21 month old with eczema

suek13 · 09-10-2008 10:18PM #1

just wondering is there anyone out there with some info on infant eczema.he has seen a doctor who told me to apply aqueous cream up to 6times daily but hes still scratching.doctor has referred to me a specialist dermatologist in crumlin hosp but i could be months waiting.wud it be quicker if i go private?or is there anythin i can do to ease it for him?

Victor · 09-10-2008 10:38PM

Sue, we can offer medical advice here, your best bet is to ask your GP.

PurpleLily · 09-10-2008 10:40PM

You could try getting him checked for food allergies etc. These can sometimes set off the eczema. I find the E45 creams and bath products excellent for my 3year old.

Thoie · 09-10-2008 10:41PM

suek13 wrote: »

wud it be quicker if i go private?

Not necessarily any more, but the best bet would be to phone the consultant's office and ask when the next private appointment is available.

the glass woman · 09-10-2008 10:48PM

My heart goes out to him, my baby has suffered with it since he was only a couple of months old. What i found great was the Oilatum bath formula, small blue bottle, you can get it in Boots. Bathe him in this as long as you can and it should provide immediate relief. Also what i did was take him to a homeopathic practitioner, don't know your location but there's a great one in laurel lodge, castleknock. He gave me a specially made up cream for him and also a remedy. Both worked wonders. Aqueous is def a waste of time. Best of luck and pm me if you need anymore info.

She Devil · 09-10-2008 10:58PM

My brother suffered for years with eczema, from birth the poor little kid was scratching every day and night the little thing didnt know any difference. My parents while waiting for private appointments with consultants tried everything like bathing the poor child in holy wells

However, when they did get the clinic advice what worked best was, goats milk. and the best of all but the worst for the poor child they used to cover him in emulsifying ointment, and put it in his bath water aswell, then bath bandages in the water and ointment and wrap them around all of his body, he went to bed with these bandages on, half damp it cleared it up in no time. But it had to be done all the time.
The poor kid. best of luck with it.

Macha · 10-10-2008 09:11AM

This is the best non-prescriptive, non-steroid cream for eczema. Seriously:

http://www.eucerin.co.uk/dry_skin/10_urea_lotion.asp

You can find it in all pharmacies and Boots (well, as far as I know..). It can take a while to be absorbed but you will definitely notice an improvement even after a few hours.

Contact with water can dry out the skin so make sure his baths are quick and not too hot. I would also check if it is a reaction to anything that is going near him - esp wool, or even the washing detergent you are using.

Aqueous cream is simply the base for a moisturizer - nothing special. But I'd just check with your GP before you use it (as it recommends).

r3nu4l · 10-10-2008 10:01AM

Do not wash your baby with any products containing Sodium Lauryl Sulphate/ Sodium Laureth Sulphate as this is a detergent that strips lipid from skin cells. This causes a breakdown in the skin permeability barrier that allows air and other irritants into the skin, leading to itch.

You can use Eucerin or Bepanthen. I can talk about Bepanthen from a professional point of view as I have worked with the makers (Bayer) and dermatology specialists from Germany and the UK on the product.

Bepanthen is available in Boots and Tesco. It's quite a stiff ointment, many adults don't like the 'greasy' fell on the skin but it really is good. It contains lipids, ceramides and dexpanthenol, all of which are excellent for skin protection and retaining moisture. Bepanthen, Eucerin and others allow some moisture to leave the skin, a normal process referrefed to as trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL).

I don't know enough about the ingredients in Eucerin to talk about it, except to say, maybe try one and then the other. If either works, happy days

However, without a doubt, the best thing you can do for your baby is take him to a specialist dermatologist.

Best of luck, eczema can be nasty.

emmiou · 12-10-2008 05:26PM

My friends and I have been using dried seaweed powder in the bath to treat psoriasis and eczema - it has the same effect that swimming in the sea does. The results have been pretty amazing so far. It really smells bad, though I'm sure a baby won't mind that. It calms the itch. Its really good as a facemask too. The one I'm using is Aalgo, I got it at a stand at the Sunday Market on Howth Pier, I think you can get it online too.
I had eczema until I was a teenager, very severe as an infant, and wish I had this then - its been great for a flare up I've been experiencing lately - age 30!
Another friend swears by Dream Cream from Lush but I think I'm going to stick with the seaweed baths and coconut oil as a moisturiser.

jessbeth · 12-10-2008 06:14PM

My mom told me I had this as a baby and she switched to using liquid paraffin for cleaning my skin and changed to goats milk instead of cows milk and it cleared up. She said it was gone within a few weeks. I can now drink cows milk, it was just as a baby I couldn't.

Gyalist · 23-10-2008 08:45PM

Apologies for digging up a two-week old thread but I've been away for a while and just noticed this post. I've been through this with my son so i know how distressing a condition it can be.

