My 5 year old son has eczema but now itches his private area. Help!

[amy12464]

i have eczema and so did my daughter but she grew out of it once she reached my sons age but my son seems to still be affected by it. The back of his legs and inner arm are mostly affected but he’s now started itching his private area. The back of his legs and inner arms have darkened which worries me it being permanent. He has small cut around his private where it sore and his scrotum. I did go to the doctor recently but they just gave an emollient for hydrating the skin and piriton. I’m more worried about his private area and how to stop him scratching there. Anyone with children been through this. I hate that I passed this condition on to
him

You need to go back to the doctor, if what they've prescribed isn't working. If he's stopped using what was prescribed he needs to go back to using it. Some people need to have lifelong daily maintenance measures for their eczema, not cure a flare up then stop caring for it.

If he's using any kind of perfumed soap or shower gel then stop. Try something plain with zero fragrance in the ingredients. It can take some experimenting with products to find what works.

Is he washing properly? Because if he's not completely clean that could make the itching worse. Has he been taught to get into all creases on his skin?

Some people with eczema find washing less often helps too. He's only 5, I think it's when people hit puberty they need to be washing daily/twice daily depending on what they've been doing.

Ask a pharmacist advice about how often he should be washing, what product to use, any cream they can recommend for after. Especially if skin is damaged because as skin heals it itches, that's a natural part of the healing process. The antihistamines will also help stop the itching (even if he doesn't have an allergy) allowing the skin to heal without him feeling the need to scratch it.

Keep his nails short and filed smooth with no sharp edges and put socks on his hands so he does less damage if he scratches himself in his sleep.

Thank you. I’m just wondering what to use on his private area where theirs cuts due to scratching . I’ll be ringing the pharmacy in the morning for further advice

Our GP said use sudocrem there as a short term thing - it has worked!

Agree with PP sudocrem can be helpful for eczema, cuts and abrasions, sunburn etc.
Calamine lotion helps with itching.
Vaseline is pretty harmless as a moisturizer even if there's cuts.
Aloe vera gel is good for where there's swelling and heat (rarely people can be allergic to it though so if it feels like it burns rather than cools wash it off). If there's alcohol in the gel it can sting on a cut but won't harm. It's possible to buy 100% pure aloe vera gel or buy a plant and just snap a bit off when you need some.
Coconut oil can be used as a moisturizer and obviously since it's used for cooking it will be pure and won't have anything irritant in it.
Hydrocortisone cream helps with itching fairly quickly. I use EuraxHC.
Steroid cream helps with itching, inflammation and blisters during a flare up. I use Eumovate.

For maintaining my skin daily I use original source tea tree shower gel and vaseline intensive care (white bottle) advance repair moisturiser.

if he’s itching around his privates he might have eczema with a touch of something fungal, go back to the GP and ask for a cream with an anti fungal element.

A friend who has eczema swears by an oat or bicarbonate of soda lukewarm bath to relieve itching. Worth a try if you have any in the house already over Christmas, bicarbonate of soda bath worked well for ds when his chicken pox scars were healing/itchy