eczema in 18 mo

[sneezecake]

ds has eczema on the back of his knees, have been putting e45 cream on it for a week and its still quite bad, don't want to go down the steroid rout just yet, any suggestions?

One less considered cause of e czema is water. Do you live in an area of either hard or poor quality water? If so using filtered water could make a huge difference. You can buy both kitchen and bathroom filters. They aren't cheap, but for my family they have definitely been worth the investment.

A more effective cream you could try is chickweed cream. It's quite strong, so a small amount is sufficient, it's natural rather than steroid and very effective. I buy it on line, but I'm sure health food shops etc would sell it too.

Agree with Ruthchan (hi!!!) about the water - soft water is better for eczema.

Aveeno cream is a much recommended natural cream with oats. Have you spoken to your doctor? The e45 is obviously not working - you don't necessarily need something stronger, just something different.

I have very occasionally used a mild steroid cream for my ds, when no other cream has worked, and it just controls it enough to stop it getting really bad. Fortunately his eczema has all be disappeared now.

Also wash his clothes in a non-irritating washing powder - if you look at mumsnet threads there should be advice on which ones are the best. Don't use conditioner for clothes. Don't use soap on your son, just a bath oil such as balneum or aqueous cream as a soap substitute. Don't bath him too much.

Look at his clothes - some materials are more irritating for the skin then others.

Ruthchan see here

thank you all very much, we live in a very hard water place, I'd never considered water might be a cause. we bath him every night as part of his bed time routine. i will look into a water filter see how expensive they are .

Bathing everyday with excema is not a good idea as water dries the skin. My DS has 3 baths/showers a week with emolliant in the bath so mosturise his skin. We also use dermol cream from the doc which is really good stuff but my DS's main problem areas are the back of his knees and if they do flare up I have to use steriod cream (which I hate doing) as he ends up digging it until it bleeds.

Would echo non-bio washing powder. Also, could dc be allergic to lanolin?

Would echo non-bio washing powder. Also, could dc be allergic to lanolin?

I go along with looking at the bathwater my Ds was a lot better after bathing in SOFTENED quite warm water. (I used sea salts for baths). Most big supermkts or good chemists sell them.

Also look at what he eats: some people are intolerant of tomatoes, orange juice, dairy etc. I used to have eczema till i cut out those.

Obviously try cutting one thing at a time.

we find that vaseline intensive cream - its in a white tub with blue lid - is very effective for our dd.