My 14m ds has bad eczema, any tips

[TheMumsRush]

My ds has had it from birth. It's on his ankles, behind knees, inner thigh, arms bask (two bad patches). All all over really. I use aveeno oil in the bath, I then use 1% hydrocortisone then aveeno cream. Today I got a rosehip oil to try. I've also swapped to goats milk, vitalite spread (only just though). I don't use softener and I use an enzyme free washing powder. Anything else I should try? I have diprobase but it's horrid and I don't see a change. Thanks

I think you might be using Diprobase ointment, which is mega greasy. This works for one of my eczema ridden children but the other responds much better to the Diprobase cream which is less greasy. Might be worth a try.

We also have a humidifier in one bedroom for the smallest's eczema.

www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/pages/MedicineOverview.aspx?medicine=50:50%20ointment

50/50 cream. Every GP and the hospital specialist we've seen says this is the best one, but people dislike it due to greasiness and clothing stains.

www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/pages/MedicineOverview.aspx?medicine=50:50%20ointment

My ds was like that it was horrible. All the creams in the world won't get rid of it if it is an allergy.

Push push push for allergy testing. My ds was allergic to egg and dust mites. His skin cleared up 95% overnight when we cut egg out.

• Ask for a referral to a paediatric dermatologist

• Ask if you have an children's allergy/ezcema nurse in your area. They could show you how to do wet wrap bandages which work fantastically.

• If you can afford it, try lots of different creams. FWIW my DS reacted badly to Diprobase (was told "no one ever reacts to it" ha!) and Aqueous Cream (same). The one we found actually worked the best on his skin was Oilatum Junior cream but TBH we can all recommend creams till we are blue in the face but it's pointless unless they work for your child. You may, like us, have to have special creams made up for you - we did and they were prescribed by the allergy nurse. BTW 50/50 is half liquid paraffin and half white soft paraffin. I know it sounds awful but it's actually lovely and one of the few things we could use.

• Try going dairy free for a while. Stop bothering with Goats' Milk, it's very similar (we were advised not to try it for that reason). But beware - some Dcs are allergic to soya (DS1 was!) Oh and if it's causing eczema it's an allergy, NOT an intolerance.

Yes it will be next to impossible to determine yourself exactly what - if anything - he is allergic to. We would never have been able to work it out. You might have to push very hard - I have had friends have very bad experiences with their GPs fobbing them off. Ours did and we paid to have a private consultation. I couldn't wait any longer, it was exactly the same - tearing at his skin at every nappy change.

He still has eczema. The allergies are managed and controlled but when he's not well or teething, his skin flares up. It's just like someone said, the majority of it cleared up once we knew what he was allergic to. Now he can be in just a nappy and not tear at himself but have patches of bad skin. Before the allergy testing, he'd actually scratched himself so much he'd caused a bacterial skin infection, which worsened the itching and he was COVERED in it. Head to toe in an awful rash. Now it's just patches.

My gp said 'they don't allergy test babies ' but we had the misfortune to have a baby that was a frequent flier at the hospital for other reasons and the paed advised us to get a referral to his allergy specialist colleague. It changed our lives.
It took a lot of persuading to get the referral though

I think I may have a battle on my hands :( I wonder why they make it do hard

My 7 year old has had this since a baby and I've tried everything.

I've come to the conclusion that it's just something he's got to grow out of because all the no baths/ cutting down on dairy / aveeno etc makes little difference. He's taken part in clinical trials, used very cream out there , different washing powders, water softeners z, the lot .

Controversially I just leave it now. And bizarrely , it sort of works . Well, it brings the best results. I used Eumovate if he has a flare up and I apply this intensively for a few days. This overcomes a flare up. I then stop ( Eumovate is very strong but works well ) and do watchful waiting .

