Alternative therapies for excema and psoriasis?

[used2bthin]

I am posting here because psoriasis seems to more usually affect adults but my DD is 2.3 and has bad excema on her face, two very bright red raised patches. And she also has psoriasis on her elbows and thighs. She sees a dermatologist and it all seemed to be under control but now that it is winter again she is having a really bad flare up. I will ring the consultant but the very strong creams she prescribed only seem to be effective for so long and I was wondering if any alternative therapies or treatments were worth looking into. Homeopathy or similar?

Does anyone have any stories of this sort of thing working or not working for them? I am getting desperate as nothing seems to help when it is this bad.

My DS only had mild eczema but after moving from aveeno to steroid creams and suchlike the Dr only seemed to be watching it get worse so we tried homeopathy and within a month it was cleared. We saw a lovely lady who lived not far from us and she was very sympathetic and helpful. You would be best to search for someone local to you as homeopathy is based on specific symptoms and personality so what worked for my son may not work for your daughter, I would say in your position it is definitely worth a try, even if it only eases your daughters condition

Thank you yorky,it may well be worth a try and at least can't do any harm. I saw one recently but it was attached to a shop and so expensive I may try and find someone else.Did they give you stuff for you DS to take or was it creams?

The other thing I was going to ask was whether people have had good results from cutting out certain foods? DD definately gets a reaction from anything red, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries etc its a shame because she loves all those things but I definately saw an imrovement from cutting them out. I know dairy can be a factor for some with excema too, any experiences?

I hope it does help used2b, the appointments weren't cheap but the cost of any remedies was included. DS was given tiny pills to take which he liked once he'd got used to it

Thanks she is on loads of meds for her condition already so wasnt keen to have more from the pov of workload for me but will give it a try I think as it would be so worth it if it worked.

DS1 was treated by a Chinese practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine for eczema when he was a toddler and it was brilliant, although quite labour-intensive - you have to boil up bags of herbs into a foul-smelling brew and then bathe your child with them nightly - but it really did do the trick.

Some people are wary of TCM though, so don't just take my word for it, please do your own research.

Thank you can I ask how you found your practicioner? DD is steroid dependant and has a rare condition that makes a lot of GPs wary of treating her without checking with her specialists first so I wonder if they would refuse to treat her but may well be something I am interested in for me. There is a shop in my town centre would that be ok or did you go through recomendation?

I'd be interested in seeing your suggestions. DD (14months) has pretty bad eczema and is also flaring. I think it maybe due to constant central heating in the last few weeks.

She also developed chicken pox yesterday. So is in a terrible state bless her. Can't use calamine lotion for the spots as it will dry her eczema out further.
Any ideas?

Oh she's just woken up!

Oh your poor DD I'm afraid I'm not much help as other than eumovate haven't been able to get DD's under control. Has she got steroid cream?

used2b - we did have a recommendation - the practitioner is in Central London (Bloomsbury)

I don't know if there is any kind of central register or anything I'm afraid

DD1 has mild excema and I sometimes give her 6cc Sulphur which I had read somewhere was right. It does seem to help if she has a flare up but maybe it's psychosomatic?

Thanks Bramshott I will google that. Anything worth a try tbh.

Used2 - I hope you find something that works - it's awful not being able to fix this isn't it?

We have eumovate as our first try steroid and dermovate (much stronger apparently) to use in a really bad emergency. The dermatologist described as putting nae palm on her!!!

Something he gave us for her face was Protopic. It is not licensed for the under twos but he said to use it anyway and sparingly certainly not daily. It was like a miracle - cleared up overnight. I know it's not a natural remedy and I don't think a GP would prescribe it but if your DD is pretty bad it's worth a try.

SilkCushion - try baking soda in warm (not cold) water helps with itch. You can make a soothing paste with bicarb and water....rub it on like you would calamine, with warm cotton ball - it is messy but will help the itch.Can dab on or use in bath.

Used2bthin - My DD1 had terrible excema when she was little, exacerbated by RED foods and also citrus!! Dairy was the main cause and since taking out dairy, red foods and citrus she has been COMPLETELY excema free for nearly 3 years. She has other intolerances too, but this was by far the easiest to solve for us and make her a much more comfortable and happy child.

HTH and good luck, its terrible to watch your child suffer and feel powerless
Snoz

Thanks Snoz - does the bicarb thing dry skin out? My GP said yesterday to avoid calamine and such like and lash on loads of moisturiser. Even he felt bad that she'd got chicken pox on top of her eczema.

Used2 - it's not a natural remedy but our paediatric dermatologist prescribed somehting called protopic specifically for the face. It's not licensed for the under twos but he said to use it anyway. It's not a steroid but an immunomodulator which changes the way the skin reacts to things (I think that's what the leaflets said). It worked like a miracle literally overnight. GP wouldn't prescribe though only a dermo.

Good luck

silkcushion have you tried oatmeal baths? Very soothing for chicken pox (ds currently has it) and it is supposed to be beneficial for exczema too.

