Eczema Advice

[Keef]

Our daughter has Eczema on her face. Doctor has given us some moisturiser stuff, but just wondered if anyone had any advice or tips.

Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother her at all, it just breaks my heart I think.

[The Nappy Lady]

Keef,

Check out purepotions.co.uk - every child is different, but I know a few children for whom this stuff has been a bit of a miracle cure, and it is all natural, no nasty chemicals in it. The bath emolliant and after bath cream are very good.

Many grow out of it (as I did) so don't despair, homeopathic sulphur tablets also seemed to help me - strange but true. I couldn't use Lanolin based creams as the Lanolin made me itch terribly...something to watch out for. Also bear in mind diet - dairy products as I am sure you know can be a huge issue - either if Mum is eating them and breastfeeding, or if little one is eating milk, cheese etc. Cows milk if often a big issue, switching to goats milk can help a lot (my parents ended up keeping nanny goats when I was little and the switch made a big difference to my eczema, plus pretty cool to be able to pop down the garden and milk a goat...not suggesting you do that in ED though!

Really hope she improves.

Molly

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[Keef]

Thanks Molly. I hope she does grow out of it, but there is eczema on both sides of the family, plus asthma, and hayfever, so I don't like her chances. Mrs Keef has read loads about diet and stuff, was just wondering if anyone had experience of treatments. Will definitely check out that link, so thanks very much!

[ClareC]

Hiya,

I have ridiculously sensitive skin so know what a pain this can be!! Any idea what the cause is? Avoiding the irritants really is the way forward, unfortunately its a prevention rather than cure condition although it is something that tends to get better with age and can be grown out of.

I saw a dermatologist and was prescribed diprobase cream - its basically a rich moisturiser cream with no added scents etc. It is great at preventing breakouts. For some reason it took me seeing the specialist before I got it on repeat prescription but subject to it being suitable for babies ask the Dr for some - should help prevent this happening again.

Oilatum is also good for baths and can be bought at the chemist - careful though it will make her really slippery!! Again check its suitable for babies.

Other than that you need to stop her scratching at it - mits will be the only way (ive even resorted to this myself in the past!!)

Good luck

[The Nappy Lady]

Yes, have a friend who uses diprobase on her daughter and it helps a lot. I think she uses it after her bath each day.

Oh, another thought...not sure what you use for clothes washing, but interestingly about 4 years ago Bristol University did a study into bio vs non bio detergents....basically kicked off because the rest of Europe doesn't have non-bio and there is no higher incidence of childhood eczema or skin sensitivity. What they found is that most of the non-bios have bleaching agents in them to make up for the lack of chemical enzymes which are in the bios....SORRY EDITED TO ADD...and these bleaching agents are as aggressive on the skin as the chemical enzymes so it seems.....

The conslusion was that it isn't what TYPE of detergent you use, but HOW MUCH that is the big factor with detergents and sensitivity...generally speaking it is a good idea to use half the recommended dose of detergent for washing purposes. You could also try the Eco Balls, or Soap Nuts...I find they work OK on clothes that basically need to be freshened up more than anything else, but for really dirty clothing - post gardening, playing in the park etc. or nappies you do need to use a proper detergent of some form. The whole non-bio for babies thing is a massive advertising led con as far as I can tell, based on the Bristol University findings.

Molly

[Mellors]

We've been through the mill with this with out nearly 3 year old.

We use a combination of Oilatum in the bath (on prescription, and we don't bath every day), Diprobase cream or Epaderm (basically something lardlike which acts as a deep moisturiser, and you also use for cleansing/hairwashing), goat's milk and hydrocortisone steroid cream when it gets really bad, plus the usual non bio washing powder etc.

The good news is its much better not at 3 than at was in the baby stages, so fingers crossed they will grow out of it.

Those sleepsuits with the built in foldover mitts are excellent if they are scratchy at night. They sell them up to 2 years old in JoJo Maman Bebe (although in baby sizes they are much cheaper in Tesco etc).

