Eczema - San Pablo,CA

What helped mine was making sure he is drinking lots of liquid, it got better eventually and now he just itches here and there and no traces of eczema anymore which he had from day one to 2 yrs old. I notice my son's lip would get dry when he is not hydrated a lot and the rest of his skin too, lots of liquid really helped him and believe it or not, bathing him with very little soap though, bathing him everyday actually put moisture in his skin and this helped him big time but use very little soap, also apply lotion we used aveeno 3 x a day at least, wherever he itches, have the aveeno handy and put it on that area.

I've had eczema and I found that bathing with baking soda in the water helped. I have developed an allergic reaction to hydrocortisone cream, so can't use it any more. I broke out in small, clear liquid filled, extremely itchy bumps from the hydrocortisone.

Hi~
No fun. We've experienced that in our family too. Eczema is an autoimmune condition (Really! Search it online!) but doctors don't seem to treat it as such. It is a symptom of something else and you need to find the CAUSE. It is usually caused by a food intolerance. Gluten and dairy intolerance are two common causes of eczema. Doctors and some articles will tell you it is "rare" but it really isn't. I hope you have a little time to search online. Just type "eczema gluten dairy" and you will find LOTS of info. Keep reading!

http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/print.html?article_id=41081

http://www.foodintol.com/food_intolerance/cause_eczema.htm

http://www.foodallergytest.com/eczema.html (you can ignore the info about the program they offer, I don't know anything about it...I just included the article for all the info about food intolerances!)

Also, other autoimmune skin conditions such as dermatitis herpetiformis (a rash exclusive to celiac disease) or psoriasis are often misdiagnosed as eczema.

I would not do the bleach thing! Ouch! It will not cure the eczema...This needs to be treated from the INSIDE of the body! Hydrocortisone is treating the symptoms but it won't take care of the cause. My eczema and that of both my children finally went away when we went off gluten. Gluten intolerance is genetic. Your son MAY be gluten intolerant. I had eczema for 40 years until I found the cure! Wish I would have known. It is an INTOLERANCE rather than an allergy so allergy testing may not pick it up. It is worth allergy testing though since allergies can cause eczema or worsten it. Soy, nuts and eggs arealso common allergens.

This is a really broad and complicated topic but I gotta run! Please let me know if you are wanting to learning more. I'd be interested to hear if your son has any other symptoms. There are many! A good functional nutritionist could explain things to you better than I can but I'd be happy to get you started. I am not a medical provider and, I promise, I don't sell anything! LOL! I'm just a mom who hated seeing my kids suffer (from eczema and some other symptoms) just like I know you do. :) Remember...Treat it from the INSIDE.

Take care,
~L

My granddaughter, who is now 10, has had eczema since she was a baby. She's been regularly to an allergist. I know of nothing else that can be done. Keeping the skin hydrated is the top priority. Bathing less often helps. I've read about using bleach in the bath water. We haven't tried that with my granddaughter but I think it's worth a try. I can't think of a reason for it harming his private parts. They're all enclosed with skin and not as sensitive as a girls.

We do apply unscented bath oil after each bath. Putting bath oil in the bath might help. Be sure to apply the oil or cream while the skin is still damp. Apply cream twice a day. When my granddaughter was a baby we applied cream/ointment any time her skin seemed dry during the day.

There is a prescription ointment available for major breakouts that worked better than cortisone cream.

HI there, My son was allergic to shellfish, peanut butter, eggs, corn and I'm sure there was more. If you can't do allergy testing, you can eliminate one food at a time, keep a chart and see the results. That should tell you something. Just work on one food at a time, think you need to give it 3 days to see any results. I use to put oatmeal in a dishtub and let him play with his hot wheel cars in it, he loved it and it helped. That would keep him busy for a long time. You can also make a paste out of it, just add a little water & put it on the bad spots. Aveeno has oatmeal so just use the real deal. I did buy the Aveeno soap & it helped but regular oatmeal is cheaper. Also, watch out for foods being produced in a factory where nuts are made. The package should say so, if in doubt, don't feed it to him. I personally wouldn't do the bleach thing, never heard of it. Just my opinion. Go for natural. Good Luck