Thanks both, Snozcumber (great name!) I have been toying with the idea of going dairy free but can't get any medical professional to agree to it as she had allery testing done in hospital when she had reflux and nothing showed up. But maybe it wouldnt for this sort of thing, what do you think? Maybe now that she is older I shouldjust try two weeks without. Is it very hard to sort out your DDs diet and ensure she gets enough calcium? I was lactose intolerent as a child and still can't cope with much milk stuff so it really interests me.DD loves cheese though I would feel I was taking evem more away that she loves

Silkcushion yes we had protopic for a bit too prescribed by the dermatologist. For DD it did work but no better than steroid cream so we had it for a bit when she was particularly bad to avoid over doing it with the steroid cream. She also has coal tar for her psoriasis which is absolutely disgusting but also worked wonders overnight.

What does everyone think about cotton clothing etc does it make a huge difference if they come into contact with wool or polyester or other things?

DD was covered head to toe in eczema from about 3 weeks.

I took her to a homeopath which just made it worse. I persevered till my husband said no more, it just wasnt working (and I have great faith).

I have creams from Oz, NZ, Brighton, all worked for a while.

In the end we took her to a dermatologist and she is on .0025% seroid cream twice a day, she is almost clear, you can still see it just under the surface though. But seeing as we had to tie her to the cot as she scratched till she bled then it works for us. The poor little mite used to look like mince meat.

I only put cotton next to her skin and wash in non bio with no conditioner. I wash everything I buy before she wears it. She is on goats milk (14 mths) and was on Goats formula. She has very little dairy.

We bathe her once a week which is also working fantastically as her skin has time to produce it's own oils.

When she was bad I would make a tea of chammomile, chickweed and marigold and pour it into the bath. Eases itch, is antibactirial, antimicrobial etc.

I thought she would flare up with it being winter and the central heating on etc but she is doing really well fingers crossed.

Salleroo, great ideas will be trying the camomile etc bath tomorrow I think! I find with DD that her skin is worse if she isn't bathed everyday but maybe I should persevere?

I've just looked and her steroid cream is 0.05 % I am really silly but is that stronger or weaker than yours? I am meant to only use it when she needs it but in reality that is most days at least once. It is for her face, she has different stuff for her elbows and thighs as that is psoriasis. What I don't understand is that the two patches on her cheeks are the only bit of excema she has and they look very similar to the psoriasis patches only much bigger. The dermatologist did say she doesn't know for sure if they are topical excema or psoriasis but to treat as excema.

Really glad to hear how well your DD is doing, I would love DD's to get better she has enough to deal with

Have you tried Pure Potions Skin Salvation cream as an emollient, rather than the creams and lotions from the doctors? My ds2 had very bad eczema mainly on his arms and legs but also odd patches on his cheeks. I found that the emollients from the gp actually seemed to make him more red and inflamed so I guessed he was probably allergic to something in them.

Someone on here recommended Pure Potions as it's totally natural - hemp oil and olive oil are the main ingredients - so I tried it and it has almost completely cleared it up.

I use Fucibet very sparingly if he has a flare then layer the Pure Potions on top. I use it on the eczema prone areas twice a day and also cover him in it before a bath to stop him drying out too much in the water.

I've used it on the eczema on my face too and it doesn't sting at all, unlike diprobase and the like.

It's not cheap but a big pot lasts for months and months so it's fairly economical in the long run. They do a trial sized pot too, which is a lot better than forking out for a huge pot to start with.

I'd really recommend it (can you tell? ).

Hi Olihan where did you get the pure potions stuff from? DD reacts to one of the emolients the doctor gave us too, its odd isnt it? She is ok with epiderm though so I use that several times a day.

Fucibet is one I haven't heard of, we've got fucidin from when her skin got infected but it seems to sting and make it worse.

Very keen to hear more about the pure potions one!

used2bthin ds1 had a cow's milk intolerance which mostly showed up as colic but his eczema also cleared up when we went dairy free. So I would definitely say that going dairy free is worth a try. And no, it wouldn't necessarily show up in allergy tests as it could just be an intolerance as opposed to a classical allergy. Unfortunately as most of the evidence connecting food and eczema is 'anecdotal' lots of doctors just aren't aware of the connection or don't believe it. If you are interested in reading up on it I would recommend the Allergy Bible by Linda Gamlyn and Jonathan Brostoff, or The Complete Guide to Food Allergies and Intolerance. The 'Complete Guide' is older and less glossy but I prefer it over the newer version.

If you want to try cutting out milk lots of people on the allergies board can help out with meal ideas.

This is the website.

I bought mine from our local independent health food type shop. I seem to remember there's a list of stockists on the website, or you can order direct from her.

Defintely try it, it's made such a massive difference to ds2.

Forgot to mention as well, I swapped to Ecover washing liquid too. I'd always used non bio powder but (after a MN suggestion, strangely ) switched to Ecover because it doesn't have any chemically nasties in it. I think that's also made a difference.

Thank you I may try it. Do you know iif many children grow out of thier intolerences? I just feel for DD as she is steroid dependant and already "different" and feel that she may have even more problems if she can't eat certain things when it comes to school and fitting in. Better that than having her cheeks bright red and lumpy though as they are now. I think I should try it, is two weeks long eough to see a difference? What should I do about her milk she loves her bottle at night!

Fucibet is slightly antibiotic, I think. DS2 was prescribed it for his feet where the skin was going all bark like and thickened but I was also told to use it on his infected nappy rash (he is the original Mr Sensitive Skin). One application usually settles his flares right down.