Sensitive skin question

[Mamabear04]

DD is 3yo and has very sensitive skin. She had mild eczema as a baby and we couldn't use any wipes other than water wipes but in the house we'd just wash with water and cotton wool to change her nappy. Fast forward to today and she has very sensitive skin. I can't use any soaps and even her shampoo (I have tried so many and settled on burnt bees) makes her a little itchy. We've tried e45, zero base from the GP but nothing works. She gets very sore dry skin behind her ears and I put left over purple nipple cream on and that helps (can't remember the name L-something). We are muddling through with her skin but she has an almost pimple like texture on her upper arm triceps area. She screams whenever I try to put Moisturiser on it but if I don't put it on it gets worse. It's not red, just lots of little lumps. Right now we're using cocobutter (palmers) and it works for the rest of her body but not her upper arms. What could it be and what can I do? The GP has been useless...

It's sounds like eczema.

Try aveeno.

Change or stop using washing powder/fabric conditioner and see if that makes any difference

Keep a food diary and see if you notice anything.

But it may just be a case of waiting for her to grow out of it.

Do you have any recommendations for washing powder? I did wonder about this but we use a fragrance free non bio (one of the eco ones).

I've tried aveeno when she was younger and she said it stung. Is there a particular one?

I did wonder about a food diary but what she eats doesnt vary too much. Is there a food group I should look out for? She doesn't take much dairy, just some cheese and yoghurt and not every day. The problem is she won't tell me that it's bothering her until I put moisturiser on so no idea if some days are better than others!

If her skin is super sensitive you could try using ecoballs for laundry so that there's no detergent at all. Just water.

I'd also stop using the shampoo if it makes her itch as it's probably that causing the irritation behind her ears. Just water is probably fine, kids don't really have greasy hair like adults do.

We were advised to use Aveeno Dermexa by a GP, maybe worth a try.

With food it can be something like gluten that's triggering flare ups, but you shouldn't cut big food groups out unless you're under the guidance of a doctor so don't do that.

The eczema society website is often a good source of info/recommendations/advice.

There's a washing powder called skinsalve that works for us, might be worth a try https://skinsalve.co.uk/

I second PP about the Eczema Society website, lots of good info and advice.

Wheat / gluten or dairy can be the main culprits for skin issues like eczema. Try cutting out the cheese and yoghurt first for around three weeks (make sure she has calcium supplements or lots of other sources), and if that doesn't seem to make a difference try the same with gluten or wheat.

It sounds like it's chronic rather than flare ups after a specific food (if it is allergen related), so elimination rather than food diary would be the way to go I think.

The upper arms thing could be eczema or could be keratosis pilaris - I have both, and nothing's ever working on the keratosis pilaris but it doesn't hurt me so I don't bother.

My skin responds best to nivea, and jojoba oil. My son also seems to have skin like mine and we use epaderm with him which seems to work well, although it's too heavy for me.

I'd ask GP to refer to Dermatology if you can't self refer if they're a bit naff.

My eldest has eczema since 4 weeks (nearly 4 now). We use surcare washing powder and have done for years as it seems okay for her.

Current emollient is AproDerm, it's literally just paraffin but some children don't like the texture. It's very moisturising and had nothing added to it.

We use child's farm for hair washing unless her scalps bad and we use her prescribed capasal shampoo.