Eczema - Bellefontaine,OH

Contrary to what another poster said, eczema is NOT a fungus. Eczema is an immune reaction. Here is a good basic article on it:
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/eczema/...

Finding out that allergens may be causing it is a good start, but if you are not ready to do allergy testing, start with these suggestions first:
* make sure he's drinking plenty of liquids, particularly water. You need to hydrate the skin from the inside as well as the outside.
* don't use hot water baths, use warm baths. Hot water will only irritate the skin further.
* don't have him bath too often--it can actually dry out the skin.
* after bath/shower, dry off the skin by patting with a towel, not rubbing with the towel.
* apply a really good lotion immediately after bathing. Cerave is good, so is Cetaphil cream (not lotion). You can ask your pharmacy to order them for you if they don't carry them. Or, if you don't have them or don't want to use them, try sweet almond oil or jojoba oil. If you have an Indian community in your area (as in India, not Native American), you can probably find sweet almond oil in the Indian grocery. If you can't find either jojoba or sweet almond oil, try olive oil.
* apply a small amount of topical steroids to the spot. Talk to the pharmacist about it, because they can tell you which ones have lesser amounts of steroids (the less, the better in this case, generally).
* give him omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil capsules, or there is a "gummy" vitamin available at Walmart). If fish is the source, make sure the package says "mercury free" or similar. Most pharmacies have omega 3 supplements on the shelf.

1 mom found this helpful

One of my daughters gets eczema in the summer, more so when she was younger and had those wrinkles on her legs. Anyways, I had gotten it a few years back too. The cream that her ped prescribed never worked, and neither did the over-the-counter creams. So, I began using the stronger cream that was prescribed for me, and it takes care of the problem usually in one to two applications. She would tell me if it bothered her, and I've asked, and it didn't bother her. Not sure if you have this sort of solution to try or not?

My son is two and has small little patches that his pedi said is not eczema per say but eczema like ( not really sure what the difference is) these spots show up periodically on his face when it's really cold, really hot or if he is sick. She gave us a prescription for Mymex ( not sure if this is how it's spelled). It is basically a super moisturizing cream. It works really well. It will clear up the spot in a few days. I am not sure if this is something that would work for your little one but you might ask your pedi about it. Hope you find something that helps him.

My oldest daughter has eczema. I know that this may sound like a simple solution, but I eliminated all fragrances. I do not use anything on my daughter's skin that has a fragrance (even natural products). I make sure that I read all labels to make sure that it doesn't have perfume in it. I wash all of her new and worn clothes, sheets, blankets, etc with All Free and Clear (I use to use Dreft). I even washed her carseat cover (anything that comes in contact with her skin). I use Eucerin lotion (which works well for her dry skin) and Dove soap (I use to use Aveno fragrance free and that was fine also). I only use natural Jojoba oil in her hair. I don't know the severity of your son's eczema, but these non-expensive, non-prescription things worked for my daughter.

Yup! My son only has a mild case of it (thank you!!!!) but it has been bad at times. Right now we use Rockin' Green Detergent (RNG) for nearly everything. I do use Method products for my stuff so that when he sleeps in my bed, he wont be to irritated. RNG is a cloth diaper detergent that is specifically made for sensitive skin. There are so many detergents that could help with his eczema. Lulu's In the Fluff, Clean B, Nothing But Soap are some off the top of my head.
For lotion and body wash, we use California Baby. I get it at Target. It's expensive, but has worked really well with my skin and his. I'm very pick about the consistancy of lotion, but this stuff is amazing! It smells great and my son's skin is almost eczema free. Just a small patch is all that is left. Oh we use the California Baby Calendula Cream which is for eczema and other skin irritants.
Another lotion that has worked well, but I'm hardly at Babies R Us, so it would be out of the way, is Mustela Stelatopia Moisturizing Cream. It has almost gotten rid of all of the itchy skin.
**oh and I don't use dryer sheets anymore. I now use dryer balls. Alot of people use the wool kind, but I like my blue plastic ones from Wal-Mart. Usually not a fan of walmart brand items, but these ones have held up well compared to the same ones at Target.

My son started having it around 9mo old. I took him to the dermatologist, who prescribed low dose steroid cream to be used sparingly. The OTC cream she recommended was Cerave, which helped a little. My son is now 2.5 years and seemes to have grown out of it. Good luck!

My 5 month old was covered in it for the first few months. Like 90% of his little body. He was miserable.

Things that worked for us
limit baths and keep them short (at 4 if she will shower go that route)
cortaid eczema cream on the red spots (it's a steroid cream but not as strong as an Rx, still check with the doc and use sparingly)
aquafor from head to toe twice a day (it's almost like vaseline and gross, but Eucerine and the Aveeno eczema cream didn't work for him)
And we also found out he has a dairy protein sensitivity, so i cut all dairy from my diet since we breast feed.

Two of my children suffer from it, we did notice the youngest does much better with all natural fibers ( Cotton) the absolute worst for him are the zip up fuzzy jammies made out of polyester. We slather him with aquaphor when he gets out of the tub and it helps a lot.

