Can someone talk to me about EXCZEMA please?

[fryalot]

I think ds has exczema (sp?) He has very dry and flaky patches in the crooks of his arms, sometimes behind his knees. Occasionally in other places.

Dd1 had exczema when she was a kid, so I have been putting aqueous cream on him and occasionally hydrocortisone. These both help.

Ds's is worse than dd1's and I have a couple of queries please:

1. Should I take him to the doc and actually get it diagnosed formally, or is it ok to treat it myself, as it seems to be working ok.

1. Should I be moisturising him whether or not he has a flare-up?

1. His skin all over feels very dry so should I be slapping moisturiser all over him, or just in the places where he is prone to get the exczema?

1. Assuming the answer to 2 and/or 3 is yes, can you recommend a cheap moisturiser that would do the job, or again, should I go to the docs for a prescription.

Tia.

Go to the docs and ask for some aveeno cream - you can buy it but is pricey - use it all over.

We used to use aqueous cream on DS who had such bad excema that he used to scratch till he bled and aveeno changed our life - he was allergic to the aqueous as lots of people are but doctors still prescribe it as it is in their eyes a proven moisturiser.

We also use the bath oil once a week and he has lovely soft skin ow.

that's fab, twinkle, thanks.

Just googled Aveeno and you're right, it is expensive.

Will book him in for next week.

ooh, another quick question, please.

Should I wait till he's having a proper flare up before I take him to the docs, or will the doc prescribe on my say-so. He seems ok at the moment, although his skin does feel quite dry to the touch.

hi squonk

my ds had little patches back of his legs and pre-exzema dry bumps on his torso. doc saw this when he had 8m checkup. she gave us scrips - he uses a bath additive diprobath which is wonderful, skin flared day after it ran out. can be bought otc but costs £12! so scrip is worthwhile. he also has a lotion which i stopped applying when skin settled and could not by itself settle flare caused by lack of bath stuff.

think the issue with most stuff you can buy commercially is that it has perfumes which are themselves quite drying.

hth

Why not buy one tube and see how you fare and then go tot he doctors say you used it - is great and you heard you can get it on prescription and get him to prescribe it for you.

Or wait till it is really bad and then go and suggest it.

thanks both.

You see, twinkle, that's just so obvious but I needed you to tell me! durr!

Thanks for your help

I had epaderm for exzema on my bump, this did little for me and nothing for ds. Then they prescribed epaderm, worked a treat. Think aveena is prescribed as a last resort as it is quite dear and other things may work first (as you are finding).

oops I mean I had diprobase - that was rubbish. epaderm gooooood.

My ds has excema too, and I wish I'd gone to the doctor earlier rather then just ignoring it to start with. Don't wait until it flares up, as my son at one point scratched his face and chest until it bled, then it got infected and was really nasty, poor little thing.

Also, keep going back if what they prescribe first time doesn't work very well. We made do with diprobase for ages, but as PhD says it was rubbish. We then got prescribed Cepraben (sp?) which works a treat, as well as a steriod cream for flare-ups. I was also stupid enough to buy the Oilatum bath additive myself for a while, but it's quite pricey so much better to get it for free on prescription

Good luck, hope you get it sorted.

thank you jambers. Will take him to the docs next week I think.