How would you handle this?

[peachesandpickles]

My dd is 8. She has a sensory processing disorder which after some courses of play therapy has definitely improved. However she still retains a lot of her sensitivity to touch so is very sensitive to her clothing and to how things feel on her skin.

The problem is that she has eczema (amongst other issues) and will not tolerate any sort of emoillient creams. When she was little it was possible to get the cream on her against her will but she is too big now.

I have tried everything to get her to co-operate and tried so many creams.

She says it is her skin and the cream feels worse than the eczema and she wants to just leave it.

She is lucky in that she is not prone to infection on her skin and although she is very dry all over and has some flared up red patches she isn't very itchy.

We used to see a lovely understanding paed but he had retired. The new doctor was dismissive of her sensory issues and told her she has to moisturise.

She will tolerate bath additives but whenever I put cream on her she gets really upset and does more damage trying to get the cream off.

She is a clever child and argued her point well. It is her skin and it doesn't bother her so she thinks it should be her choice.

What do you think?

Have you been referred to occupational therapy. They will be able to do sensory assessment and give advice on desensitising her. It will be a long process but worth it.

Have you ever tried applying the cream at night? when she's asleep and to put bandages around the areas of where the cream has applied, to keep the moisture

Thanks for the replies. I got some info on referral to occupational therapy last year but as she had been doing so well I didn't follow it up, kicking myself now.

I've been thinking of sneakily applying cream at night but she is an awful sleeper and I dread waking her.

Since I started the thread I put out all the creams I have on the table and said nothing. After a while she began looking at them and ruled them out one by one until she found one that was just about acceptable so we are making a bit of progress.

I find the sensory issues so difficult to deal with, it's like one step forward, two steps back. Stress really affects her. she was quite ill with her asthma recently and her allergies have flared up which really causes her anxiety.

Don't know if this will help but i found it good for my son who sounds like he has simarl issues, eczema with sensory issues and hates any form of cream.

I now spray him with a mix of organic oils and vit E, no where near as good, but it does keep his skin moisturized and he can tolerate the feeling of it on his skin.

We had a few hit and misses with the type of spray nozzles, but any that disperses a fine mist seems to work well. he rubs it in or leaves it to air dry for 1 minute before toweling off, when done after getting out of the bath and still wet he hardly notices and i feel he is still getting some mousiture. His skin is so dry and marked, i am sure school think i abuse him :)

Maybe worth a try. Good luck x

Some of these emollients are pretty greasy and horrible from what I remember when my boy had to use them. We found a forever living aloe vera cream that wasn't greasy at all and use that as it meant I would use it out! Wondering from your post above if it is the type of cream so maybe worth a try, although not cheap.

I have been using a spray on cream (salcura I think it is called - from boots where they keep the E45 etc) on my hands because I get eczema and dermatitis and I have found it really good, not greasy etc. however obviously this might not be suitable for her and her needs but it does raise the possibility of a spray on cream somehow? worth looking into. or even emollient mixed with water in a spray bottle would be better than nothing at all?