Eczema creams

aknitter

Not sure if this is the right place for this but my son is 2 and is going through a flare up of his eczema - he's had it since birth, symptoms started early, both parents are asthmatic - I am currently using Silcocks base 4 times a day and I am just wondering if anyone knows of an alternative that may be better. We've tried aqueous cream (it works but the silcocks is better) and diprobase (he's allergic to it).
I am making an appointment for the dermatologist tomorrow but would like to know what other people are using.
(We have a whole routine built around him and do so much more than just moisturize him!)

DubOnHoliday

My daughter is 5 and we've tried most of the creams. But we always ended back on Silcocks. She sleeps in a one piece pyjamas with socks sown over her hands. its not ideal but it means no scratching during the night. We also found the introduction of a night light like this one (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Twilight-Turtle-BLUE-cloud-b/dp/B0054G5AIC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1365367066&sr=8-2&keywords=cloud+b+night+light), reducing the anxiety which can one of the triggers for scratching to be very helpful. Also whenever she is left on her own, watching tv or whatever we put a top on her that has gloves, again not ideal, but no deep scratches to deal with. Good luck.

fall

I don't know if you have ever heard of wet wrapping? My son had really bad eczema when he was a baby. We used this technique for five months, everyday and his skin cleared. He rarely gets an outbreak now and never to the same extent.
It involves two layers of bandages called tubifast, one you soak in emollient and warm water and the other remains dry. You layer the bandages over each other. The whole idea behind it is that it gives the skin time to heal because they can't get at it and there is lots of moisture. I had tried everything before this. I found silences base so hard to use and a lot of the recommended creams irritated him. I always use pure paraffin gel and even now ( he is 5) he is moisturised from head to toe after every shower as a prevention. I know some things work for some and not for others but I would be delighted if this helped.

aknitter

Thanks for that, I've done the wet wrap thing - he pulls them off but it does help. I'll try the paraffin gel - anything at this stage!
Dub we can't put anything on his hands - if he can't touch himself he really freaks out and the stress then is so much worse so its a vicious circle at times. We have the oneies too whick keep him away from his feet, but I find the real problem area is his wrists and hands and I am at a loss as to how to help those areas. I tried the wet wrapping and he pulled it off.

fall

There is a tubifast body suit that you can get so he won't be able to pull it off. Did you try the actual tubifast bandages? They are quite hard to remove and there are special sizes to suit different ages
It's tough going. Hope something works

aknitter

fall, I never heard of them before, I assume I get them at the chemist? His poor wrists are bad and I need something now to stop him scratching / picking it.

fall

My brother trained as a dermatologist and he told me about it. You will get the tubifast bandages in some chemists, others will have to order it in. It is not that cheap but you can wash it and re use it. The full body suits would only be available on line. He will have some job pulling this stuff off! My son was covered from head to toe with eczema when he was sixs months old and he couldn't sleep because he was tearing his skin. His skin is amazing now. Like a different child. Try to find some info on the net.

locum-motion

fall wrote: »

... You will get the tubifast bandages in some chemists, others will have to order it in...

The 'some chemists' to which you refer are simply those chemists that already have a regular customer that uses it, so that's why they have it in stock. Eeryone has 'to order it in', but you just might get lucky and by coincidence they already have another similar patient.
What I'm trying to do here is dispel any suggestion that there are 'good chemists' that have it and 'bad chemists' that have to order it in.

dbrunson

aknitter wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right place for this but my son is 2 and is going through a flare up of his eczema - he's had it since birth, symptoms started early, both parents are asthmatic - I am currently using Silcocks base 4 times a day and I am just wondering if anyone knows of an alternative that may be better. We've tried aqueous cream (it works but the silcocks is better) and diprobase (he's allergic to it).
I am making an appointment for the dermatologist tomorrow but would like to know what other people are using.
(We have a whole routine built around him and do so much more than just moisturize him!)

