at what level shouldn't I use the hc cream on a regular basis? Can't find the tube right now ..

It should be used only on flares, I would say a maximum of five-seven days in a row if ) for 0.5-1.0, if the skin becomes cracked or starts to weep (or gets infected), the HC by itself won't be enough to break the cycle,that's why it is very important to find a GP you can trust, if the skin gets infected over the counter remedies won't be of much help.

Try Elemis SOS cream,it's known as 'magic cream'in our house,worked on my Dd1's sons' eczema,it's very pure,plant based and you can get it from QVC product code 216 941,it's not cheap about £30 but if you get it from QVC and it doesn't work in 30 days you can send it back!

I've used homeopathy for my ds, 7 mos who has eczema and his skin is 100% improved. However, I've also tried so many other things at the same time I can't be sure how much impact the homeopathy itself has had. What's working for us at the moment is bathing only 2x a week with Aveeno Bath powder; flaxseed oil in his food 2x/day and probiotics in his food 1x/day. DS is b/f and dairy sensitive so no dairy for him and I've eliminated it from my diet (again). Currently I'm using Aveeno with menthol lotion on ds 3x/day (must get a script from the gp). For my ds the Aveeno has been great. I did use a homeopathic cream, urtical, before the Aveeno and that really helped with the itching. Helios homeopathic pharmacy is excellent Helios .

I got lots of good advice from mnetters about the use of HC and I also joined the Eczema Society and their information is very useful, especially the bit about 'hidden' healing - to use the HC for a little while (can't remember the details off-hand)after the skin looks OK as the healing is going on under the surface, stopping too soon can cause the flare to come back. What I did find when I was researching is that HC is not the devil's work and there is a huge amount of ignorance about it's use and benefits, even among GPs/HVs. I feel that the HC helped me get a grip of the eczema and start afresh if that makes sense. I will be continuing with the homeopathy as I see ds eczema as an inside-out condition. Having said all this it really has been trial and error and a lot of experimenting. HTH