atopic Excema/Eczema in children

pegginout

My son is 7 and has always suffered with excema (never know how to spell it!!)

Lately it has got worse.

Doc has prescribed oilatum for bath and diprobase cream but they dont seem to be doing much so I have taken it on myself to buy some aveeno atopic moisturiser which seems a bit better.

I was just wondering if any MSE'ers can recommend any products or homemade preperations that will help?

I have read about oatmeal baths so may try this tomorrow.

Any advice welcome TIA x

noonesperfect

Might be worth looking at neem products- some people I know swear by it for eczema.

Keeping_Motivated

Don't use any soap at all, just wash in the cream that the doc has given you this really helps. Since I started washing my DD in the Aquaeous cream from the doctors her skin has really improved. I never use bubble bath or soap on her at all.

Organic12

Try massaging in olive oil after a warm shower. (If you're in a hard water area you've probably been warned showers are better than a bath.) Coconut oil and almond oil are also good but not mineral oil (ie. baby oil).

As mentioned above, neem products (from Indian grocery shops or online) are really good and washing in the creams as well as applying them on dried skin works well. Whacking on olive oil followed by aqueous cream gives much relief. You may need to use huge dollops of aqueous cream, just rub it in until it disappears. Boots is my favoured brand and I carry a tube of it around to apply throughout the day. You may need to moisturise every couple of hours to get it under control.

Is your son keen on fish? Eating oily fish a few times a week can help, along with plenty of water throughout the day.

I don't know what the advice is on using weak atopical steroids for children is but a dermatologist will be able to help further.

Good luck and Happy New Year,
O

floyd

Aqueous cream is always the first recommendation because its so neutral and very cheap as well so try that initially as other posters have recommended.
For some reason the Aqueous cream doesn't work for me but I have found that Salcura intensive spray and zeoderm cream work very well for both eczema on my legs and dermatitis on my hands (I wear vinyl gloves for work and they irritate me).
I think they do small sample sizes now as it is quite expensive but I am willing to pay for a product that works so well. http://www.salcura.co.uk/company-history-c6.html

joanne0620

I was given steroid cream off my GP for my DS who's just turned 2, which I wasn't massively keen on using.

A lady at DH's work suggested Aloe & Propolis Cream which I have been using on him with really good results, his skin is 100 times better now. Its not cheap at nealy £13 a tube but its worth it.

http://www.aloehealthuk.com/store/product_details.aspx?product=51

This is it .......

Forgot to add I also use Halos & Horns shampoo and body wash on him, no SLS and other nasties in it

sianlee

My son has also suffered from eczema since he was a baby. I have tried to use the 1% hydrocortisone cream very sparingly. He is 7 years old now and his condition has greatly improved since using a combination of Epaderm cream (prescribed by his Doctor) & washing using Halos & Horns products for the past 3 years or so. I found that Oilatum bath product seemed to inflame his eczema and the diprobase cream was not absorbed fully. I have spoken to a few parents of children with eczema over the years and there doesn't seem to be one universal product or regime that is suitable for all children, I guess you have to keep trying until you find the combination of products that work for your child.

stingylolo

I find, working in a pharmacy, that although prescribing is mainly driven by costs, for some people you have to find the cream that will suit them best.

I was lucky that for the little one GP prescribed Oilatum cream and bath emollient, which keeps his eczema under control (we found aqueous cream actually burnt his and my skin, and didn't do the job at all). I don't use Oilatum emollient as bath stuff, I just put some on a baby sponge and dab it on him for a minute before I put him in the bath. I don't use any soaps on him when the eczema is bad. As soon as he's out of the bath I use the cream generously.
I am lucky in the fact that his eczema is only mild.

I have noticed that when it flares up, if I increase how often I apply the cream it does get better. But it's like forget to apply it once and then it's back to the beginning and you have to start the whole thing again.

Although most creams are emollients they all have different water/paraffin contents. You have to also bear in mind sensitivities to certain ingredients/lanolin/perfume etc which might not make the condition any better. If a cream doesn't suit you, then do get back to the GP to get to try something else.

And just for the note, Aveeno is very good, but if you go down the line of buying it, it's not very cheap.

3plus1

pegginout wrote: »

Doc has prescribed oilatum for bath and diprobase cream but they dont seem to be doing much so I have taken it on myself to buy some aveeno atopic moisturiser which seems a bit better.

Where on your son's body does he suffer from eczema, and how badly? Are we talking inflamed skin, cracked/bleeding skin, bubbles, weeping...? Does your son tend to get itchy/scratch quite often or not?

What does your son make of Diprobase and Oilatum? Does he think they're any good or does he complain that his skin is more itchy afterwards anyway? Whatever your doctor prescribes, make sure to listen to your son. If he says his medicine is making his skin itchy, he will scratch, and that will make things worse. As much as he might want to not scratch, self control can be impossible with eczema. I know when I was a seven-year-old, my mother didn't buy that, but it really is true.