,

been through it all and know your pain, our son had terrible excema, now cured, we went to every specialist and used every cream/steroid cream, silcock was terrible for us and made our sons excema worse, so to cut a very long story short,

A long bath in the morning with oilatum
Moisterise.We used eucerin.
Keep the childs hands as clean as possible , keep nails trimmed
NO DAIRY, in fact no milk at all, we subsituted bottles for water with a bit of manuka honey in it.
Moisterise at every nappy change.
Another treated bath before bedtime.

Worked for us, his skin is totally clear, from looking like a burn victim a year ago.

Good luck
And at night time use sudo cream on any flared up spots.

Also re specialist generally they will prescribe steroid cream, we used them all , and while they give relief they do not cure the problem, and have the added effect of introducing a stimulant into the child , our guy was up 24/7 when he was on steroid cream, Disaster!.

aknitter

Dburnson, isn't it funny how kids react differently to stuff? My fella can't sleep if the itch is too bad and the only way to soothe it is use the steroid, he woke 7 times sunday night and once last night (on the steroid) cream. Baths make his skin worse so I am limited to 2 a week. Eucerin is too light for him and his skin soaks it like a sponge. He is in much better form today!

Yes we took him off the dairy and onto soya and it made the whole situation so much worse, his system could not take to it all so I was advised by the dermatologist to leave him on the dairy, apparently only 5% of eczema sufferers are made worse by dairy and as an asthmatic I tried the dairy free route too and it didn't suit me either, Dermatologist said our boy was defiantly a genetic case (as opposed to environmental - though certain enviromental stuff causes reactions)

fall

My son was the same. He could not have a daily bath. It made it so much worse. We used the steroid cream under the wet wraps initially but once the itch cycle was broken we could reduce it to the worst areas and eventually stop using it.
It's so hard when they are not sleeping.

Big Tanya

locum-motion wrote: »

Eeryone has 'to order it in', .

My Daughter had to order this specially when she was a kid.
Thankfully she has overcome this .

DonFred

Try and keep away from chemicals - try putting some porridge ina old pair of tights and steep in warm water until it turns milky and they wash the kid. Afterwards put on some lotion from the Moogoo range. Most products on the market are laden with chemiclas and cause more harm then help.

Mam of 4

Know what you're going through, like others, tried everything. Thankfully my son os now 16 and only has flair ups an odd time. By trial and error I found that washing powders and fabric softener drove him demented with the Eczema , really irritated it . Ended up just washing his clothes with one detergent in particular and no softener and that was fine.

Best of luck and hopefully it eases as time passes..

DeltaWhite

Why don't you try 'Dream Cream' from a place called Lush on Grafton St in Dulin city my friends toddler was cleared of really bad eczema after she used that! It might be worth trying as sometimes prescribed creams can be a little intense IMO! I think you can buy it online too

Edit: previous poster mentioned Moogoo, I've heard great things about that stuff so check them out

aknitter

Mam of 4 thanks am right there with you - I can only use fairy non bio and no softener!

Deltawhite I love lush and have used it for him but it went pear shaped on me the last flare up we had, which is a pity as its brilliant cream.

Mam of 4

aknitter , it's fairy I also use, didn't know if i was allowed say it I used to put cotton socks on his hands going to bed, pulled them up over the sleeves of his pjs, stopped him from scratching during the night. Also found a lighter cover over him stopped him getting too warm, kept the skin cooler.

To be honest, like yourselves, tried every cream, ointment, goats milk, which helped, limewater, faithhealers, as he really was so bad,also asthmatic Trial and error,you'll get there.

DeltaWhite

aknitter wrote: »

Mam of 4 thanks am right there with you - I can only use fairy non bio and no softener!

Deltawhite I love lush and have used it for him but it went pear shaped on me the last flare up we had, which is a pity as its brilliant cream.

Ah god I know how it feels I have psoriasis and I tried every cream going so I know how frustrating and infuriating it can be good luck on your quest and please god you'll find something that will work!

stooge

We've been through almost everything at this stage also:

Silcocks Base - didnt really make a difference
Dpirobase - seemed to make things worse
Wet Wrapping - Worked for a while but its so time consuming and awkward. also, as soon as its off our daughter was sratching like mad at her skin doing even more damage
Epaderm Ointment - Messy but worked relatively well
Epaderm Cream - Seems to be the best for keeping the skin hydrated and is the least irritating of everything we have tried

In addition to the above we have used steroidal creams:
- Hydocortisone (almost constantly)
- Locoid (flare ups)
- Betnovate (3 week period)

In baths we have oilatum flare up.