[Emski]

Moisturising frequently - at least twice a day - with something soothing and fragrance-free should make a difference. I have had eczema myself since a baby, and paranoid about my 5-month-old developing it. I use diprobase - seems good. Also, keep nails as short as possible to stop scratching. Most eczema is worst in winter - the cold weather, dry atmosphere from central heating, and dramatic changes in temperature as you enter/leave a warm house seem to contribute. Mine improved a lot when I went to Oz for a few months over our winter. Not sure you can get that on the NHS though...

Good luck!

[iaineasy]

I heard of very successful results when people gave up tap water and only drank bottled water due to the mineral content of tap water having a detremental effect. there are currently studies going on into this.Try googling it and see what info you can get. good luck!

hugs

[Moos]

Our son's dry skin improved hugely when we stopped bathing him every day - he now has 2 or 3 baths or showers a week and is much less itchy and dry (also he still smells lovely). Have also used Diprobase and Sudocrem on the dry areas, which work well.

Am also going to try shifting to using less detergent (even though we use an eco-friendly one) and trying the ecoballs for not-too-dirty washes.

I personally have switched to unsweetened soy milk for my cereal and morning coffee, and my skin has cleared up lots. It's not that nice, though...

[antijen]

I have used marigold on child eczema which helped, can be added to bath, if you google it you'll find loads of info. My daughters child is 3months now and her skin has been adjusting to weather change, dryness etc, hope you find something that helps.

[Tanza]

I agree with all the moisturising advice. We have recently have had quite a (touch wood it continues) miraculous recovery from eczema with our five year old son, we cut out giving him eggs and it's almost all gone, it was quite a dramatic change.

I suffered with it as a child with the odd flair up even now as an adult and it seems to be dust that triggers mine.

Good luck

[Belle]

yes, our little boy has it and having had it all my life I really wanted to avoid steroid cream for him so moisturise, moisturise, moisturise...I've always found Diprobase and Aveeno Cream good - get your doctor to put them on a repeat prescription for you (I just asked and they did quite happily) - otherwise it does add up a bit. I have had to use steroid cream (antibiotic and antifungal ones) when his skin got v bad but only once or twice. Agree about oilatum being good too - again, get it on prescription if you can. Also we too do the bath every other night t hing which seems to help. Oh, and when it's looking angry - good old sudocrem can really help calm it down.

[Gubodge]

It's very much horses for courses. Our daughter has worked her way through diprobase, aqueous cream, oilatum, hydrocortisone and many others in her three years, none of which worked very well or for very long. We now manage it pretty well by blasting it with elecon steroid cream when she has a flare up, and bathing her with hydromol and moisturising with emulsiderm. (or it is the other way around?) She has various food allergies but these only exacerbate her eczema, they don't cause it, so avoidance of the problem foods doesn't 'cure' her.

One thing to be aware of is that steroid creams have come a long way and are nothing to be afraid of. The damage done to the skin by scratching is an awful lot worse than any damage potentially caused by long term steroid use.

[legalbeagle]

Keef - there's a woman on Northcross Road market who sells shea butter. It's a small stall and she doesn't sell anything else. It seems quite expensive (I think about ?5 for a small pack) but you only need to rub on a tiny bit at a time. We tried Oilatum, diprobase and lots of other things on both my children with no effects at all. This worked within a matter of a week if not less. I'm not promising a miracle cure, every child is different, but it certainly worked a treat on both of mine. Worth a go for a fiver, plus it is a completely pure and natural product so no harm can be done by trying?

[KatsuQueen]

Try and get a referral to a dermatologist or dermatology nurse. MiniKatsu was quite bad with eczema and I didn't have much confidence in our GP. So I asked for a referral and was sent to see a dermatology nurse at a practice in Herne Hill. I believe it's a weekly clinic. The nurse there was excellent and my son is much better now. It's still moisturise moisturise moisturise though.