He always has it to some degree but he's so used to it and providing he's not bleeding or over itching , I just treat his skin carefully and leave it alone

Controversially I just leave it now. And bizarrely , it sort of works . Well, it brings the best results. I used Eumovate if he has a flare up and I apply this intensively for a few days. This overcomes a flare up. I then stop ( Eumovate is very strong but works well ) and do watchful waiting

That's exactly what I was going to post! DS is 12 and it has been terrible over the years. We've tried all sorts of things-probably wet wraps being the most effective. I looked at him properly over Christmas (you see less of them in the bath at this age!) and it's hardly there-he does nothing to it except regular (!!) showering. What's that all about!?

I think they just grow out of it eventually.

The creams can be pretty pointless. In fact, sometimes they make it worse.

Try doing absolutely nothing unless it's painful and bleeding. Then eumovate intensely. And then back to nothing.

My poor little guy was bad a fortnight ago. I did a double take when I saw him in the bath. So I used Eumovate for three days , three times a day. It's all dampened down again now so I'm back to just watching it

My 12 year old had awful skin from 12 months to 8 years but it has really improved since then and is now loads better. I think like lots of allergies they can just grow out of it over time.

Not that that is any comfort to you now op. In our case it was also allergy testing that made a huge difference. He had loads of intolerances but the main things were house dust mites and egg, which I think are really common causes. We ripped out our carpets and put hard wood flooring down and replaced fabric sofas for leather. We also put allergy covers on bedding and froze his favourite toys in the freezer. It all made a huge and immediate difference to his skin, especially having wooden floors everywhere, even the bedrooms as then we could wet dust.

I would also really recommend the cotton comfort pj's. They cover the hands so they can't scratch until they bleed over night and can be washed at a really high temp to get rid of creams. Good luck with it all.

My 2 year old had hideous eczema as a baby and regular less awful flares now. I bath her every other day and always use an emollient in the bath. I switch between dermol and balneum bath oils (oilatum and aveeno both didn't do much for her, please don't use aqueous cream it's awful stuff).

I only used Surcare detergent no fabric conditioner (now use fairy non bio still no fabric conditioner).

After bath and every morning and night I apply dermol or balneum cream to her whole body.

If she flared badly (she used to at 14 months much more than now) then 1% hydrocortisone just didn't cut it. We were advised by our dermatologist to hit it hard with a stronger steroid so we used betnovate or eumovate for a couple of days then stepped down to hc cream.

Now at aged 2 we rarely have to use any steroid (maybe once every 6 weeks or less).
We didn't alter her diet too much but fed her goats milk instead of cows which seems to agree with her (she'll still eat cheese).
When she was younger we used tubifast garments and gloves at night to stop her scratching and breaking her skin (we got the garments on prescription). We don't need these now.
It is awful but fingers crossed your little one will improve as mine has.

OP does it wake him in the night ?
When we saw the allergy specialist he was very keen to help our ds sleep ( as were we ! ) as he was asking virtually every hour in the night scratching. He has a poor appetite and did not take much in the way of solids.
The specialist advised that growth hormones are secreted during deep sleep phases so prolonged poor sleep can have a big impact on babies' development and growth ( and can drive parents into depression ) so we were prescribed strong antihistamines that had a sedative effect to try to get a good sleep pattern. It made ds then sleep for 4-5 hours which was a vast improvement. His appetite picked up when the allergen was discovered and excluded.
I think as eczema is such a common and 'minor' condition GP's tend to try to manage it and are not aware of the allergy connection. I found a wonderful GP who fully understood the impact of such a condition on the family and was prepared to treat it aggressively. Most children do grow out of it so if parents can be fobbed off long enough it saves the NHS money.
My ds is now almost 10 and still gets flare ups of eczema sometimes. he has a severe and horrible molluscum infection which can be linked to the eczema as it started in a patch that was being scratched and at his age he is mortified. It does not seem that we will be outgrowing this condition any time soon.
I hope you can get some testing.