Scruffles

^betnovate helps settle mine when its at its most severe,but when its milder have actualy found sudocrem very helpful plus it smells far better than betnovate.:D
does sudocrem help anyone else during milder days?
mine only started in adulthood-it affects all over one hand and fingers/the inner elbow pits and inside ears,and all over the neck,until adulthood never had any skin problems not even a spot.

aknitter

Will have to try sudocreme now that the betnovate has the flare up under control. I find the bleach in the bath to be very helpful to keep the skin clear, and it really keeps the redness down which in turn helps with the itch.

Meant to get the oilatum flare up but completely forgot about it when in the pharmacy Still he seems to be well on the mend.

Stooge thanks for the list will have to try the epaderm, ointment suits our man better than cream.

PinkFly

Currently my 7 yr old son is having silcocks base throughout the day and doc suggested to have emunovate 5 days a week morn n night, then give him a break at the weekends by giving him hydrocortisol. It seems to be working really well.

As all of ye know its really difficult to find the correct cocktail of creams to suit the child.

What do you find best to bathe / shower them with? My doc was saying bleach baths can help during flare ups. ( Milton in water)

Ladycastle

Hi there, I just wanted to let any parents with babies suffering from eczema about a website that I came across which was a godsend!!! My baby had terrible eczema and it was keeping her awake at night with itching. I used to get up once or twice a night and moisturise her just so she could get some sleep. I followed the advice on the Solve Eczema website and like a miracle it was gone!!!!! I need to tell as many people as I can about it so that they can hopefully have the same miraculous results!!!! Best of luck :-)

Ladycastle

I was rubbing creams into my baby until the cows came home and she wasn't getting any better. The only thing that worked was the steroid creams which I hated using but at times had no choice. Then I found a website called Solve Eczema and followed the advice and like a pure miracle it cured her eczema completely!!

Ladycastle

Silcocks base actually contains SLS which is a detergent that can aggravate skin in children that are allergic. Surprisingly a lot of treatment shampoos and washes etc contain this detergent. Liquid paraffin gel might be a good soap substitute in the bath. I used to rub it into my babies scalp before bed and it really helped.

aknitter

Pinkfly, I put one capful of milton in the bath along with 2 capfuls of adult oilatum, I was told to use the flare up oilatum, I think its called oilatum plus (forgot it when I was in the pharmacy!) and then soak the child for 15/20 mins. Its mostly under control now but his hands and wrists are still cut so we are using the steroid cream there and on his legs.

What do ye do for shampoo, I've been using dentinox cradle cap shampoo all along.

Thanks Ladycastle, will have a look at it.

Ladycastle

No problem aknitter, I really hope it helps you like it has helped us! If you need any tips on how to implement some of the changes suggested let me know. The site is American but I have managed to source some alternative detergent free products in Ireland/uk.

aknitter

Ladycastle, I am actually making my own detergent, using soap and soda crystals, will do it tomorrow and see how it goes. I wasn't going to use it on his clothes but now I think I might.

Ladycastle

Aknitter that's a great idea!! We actually started using it on all of our clothes as she was getting eczema even from contact with our clothes after we were holding her. I was also washing my hands in a liquid soap that I later realisied contained detergent and this was affecting her when I was rubbing on her creams!! It seems to be in all standard household cleaning agents nowadays! It took a few washes to get the old detergent residue out, that's how sensitive they seem to be to it! Best of luck!!

Ladycastle

Also meant to say, most of the soaps in store now contain deterrent as well, even some of the old reliables have started to include it in their ingredients so make sure that the one you are using to make your laundry powder doesnt contain any. The website solution page gives info on how ro figure out if there is detergent in the ingredients list or not.

nabeepoole

Hey dbrunson !!
Your tip helped my child a lot, I have added a little manuka honey and yes it does makes an effect, I'm really thankful to you!!
Thanks once again!!