[duncandtessa]

I think my daughter must have seen the same dermatology nurse in Herne Hill who was fantastic, Amy I think. We were referred when the doctor couldn't tell if A2 had chicken pox or an ezcema flare up. She recommended Hydromol, which goes on much easier than Epaderm, Hydromol liquid for the bath and hydrocortisone cream. I was intially concerned about the hyrdrocortisone but she recommended that we put in on twice a day for 5 days, then once a day for 5 days and then every other day for about a week and then stop. The change in my daughters skin is amazing, bearing in mind she had it all over her face, elbows, knees, ankles and tops of her legs. We now just moisturise loads. It seems to be the hydrocortisone that got it under control and now it just get managed by lots of hydromol. We went to see her when A2 was 6 months and I was going to start weaning and she suggested just doing it as normal, because there are so many things that make ezcema get worse - teething, heat etc....and that they would recommend a change in diet when they got older if there was no improvement. I just weaned her with normal cows products although often had goats cheese/yogurt etc...to vary her diet and not overload on dairy or wheat too much. Consequently we + A1 have a more varied diet because of the baby. Keep going to find the product that works best for you....took us a while, but now all seems to work!

[Keef]

Mrs Keef is trying to get a referral, Baby is also having (unrelated I think) rashes come up very suddenly after having certain things. Rash then goes as suddenly as it came. Apparently she's too young to manage goats milk, so at the moment, it looks like we can't even give her formula, which is a pig.

[Gubodge]

You could try soy formula (There is a goat powdered milk available but it is not suitable as an infant milk as it doesn't contain the necessary fortifications) but you shouldn't restrict or alter her diet without first speaking to a GP about it.

[vinceayre]

My daughter had/has it and we controlled it with:

Washing powder called Filleti in a pink box, does not wash very well but she has no eczema now. Especially wash bed linen and pyjamas tights socks jeans etc.

After bathing covered her in Aqueiouse cream

SMA formula milk was a trigger

We have L'Occitan Shea butter hand cream/ moisturiser for any flair ups it works a treat, like last week she bought a new pair of jeans and wore them before we could wash them so got it on her legs from the dressing shops put on cloths.

Out of all of them the washing powder is the most important onefollowed by no soaps in the bath just Aqueiouse cream.

It is a matter of elimination, finding out what is your child's trigger and removing it from their lives.

Vince

[Otto]

The GP will give you a prescription for soy formula -- quite a help as then it is free...

[Belle]

Vince - how did you know it was the SMA? That's what my baby is on and I do worry...but especially since he was weaned, it's so hard to tell what may or may not affect him.

[toast]

You probably know this but it was new to me a few years back. A proper dermatologist explained it to me, and it all made sense. Our skin is a barrier, obviously, but when its breached our whole resistance goes down and eczema can grow like a fire spreading. The creams are like fire extinguishers, normally you only need moisturisers but sometimes bigger hoses are needed, e.g. hydroquaterzone, betnovate etc (excuse spelling!).

Since i got this idea i use dermol in my sons bath to keep him nice and soft, and dermol moisturiser after the bath, (the other bath stuff made him itchy), and do use a little light hydroquaterzone as soon as he has a flair up. Since we have done this he hardly ever needs the hydroquatrzone, we never get to the point of needing the big hoses.

Hope this helps.

[vinceayre]

Belle,

We know this because she had been off formula for a few weeks and on normal milk and we were driving to Provence for a holiday but worried about getting any milk for her when we arrived so we took a couple of pre-made cartons of SMA for her in case. When we arrived it was a holiday so we gave her the SMA for a day and the next day she had a major flair up. We also took our own bed linen for her and a pack of filletti to wash her stuff in so the only different thing was the milk. Once we stopped giving to her it cleared up, this was also where we discovered L'Occitan cream for her skin. On our return we mentioned it to someone and she said she had heard that it can trigger it.

[alieh]

Hi Keef. Lots of ideas here, but don't think this one has been mentioned.

Porridge oats in the bath. This has been amazing for us. We tie a cup of porridge oats into a muslin cloth, secure with elastic band, and put under running tap and squish into bath water until water is quite cloudy. Also dab the oat-filled muslin onto the excema patches.

We moisturise every day, sometimes twice (or even more) with Aveeno. I tried all kinds of more natural products, hoping that they would work, but Aveeno cream worked overnight.

Think detergent is also a major trigger for him. We use Surcare in our wash and it seems good.

[The Nappy Lady]

Oh yes - the Porridge Oats tip also works for Nappy Rash!

Have heard good stuff about Aveeno before.

This is a great thread, I'm sure it will be useful for a lot of people.

Molly

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