Two-year-old’s eczema improved abroad and flared again at home

[babypeelinghands]

2 year old has terrible eczema/allergy to something on the top of feet and on palms of hands. Mild on the back of legs as well.

Tried the following:

• Gluten free diet, no relief
• Cutting dairy, tomatoes and strawberries
• Steroids and cream from doctors
• Private dermatologist and more creams
• Bathes in water only
• No other creams/hand washes anything used

We live in a hardwater area, but have a home water softening system

We recently spent time in Europe and it disappeared 80% over the week (cooler weather but very very warm in accommmodation). Next day of being home and it was back again with a vengeance.

Has anybody experienced similar and have any ideas of what might be causing it? I'm convinced something must be triggering it given it cleared up prior to us returning home.

Did the other country have lower humidity level? What about Laundry detergent?

Sunshine? Mine is always better when I live somewhere with more sun. Do supplement with Vit D? We all take 2000 IU daily from Oct-Apr as we live in Scotland. My eczema has not flared (other than spells in hospital post-op) since I started this.

Out in the sun more? My psoriasis pretty much goes away when I’m out in the sun a lot, providing I don’t get too hot and sweaty. I think it might be the same for excema

Did you get more sunlight exposure than at home? UV-B phototherapy helps some eczema sufferers.

Out in the sun the same amount, if not slightly less overseas.

Yes we supplement Vitamin D, a multivitamin, Omega 3 and Magnesium Glycinate

Seed oils? Cooking oils go through such awful chemical processing. It can cause inflammation in the body.
Try olive oil or coconut oil.

Have you tried cutting down on dairy?
My brother thrived on goats milk.

Poor baby, it looks so irritable. I hope you finally find the cause.

Yes she's dairy free. No change in seed oil usage between holiday and home.

We arrived back 5pm, by 8am next morning it was flaring slightly and by the end of the day was very raw and inflamed so we presume something she is in contact with at home or was exposed to on flight. Or dietary within 48 hours prior to travel back

Someone else had the same experience recently! Thread here for you:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5540380-ds-eczema-completely-cleared-up-on-holiday-how

It was a certain tree pollen with DS - so he flared up worse at certains points in spring.

Not the only trigger - there were others, some ingredients in lotions and washing powder etc but we found once we moved locations in UK it cleared up.

Is it just this hoilday location - or on other trips in UK does it improve? Keeping a diary when it worse/better to spot patterns could help - how we realsied with DS.

Do you live somewhere with lots of Plane trees?

Were you in the sea? Salt water can be helpful and sunshine I think.

How does your water softener work? I don't know if there would be any way to do it but I would wonder about trying a different method or e.g. buying a big bottle of soft/distilled water and using that to wash (on a flannel) for a trial period to see if that helps.

If it's potentially pollen, could antihistamines help?

Were there tiled floors abroad and carpets at home? Could be dust mites?

Soya? Half of those that can't have dairy also can't have soya.
Egg would be another common allergen to consider from a food point of view.

If diet was broadly very similar I'd be looking environmentally - house dust mites, cats, dogs, pollen

Where were you on holiday? If at altitude it could be the lack of dust mites there. Or could be soya as lots of bread here has soya and I've found that not to be the case abroad.

Yes it's sunshine, and sometimes salty sea. Does wonders for eczema.

We're you by/in the sea? That used to sort DS out (though it didn't return the day we got back)

Bit of hope for you, op. He's now 23 and almost completely eczema free

Actually - if it’s hands, tops of feet and back of legs is it something on the floor? Toddlers spent a lot of time on hands and knees with tops of feet behind them in contact with the floor. And also sitting down on the floor which would tally with back of legs as well. So maybe the dust mites PPs mentioned in carpets or a cleaning product you’re using on your floors? But sun and sea would definitely have helped.

I have severe chronic eczema- now successfully treated with dupilumab- but I found out recently one reason my skin used to get better when I travelled was due a particular plant that's really common in my local area! Unfortunately it's not one we can do anything about or avoid as it grows all over the walls and roads, but it's good to know the trigger.

Has your DD had a full allergy blood test? That's how I discovered my worst triggers, I wish I'd had it when I was younger!

DS's eczema would clear up when we visited my family in soft-water Scotland, we live in hard-water Midlands, so yes I have experienced that. We fitted a water-softener at home, it made no difference.

Only two things had any impact, one was Aveeno Cream with Active Colloidal Oatmeal. Since then (DS is 27 now) Aveeno as a brand has brought out all sorts of variants; lotions, bathwash, even shampoo - they're not as effective as this cream. It's about £6 per 100ml box in Boots right now, so not extortionate to see if it would work for your son. Just make sure the box states with Active Colloidal Oatmeal.

The second thing that helped was Fucidin H, a prescription-only steroid cream, which we were able to use very sparingly once we found Aveeno.

Good luck, and I hope you find what works for your son.

Have a look at eczema: how to ditch the itch by Dr Amelie Seghers. Best rundown of possible eczema triggers.

Thank you for all of these suggestions, I'm looking into all of them!

And for the link to the similar thread @TheOccupier

I second @TheBossOfMe – I'd be looking at a contact allergy to something on the floor or another surface she crawls and sits on. It's quite an unusual pattern of locations for eczema, but fits with a contact allergy.

How was it in winter, when she was more covered? Or possibly more covered, depending on the toddler – neither of mine believed in socks at that age.

Yes it's sunshine, and sometimes salty sea. Does wonders for eczema.

Mine too. Although it's not eczema, but PRP.

Hydrocortisone is a horrible cream, full of crap basically. It is known to thin the skin. Known for years.

Laundry detergent?
I was going to say hard water but you mentioned water softener.
Did you use sun cream abroad but not at home?
Different food abroad eg more oily fish, less UPF?