Personally, I hate Oilatum. Doesn't do a thing for me. Also, if Diprobase isn't helping your son, there are a few different moisturisers he could try. Just ask his doctor. Your son's doctor might be amenable to giving you a few samples of moisturisers to try, but if he doesn't have any, he could prescribe you the smallest versions available of several different things. As stingylolo says, it is about finding what suits your son best. The cost really doesn't come into it.

Do you know what your son's eczema is caused/triggered by? Has your doctor talked about that with you?

Quite often eczema will appear on warm parts of the body - a favourite place for it to attack children is behind elbows and knees. It's important to keep those warm bits cool and ventilated. 100% cotton clothing does help - it's not just one of those things people say.

You don't mention your son using a steroid cream at all - is that right? Why? You haven't described the condition of your son's eczema, but if a moisturiser like Diprobase on its own isn't doing any good, I would wager he needs some sort of steroid in conjunction. A lot of doctors get twitchy about steroids and children, but those doctors tend to be the sort of GPs who know nothing about dermatology. If you ever come across one of those, make an appointment with someone else. It's your right.

Some parents do get twitchy about steroids too (as demonstrated by joanne0620's post), but sometimes they are the only thing that works. I've had eczema all my life and I did use 'adult' creams when I was only little. I would have been downright miserable if this option hadn't been open to me. The only thing to watch out for, is that you don't use steroids for very long and you do apply them sparingly to the affected bits. It's very easy to wab steroid cream onto 'good skin', but it's not a good idea in the long run. If need be, you can use cotton wool buds to apply the cream. It'll help you get the cream onto the right spots and also protect you - you don't want to get cream on your hands when looking after your son, as you don't need it.

I would suggest that you do apply your son's cream for him - children are more likely to just wab on the cream thickly and onto the affected area and everything near there. Been there, done that myself at his age. If he really wants to do it himself, watch him a couple of times to make sure he's not going crazy and just plastering it all on.

If your son's eczema is quite mild, then a mild steroid like Hydrocortisone might be all your son needs to get it under control. Do ask your doctor about the possibility of prescribing that. I think it might be available over the counter, but I'm not sure. Anything stronger won't be, and if Hydrocortisone doesn't do the trick, you will need a prescription for something else, so you'll need to see your son's doctor again anyway.

If your son scratches a lot, a mild antihistamine might help. It might not, but it's worth trying. You can buy these over the counter, but you may as well get them from your doctor for free.

When I was your son's age, I found it helpful to wear cotton gloves (you can buy these from Boots) on my hands at night as I did tend to scratch my eczema whilst asleep and you can't do that much damage with your nails covered up! Cotton socks will do the trick too, if you can't find any gloves.

fernliebee

I had eczema as a child behind my knees, ears and in the fold of my arms, it was split and bleeding and very painful. I tried all types of creams from the dr and none seemed to do much. My mum was very careful about which products she used re bubble bath etc and it just got worse. In the end she was reccomended a homeopathic cream from a friend. It was called graphites cream. It cleared my skin quickly and it has never returned. I do understand that with homeopathy you need to get the right remedy for you for it to work so effectively, but it doesn't do any harm and could be the answer your looking for. A friend cares for a few adults with severe eczema and highly rates the oat baths, and has completely given up on creams and soaps from the dr, she say's their skin has never been better!!

Anne3333

My daughter also suffered with eczema for many years and I tried all the usual creams and treatments over the years. In her first 5 years of life, she only slept through the night 3 times. One thing I eventually found pretty effective was 'wet wraps' which was applying the moisturiser at night and then wrapping over the effected area with a lukewarm wet bandage until the morning, a bit of a palaver but the effects were good and the cooling wet bandage helped with the itching.
However, there was only one cream that I call the 'miracle cream' as it had the most dramatic effect. I found it on the internet and it was only licenced at the time in America. I mentioned it to the doctor and when it was eventually licenced here, my doctor said we could try it. At this time I was applying the steroid creams twice daily and following up with copious amounts of moisturiser. I used the cream for about 3 days and the eczema competely disappeared, so much so that it was almost as if it had 'zapped' it. It was some weeks before any eczema reappeared at all and in that time I used no creams at all and even then it was only minor eczema. After a couple of months, the eczema never reappeared again and I have nothing but praise for it. The American name for it was Tacrolimus, but it is sold here in England as Protopic 0.03%. I know it used to cost about £75 a tube when it was first released, hence doctors are probably not quick to prescribe it on their budgets, but I believe that is nothing to years of steroid creams and the anguish for children affected, so well worth asking your doctor for.
Hope it helps!