I think it's really interesting - and not controversial! - to say you do nothing. Deep in my heart I suspect that's the thing to do. I also suspect companies make a lot of money out of my desperation. But what can you so with a baby they doesn't understand? It's very difficult when youre desperate to alleviate their - and your own - suffering. I agree and hope they grow out of it. He's been like this since birth and he's 16 months now. Allergy confirmation got it under control, now bad flare ups come when he's not well or teething. I suspect creams make it worse but...I'm desperate. I don't know if it's right to keep their skin moisturised or not. I can't use most oils because of allergies. I don't even know what creams work or not. I just use them because he has such dry, flaky skin at the best of times and it's what I'd do for my own skin.

No creams worked for us
Scratchsleeves worked wonders to stop the scratching/itching cycle. I really recommend them for nightimes.
Whenever skin got weepy, oozy or raw we dabbed a solution of pure sea salt and boiled water over affected areas. I know how cruel that sounds and it was obviously painful but it cleared up the patches within hours. It was so effective.
I had terrible eczema growing up. The only things that helped were swimming in the sea and these wet bandages called viscopaste - no idea if they still exist.
Good luck, it's horrible and you just have to keep trying different things. What might work for one person's eczema can just as easily make someone else's far worse.
I agree with fewer baths btw

Have you tried Elocon cream at all? Worked wonders for me and DS, whereas Aveeno Cream and Bath Oil did the job for DD.

We also only bathe them every 2-3 nights, except in the summer where we do it every night if it's hot and they've had suncream on. Their eczema seems to be better in the summer.

Zebra - it's difficult, yes. For my son the creams just flared it up more and I instinctively felt it wasn't helping him. Try a spoonful of anti histamine if it really is bothering him - it'll break the itch/ scratch cycle and aid sleep and I've done that on and off for years when it's been bad for my DS.

He always scratches but never complains. He's just used to it and it doesn't interfere with his life unless he's having a flare up and then I do my usual hitting it hard ( eumovate cream is 10% steroid and therefore will work within a few days as it's powerful - you don't need to worry about thinning skin etc unless you're using it daily for years on end. I've gone through tubes of it in the past 7 years and his skin is fine , bar the eczema! )

Www.scratchsleeves.co.uk

Saved our sanity.

Sorry mygoldfish my post sounded so defensive and defeatist! I don't mean it to be. I long for the days of being able to explain to him but he's so little - he only has two words, never mind "don't scratch!". And we're so symbiotic right now, at this age - his scratching makes me so tense, that then makes him tense and so on and so on.

We do use a liquid anti-histamine periodically when it's really bad, or he's accidentally ingested something he's allergic to. There's been times when it's been for several nights running, and I know deep down it's probably not good and I worry I'm fucking up his liver or kidneys! Argh. The stress of it.

I have just got some double base cream. I know, more creams. But I am struggling to let go of this idea of not doing anything. But will just do it to keep his dry skin hydrated rather than making it a magic cure hope for eczema. He's mixed race and his skin - like his dad's - is very dry generally. And this summer, as last summer, he'll be outside in just a nappy for sunny goodness. I'll also get some bigger scratch sleeves for just sleeping in a nappy. They were a godsend last year.

Sorry OP for hijacking your thread. I hope my posts provide some comfort in knowing you're not alone and maybe have added some helpful information.

I know recent posts here are debating the value of creams but I just wanted to say the aquamax cream mentioned above is available on prescription. We get itand use it mainly as a wash (we use the cream as a wash as it says on the tub) but also as a cream

I'm not entirely convinced by the do nothing approach. Maybe that's a line of treatment to be put in the mix of things to try, but with the general caveat everyone has stated that what works for one won't necessarily work for another? I know for my dd, her discoid eczema was diagnosed as ringworm for 3 months by gps until we saw the dermatology consultant, the gps kept telling me to moisturize but I wasn't because I thought if it's a fungal infection wetness will make it spread(which is true). What I now know was eczema all along did not benefit from being left unmoisturised in our case.

Coconut oil is great as well btw

Scratchsleeves help with the itch scratch bleed itch scratch bleed infect cycle.

Absolute best thing I've heard of is buy a water softener. Softened water is great for eczema