eczema? Post Reply

[nvmof3]

My sister in law is a dermatologist and together through trial and error, we have found a "recipe" that works for my son and daughter. Epaderm as a twice daily moisturiser as it is super greasy. Then if there is a flare up, some hydrocortisone (eumovate is good) to see it off. If there is a bit of bacterial infection in the red cracks (you can sort of see spots and dark red elements in the cracks and the eczema seems to spread more than normal) use Dermol before Epaderm for a few days as it has good antibacterial properties. I know everyone has their own methods, but none of the previous posters have mentioned the bacterial infection which is often present in cracked raw skin and needs treating.

[Racheleh]

We have 3 generations of eczema sufferers in my family and over the years have found the information and support available from the National Eczema Society very useful.

www.eczema.org
email: helpline@eczema.org
or telephone for eczema help: 0800 089 1122

The website provides helpful information and there are also several excellent leaflets available on different aspects of childhood eczema (which I found meant that I was much better informed when visiting the GP).

Also a word of warning re the use of almond oil - while some sufferers do find nut oils help eczema, there is often a link between eczema and nut allergy.

[toadstool]

My 3 year old also suffers from eczema and has had no joy from the various creams prescribed by the doctor.

This is a weird one but really works for her - we rub in Aveeno cream (properties within it calm down the inflammation) and follow it up with 8 hour cream (for moisture). It's amazing! 8 hour cream costs a fortune so I sometimes use that nipple cream stuff in the purple tube (Lanolin or something).

Good luck hope you find something that works.

[Honeymummy]

Hi, I sympathize with you. Finding the right treatment is really difficult and you will find many contradictory advices as some things work for some and make it worse for others...

for my daughter what worked was a change of diet, bathing 3x a day with an emollient called Diprobath followed by cetraben cream, calendula cream or hard patches and steroid creams on the most severe patches. Remember that steroid creams must be stopped gradually (once it starts working you apply less and less every day rather than stopping it all at once) or the eczema might come back a few days later.
We sometimes had to use antibiotics as eczema can get infected.

[mummynanny]

Aveeno cream and bath oil (contains oatmeal) are fantastic. And it can be also prescribed by GP so it won't cost you anything.

[MrsAmanda]

Several people I know use Lush's Dream Cream and say it helps. Personally, I use my Liz Earle products in my boys and we seem to be avoiding flare-ups. Just about everything we got from the doctor either did nothing or made it worse. Another thing we do is to take an omega oil supplement. I add a tsp of Udo's Oil to their food.

[theessentialtouch]

I have suffered from bad dry skin and eczema/dermatitis for many years.
What gives me relief and is suitable for children too is a natural wholefood supplement taken daily with topical application of chemical free organic creams.

If you are interested in finding out more then please direct mail me. Its so amazing being able to use products that work and mean that you don't have to resort to chemical based steroid options that doctors prescribe these days.

Good luck and hope you see an improvement soon.

[Coffeegirl]

Over the weekend, my son's eczema has exploded from localised and manageable to full body, red and itchy.
We are already using the creams, oilatum, hydro-cortisone etc... to no avail.

A few of you have mentioned "changes to diet", did any of you have your little ones tested for allergies? and if so, can you recommend somewhere to go please?

Thanks

[excitera]

My poor little boy suffered from eczema since we moved to Clapham from Marylebone. Water here is absolutely terrible, even I who never had eczema in my life came up with small patches on my hands from washing bottles, baby etc.

I have tried all possible creams for my baby, you name them I tried them...
here is the list:
oilatum bath and cream - didn't work
centraben i diprobase - made it worse
mustela stelatoria - the only thing that helped in the beginning
lipikar baume AP la roche posay lab - was painful for baby to apply, but actually was helping
aveeno - made it itchy and red.. and condition worse
aquaus cream - aboslute rubbish, don't even think about using in on your baby... the only thing why GP prescribe it - is because it cheap as peanuts - £1.50 for huge tin
Weleda calendula - made it itchy
bepanthen - yes nappy cream, was saving us in worse outbreak cases and help to avoid steroids...

In the end what help us was very expensive virgin olive oil, applied after bath, no soap needed everyday. Bath everyday actually helps to moisture skin, but temperature should be 35-36C, not more than 37C!

I have seen about 6 different GPs about eczema and 4 dermatologists. It is sad - how little some doctors know about eczema in babies and children, often they'd give absolutely wrong advice.

Also, it is very important to check the labels of all baby clothes, anything with polyester in it - throw it away! and beware buggies and car seats these days are made from 100% too, so I suggest buy cotton liners.

My prayers go to all babies and mums who deal which eczema, I know exactly how heartbreaking it is.

[excitera]

Coffeegirl,

How old is your baby, NHS won't test a baby for dairy allergy until the age of 2y,
Private might do it earlier - at about 9m-1y. Nuts and Eggs might be tested at around 1-1.5y.

If you suspect allergies as a cause of eczema - you should get a referral from GP to see pediatric gastroenterologist, to see and NHS one will take ages, the one is Portland in 1-2 weeks probably (DR Mike Thomson). There is some useful info about allergies on his page http://www.paediatricgastroenterologist.co.uk/home.htm

[Coffeegirl]

He is 22 months.
The very sudden worsening just after we had a weekend away suggests to me it's an allergic reaction to something new.

Thanks for the Private consultant details, I am going to give it 1 week and then start this process.

thank you.

[carissab]

A natropath recommended Fish oil capsules for my boy. I saw an improvement within days. He now takes the kids burstable chewy ones daily and moisurises his skin from the inside. As long as the other brain development benefits it can bring, I call it my miracle cure for my boys eczema. It has definately helped. I also reduced bathing to only 3 times per week.

[Cinnamon]

Ladies
Have any of you tried Miamoo products? I have nothing to do with the company and no first hand experience of eczema but have used some of these products and they are nice to use on my dry skin. (I became much more 'ingredient-aware' after having my son.)
The company was set up by Saira Khan, of Apprentice fame, because she and her young son both suffered with eczema. Products are free from 'nasties', all explained on her website: http://www.miamoo.co.uk and, whilst I see from these posts that no one solution suits all, she does have some good feedback.
Also, there is a 50% off promotion throughout June (code junemoo) and product range includes a travel kit with smaller/trial sizes of all items.
Once again, I have NO links at all with the company but thought this might be of interest as eczema seems a difficult problem to deal with, in little ones especially.
Good luck!

[Honeymummy]

Hi CoffeeGirl, about allergy testing, it is difficult to do on babies because it takes a lot of blood but IT IS possible. My daughter was tested at 7 months old for all the main allergens (dairies, nuts, soya, eggs, wheat). To do this we had a referral from our GP to the paediatrican dermatologists at Chelsea & Westminster, so on NHS. The dermatologist there decided to do the blood test straight away, and put her on an freefrom milk called Neocate.

This was a break-through for us as one month after the diet change my daughter started to sleep at night, for the first time ! The eczema took a while and many more appointements to go but eventually it did with many diet changes and more testing.
You can email me if you have any questions, even if eczema is very different from a child to another, I have quite some experience in the allergy field by now !

[Joe's Mum]

I too found that all the (mostly petroleum based) products prescribed by the doc would exacerbate my baby's eczema.
Two product lines that we found really did help are Bria organics www.briaorganics.co.uk, and the Dream Wash and Dream Cream from Lush. Also bathing him as infrequently as possible does help too.