Eczema advice for two year old?!

[bingsulaflop]

Hello,

My little one is constantly having flare ups of eczema and seems to be really struggling with hay fever (he has had hay fever since birth) and I heard that the two can be linked.

It's mainly on the chest area, arms and around the hips but we've tried all sorts to absolutely no avail!

Tried childs farm which didn't help, we had hydrocortisone prescribed but cannot use that longer than a week, currently have fucidin which doesn't do anything, we use aveeno dermexa just as a general moisturiser and this seems to help but doesn't target flare ups.
We use non bio washing powder and baby fabric softener, no soap in the bath and only dermexa shampoo for hair washes twice a week.

I can tell he's affected by it and doesn't stop scratching!

I'm willing to try any recommendations for what to apply!

Thank you!

Rather than seek a cream or treatment I would try and find out what is causing the eczema. Have you ever been referred to the Allergy Clinic?

Back to Gp. Request zeroderm to apply twice a day for maintenance, you can also use as soap. We’ve gradually used this with various strong steroids and are almost steroid free now, just on maintenance every two weeks for a day or two. Wish we’d done it earlier. Read the NICE guidance and push for referral to paediatric dermatology if needed. Take regular pics so that you can update Gp so that they can see how it’s going. Good luck, it’s horrid seeing them suffer. x

Both my DS’s have eczema as do I

I echo what @goodenoughmum88 says

Also I’d be giving piriton to help with the hay fever. My hay fever and DS1s hay fever makes us itch, which obviously makes the eczema worse

Ask for Eumovate steroid cream - it’s much better than hydrocortisone. We saw a private dermatologist as our GP basically kept brushing us off and he prescribed that

You can also get protopic 0.1% ointment. It’s not a steroid but will help and can be used on the face etc

You can also use plain Vaseline for really dry patches

I’d also try changing the fabric soap and softener but not at the same time. I react to certain fabric softeners but not others so it’s worth just trying some different ones. We use fairy non bio liquid but my Brothers children’s eczema react to this so they have to use the aldi non bio powder.

@BunnyRuddington

Rather than seek a cream or treatment I would try and find out what is causing the eczema. Have you ever been referred to the Allergy Clinic?

Nothing 'causes' eczema - it's just inherent, unfortunately.

We give priotin to DS, and use a hemp based product from the body shop with a dab of steroid cream for when it is really bad. We’ve various emollients from the doctors, some work some don’t.

We also found child’s farm didn’t work, it actually made it hurt more my DS said!

His little sister unfortunately has it worse than him, we’ve yet to find anything that works well for her. Hers is defiantly linked to food but we need to get her allergy tested (she is only a toddler).

Dermol in the bath and Hydromol afterwards is what has finally worked for us.

My DD's eczema was caused by a dairy intolerance. Once she was on a dairy free diet the eczema pretty much stopped. Antihistamines also helped.

I was just about to say the same as @Lindy2.
My eczema was caused by a dairy intolerance (which I have now grown out of).
Porridge oats tied in tights and put in the bath helps when I have a flair up.

I would try changing washing powders and getting rid of fabric conditioner as this can contain lots of things that irritate the skin. It's a bit of trial and error but Surcare, ecover zero or ecoegg are the few recommended by allergy UK.

Daily warm baths. Use a handful of dead sea bath salts in the bath as studies have shown this helps repair the skin barrier. Also using a bath additive/oil like oilatum is good. After bathing the skin needs to be patted dry and a moisturiser applied within 3 minutes to help lock in the moisture. Thick ointments such as zeroderm are best.

Scratch sleeve are useful for night time.

Sounds like you need to see the gp for a stronger steroid for the flair ups. Use until a couple of days after the flair settles. Alongside that try and work out the best moisturiser and try out some of the other suggestions to try and prevent flairs... we had to use dermovate on my ds's v stubborn eczema, but then it cleared really quickly and now we only need an occasional tiny bit on any patches that appear...

We can all share our experiences but every child is different and it's trial and error and takes a long time unfortunately.

My experience, horrendous skin from 2 months, told inherited and it wouldn't go. Got skin pricks and eliminated allergies. Used hydrocortisone every day for a year all over his body with eumovate when really bad for 5 days. Cleared within 6 months of allergy elimination.

Found aveeno baby soothing relief the only moisturiser suitable, things like child's farm are full of chemicals.

You can use hydrocortisone longer than a week!

Meant to say following last comment, you're better to clear the skin fully otherwise its more harm than good. And sounds like you need something stronger for flare up and hydrocortisone for maintenance

All my DC have suffered with eczema. Have seen GP/attended Dermatology Clinic and been recommended many different products. For particularly bad areas Fucibet cream is amazing, much better than Hydrocortisone or Fucidin. For maintenance, would recommend Dermol 600 in the bath, Dermol 500 as soap substitute, Diprobase as moisturiser (Epimax is another good, lighter one). For very dry skin (only really suitable at night as so greasy) 50/50 Liquid Paraffin and White Soft Paraffin is also good.

I can't recommend LUSH dream cream enough. It was recommended by my son's dermatologist when he was three months old. He was soo bad (red raw and the patches would ooze) and the dream cream is amazing at keeping his skin moisturised, and teamed with eumovate for when he has flare ups which thanks to the dream cream is rare now.

Insist on a referral to paediatric allergy clinic.

Re the hydrocortisone, GPs are often v conservative about prescribing steroids. Steroids aren’t great for the skin, but eczema is much worse.

Products that helped for us were hydromol (like Vaseline, buyable over the counter or prescription) and steroid ointments, as they stick better than creams.

But the single big change was cutting out egg, as discovered after prick testing. The eczema all but disappeared over night once I (bf) and DS cut it out.

The best cream we have found is epaderm. It's cheap and over the counter. It reduces the redness.

What really made a difference to my 3 yo was reducing dairy. I swapped him onto lactose free milk and reduced other dairy in his diet so only cheese and yogurt a couple of times a week and only one cup of milk a day. I saw an immediate improvement, really surprised me. I am considering eliminating it completely but want to speak to GP before I do which is our next step.

Porridge oats worked for my family, it’s so soothing. A soothing bath and sheets washed in liquid detergent for sensitive skin helps immensely.

Also causes, dairy, even tomatoes and other foods are triggers for eczema flare ups.

Nothing 'causes' eczema - it's just inherent, unfortunately. I understand what you mean but mine was a direct result of non-ige CMPA. Was diagnosed, stopped all dairy and I've never had eczema since.

Agree with pp, experiment with different washing powders. My two kids seem to react to a lot of the ones that are supposedly for babies and sensitive skin.

Our life changer with eczema was baby aquaphor ointment applied twice a day, with hydrocortisone for flare ups. It has been under control for DS1 since we started that and seems to work for DD2 as well.

The pediatrician said ointment is always better than cream.