We had all his care done privately because the waiting time to see the consultants was just too long. If you can afford it, I would advise you to go that route as he'll be seen much quicker.

My now 12 year-old son developed severe infant eczema from about 6 weeks old. It was so bad that it resulted in him being hospitalised on a few occasions. He's been seen by specialists in Ireland, the UK, and the US and it is only in the past four or so years that we seem to have managed to bring it under control. At times it was so bad that he looked like he was a burns victim. Once took him to the Dead Sea as the mud there is very good for your skin. Cost us a fortune looking at alternative/homeopathic treatments too but in the end it was conventional medicine that was most effective.

We were more or less fobbed off by the first consultant that he would eventually grow out of it but I couldn't bear to see my son suffer so I sought 2nd and 3rd opinions and did lots of research myself.

Some of the things we did in the early days were:
(1) Have him tested for allergies. In our case the tests revealed that he was highly allergic to cow's milk, cats, dogs, horses and all nuts. So it was only goat's milk for him for the longest while though he has grown out of the cow's milk allergy now. The nut allergy is a separate issue to the eczema but I'm glad that the allergy test picked it up while he was still very young.

(2) Buy only cotton clothing and wash them with a non-biological powder. His clothes were washed separately and even given an extra rinse to make sure that none of the detergent was left on the clothes. Some detergents/perfumes are suspected in triggering eczema.

We bought only hypo-allergenic bedclothes. Things like pillowcases, duvet covers and mattress covers. They are expensive but we didn't want to leave anything to chance. Cotton sleepsuits with mittens helped for a while until he worked out how to pop the studs on the front.

(3) Removed all fitted carpets from the house. A significant proportion of household dirt is actually dead skin cells and these attract dust mites which can also trigger the itching. Even went as far as getting a hypo-allergenic vacuum cleaner!

(4) Two baths a day. We've never used soap or anything perfumed. We used Silcock's Base or Emulsifying Ointment only. In our case Emulsifying ointment worked best. After the bath he was always covered in Emulsifying ointment to keep the skin from drying out. Now that he is older we use the Oilatum range of products but the after bath routine remains the same. When the eczema was particularly bad we were prescribed Betnovate to control the inflammation. Betnovate is a powerful topical steroid and was the only thing that worked but it is not recommended for extended use.

(5) Keep him away from anyone with a cold sore. This we learned at great cost. One night we went out for a meal and left him with a babysitter, within 30 mins we were back home and rushing him to hospital as he was weeping from every inch of his body. The babysitter had a small cold sore and it triggered a reaction in him. It took him 3 days of IV antibiotics in Harcourt Street Hospital to stabilise. The sight of him aftterwards covered in bandages from head to toe was horrifying.

The good news is that it does get better or can be effectively managed. I don't know how serious your kid's condition is but in our case it took about 7/8 years. His skin is beautiful now but he still gets occasional outbreaks though nowhere as serious as before and he is no longer as sensitive to some of the allergens. We were even able to buy him a hypo-allergenic dog (Bichon Frise) 3 years ago.

If you want to know who the professionals I found most helpful are, don't hesitate to PM me.

LegacyUser · 31-10-2008 11:55AM

I have just read gyalist thread and i totally agree with her. my daughter suffers from ezcema. as a parent you do everything you can for your child. we went down every route to find a 'cure' but there is none. you just have to find the best treatment that works for your child. if your child has severe ezcema you will know how upsetting it is to watch them day after day suffer. i;m sure parents of ezcema children will all say the same things: remove carpets, bath daily, cream daily, use cotton only, with regard to prescribed creams it;s a personaly thing as to what works best for your childs skin. no parent likes to see their child in hospital hooked up to iv's and in wraps. general folk are good at giving their advice on how to treat ezcema but until you have a child that requires 24/7 care, and like gyalist's child, my daughter ends up in hospital with cold sores. people have no idea of the implications of cold sores, temperatures, let alone a cold on a child that has severe ezcema. the simpliest of infections can lead to sceptacemia in a person with ezcema. my daughter contracted mrsa while in hospital being treated for ezcema. they have no idea of the long term effects of mrsa on a living person, but it affects their blood, kidneys, immune system the list is endless. we could talk all day about treatments, potions, healers but at the end routine is important. your child will come to terms of what they can eat, do ,wear. touch etc. try not to wrap your child in cotton wool, let them be children, my daughter leads a normal enough life, she is at the age that she knows the importance of her creams. as a parent you have to be strong for your child, they look up to you. try and make creaming a game or at least fun experience when the child is young and resisting the routine. remember as bad as ezcema is there are children with worst conditions to deal with

Zaph · 22-12-2009 11:33PM

youareyou, in future please don't drag up threads that are over a year old.

Thanks

21 month old with eczema

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