I used a kind my pediatrician gave samples for that was an oily substance that smelled like alcohol, then a layer of cream. It was too expensive to get a full scrip, so we got another kind that is oil and we put cetaphil on top

I'm sorry your little man is suffering. Have you tried changing his diet? He could have a slight allergy causing the eczema. Often problems with the skin are allergy related. Maybe start off by eliminating every possible allergy for a few weeks and then slowly start adding one thing at a time for a few days, watching his skin for flare-ups. You could have him tested for food allergies which would probably be quicker but maybe costly.

http://foodallergies.about.com/od/diagnosingfoodallergies...

Good luck!

We have struggled with Eczema for years until one day a wise Dr. told me to use

CeraVe ( the green bottle ).

We used it, it worked GREAT!

We still use it when needed.

We even use it when someone gets a rash.

This is how to use it.
Put warm water on the area that has the Eczema / Rash and apply the CeraVe.
Don't wash it off, just leave it on.
Give it some time.

You can get it at Wal-Mart.

I wish you the best.

My son had it all over his face his first year and it was heartbreaking. I took him to a dermotolgist and she prescribed him a product called Derma-Smoothe. Within a few days, it completley cleared up. Every once in awhile he'll get a patch here and there on his arms or somewhere and it clears it right up after using just a drop or two of Derma-Smoothe. My son did go on to develop allergies and asthma and I've read that Eczema can preceed this as part of something called "The Allergy March". Not sure if your son has any other symptoms as well but maybe start with taking him to a dermatologist too.

An oatmeal bath every couple days or so works for me and my son. Just get some old fashioned quick oats, NOT instant, put about two cups into an old clean sock, then put sock over faucet while running bath water. Squeeze the sock every so often until you shut off water. The tub will be VERY slippery. This also does wonders softening and taming curly hair. I agree with using Eucerin lotion and All free and clear detergent as well.

Puraderm.com offers laundry detergent and shampoo/body wash that rinses 100% clean which is no easy task to find. Residue left over from soaps and laundry detergents are major irritants. Also no fragrances/essential oils, no cleaners with chemicals especially in bathtubs etc, cotton prefered, no baths in hot water. Also make sure skin stays moisturized. These helped for my daughter and sister who suffers from severe eczema. discoverb4a.com also has natural/organic products specifically for eczema that are wonderful.

We only use CeraVe in the tub. It's a lotion consistency so easy to rub in, especially on kids, and I personally haven't had a eczema breakout in years!!!

Eczema and psoriasis can be traced back to adrenal problems. This is typically NOT an outer problem- but an inner one.

high sodium retention, from too much aldosterone secreted from adrenls, or high cortisol hormones.

RESTRICT the salt. No salt. Her cells are already high in salt. This causes low potassium to occur- the inner cell is salt saturated and that keeps potassium out.

These can help CURE her eczema:
*no salt
*high amounts of potatoes.
*grapefruit seed extract - one or two drops in water 2 x day
* do not use soft water- you need the minerals in the water.
*Magnesium is beneficial. Magnesium citrate is good.
*fulvic acid (not folic-fulvic).
*Low dose naltrexone
*Royal jelly

My daughter had eczema-like patches on her legs and bottom. We finally figured out it was some sort of latex or synthetic fiber sensitivity made worse by sweat or water. Not allergic though. She was allergy tested for everything including latex and foods. All were normal. Bath mats and bathing suits were a problem. Eczema-like symptoms can be any number of things. BTW steroid creams and eczema lotions never did any good.

Both of my children have had it. It comes & goes now, but it's worse in the winter. Since they were babies we've used the generic Eucerin Cream. It's in a tub...and it's a cream, so it's very thick. But it's gentle & works very well. We put it on after they get out of the shower/bath, and sometimes on their hands (with socks over their hands) at bedtime.

Hope this helps!

Have you tried Aveeno eczema relief lotion? If not you should. It works great for my son. My niece also has eczema and the only thing that soothes hers is a prescription steroid cream. Good luck.

My son has had eczema since he was a newborn. He had it really bad on his face. Now that he is 14 months, it has subsided a lot. I use a product called Baby Eczema Creme by Gentle Naturals. It works really good for his skin. I used it when he gets out of the tub. I don't dry him off completely, so his skin is still damp when I apply the creme. My first purchase was from Walgreens. It was $9.99. I decided to go online where I found it for $6.99. The only downfall about this product is that it only comes in a 4 oz tube. I hope that you find this info helpful. :)

Figure out what he's reacting to. Eczema is a fungus that lives n the colon and presents on the skin. To get rid of it you need to find the problem. The biggest culprit is dairy protein, which is found in cows milk.

Cut out dairy, start him on a good probiotic and a good fish oil supplement. Acidophilus probiotic will replace the bad bacteria with good and fight the fungus in his colon. The fish oils will help rebuild new healthy skin once the probiotic takes care of the fungus.

No cream will ever solve true eczema, no salve or steroid, no lotion or anythign will cure it. You have to cure it from the inside out.

My oldest son had such a bad case of eczema, he now has psoriasis too. His was from dairy protein, and his skin was literally falling off in chunks, oozing and bleeding, peeling off, boils, it was hideous and painful. We went through years of creams, steroids lotions and even oral medications before someone finally let us in on what really caused it, and after two months of taking acidophilus, fish oils and avoiding dairy his skin was starting to regrow. Now its been 3yrs and with this routine his skin has not boiled, fallen off, been bleeding or crusty.