Whoa, DO NOT USE BLEACH!!!!! That is not safe for your child or anyone for that matter!!!. This could cause some serious problems for your child, you may want to think about giving him a homepathic clay bath to draw out toxins. This could leave some lasting effects to your son for the rest of his life, possibly linked to infertility some day. Just be aware. I also have eczema & chemicals is one of worst things to flare it up. Try oatmeal baths & sensitve oatmeal wash for him. I use this product called SBR, it's a cream that doesn't clog or cause irritation. My dermatologist uses it on her daughter who also has eczema. You will have to ask for it in the pharmacy, u don't need a prescription. It's expensive but a little bit goes a long way. It's best to wet the skin with water & then apply a thin layer.

I tried a lot of different products on my 13 month old and calendula cream or oil worked the best. Cleared it up in a couple days!

M., PLEASE PLEASE-NEVER USE BLEACH on a child. It is dangerous and it will not only harm the lungs but it is a agent that dries out the skin and won't help at all. I have 5 children 2 have skin problems as we;; as myself.
We have children with this and its worse form Porisis. Keep the skin moist using what you are using and any good lotion as well. Just as your hands become dried out so will thier skin . It means that part of the body skin is changing and skin cells are dying out faster than normal. You can go on line and read much about this topic. I again repeat have never with 5 children ever heard of anyone using bleach! The skin dies off and sheds itself every day and if in to much sun, or with this condition it sheds faster and dries out faster than normal. Please feel free to contact me or any of the mama's on this site for more help.

My daughter had eczema and I tried lots of things to get rid of it without using the steroid creams. They can bleach the skin. My friend's daughter has white patches of skin all over her body from them. And, yes, both with my daughter and my friend's we used them very, very sparingly according to the directions. My daughter was also prescribed a steroid cream for diaper rash that bleached her diaper area. I always advise staying away from them unless the condition is really, really, really bad.

That said.... What worked for my daughter was the Aveeno soothing care line (body wash, lotion, and oatmeal bath). I think Aveeno makes a new eczema care line, which seems to be the same or similar to the soothing care line. The other thing I did was give her probiotics (Udo's Choice Infant's Blend) and fish oil (Dr Sears). I'm not sure if it was the Aveeno, the probiotics, the fish oil, or a combination of them that worked. But her eczema is completely gone and it has never come back.

It's worth trying to figure out what is triggering the eczema as it is usually some type of allergy. My daughter's was simply seasonal allergies.

Don't use bleach on your child...it is a pesticide!

There are lots of remedies to treat the condition but one of the best and safest is Renew bath wash, lotion, and/or bath oil. It is non-tox and safe for all ages. If you want more info, let me know.

Hi
I agree with Erin and others. I would test her for allergies. Fish oil is really good (ingested, not applied). My daughter had eczema when she was young. After starting on fish oil (which she started for her dyslexia and worked wonders!) her eczema disappeared.

Good luck

Hi,
Have you tried eliminating all wheat ? This is a major cause of exzema. I wou also caution the use of any petro jelly or products. Bleach is also highly toxic to anyone and would dry out your skin the opposite of keeping it hydrated.
I would give natural remedies a good try. There are herbs that when blended into a salve offer soothing relief,hydration,and healing benifits.
This is one a few moms I know like. http://www.wisewomanherbals.com/index.cfm?page=Details&am...
or also using a herbal compound like this for the liver http://www.wisewomanherbals.com/index.cfm?page=Details&am...
this would only be used 5 drops a day in water for 2 weeks on 2 weeks off.

I wish you a healing journey from the inside out. Find out the cause and treat naturally so the side effects don't put baby at further risk. I know it can seem woorysome to venture into a treatment that you are not familliar with but mainstream medical care will not treat the issue causing the exema you may have to see a chiropractor or hollistic medical doctor for guidance.
Best luck to you and your son.

One of my daughters has bad excema on her feet, and I have found that aside from moisturizing, a cup of epsom salt in the bath water can really help clear it up. There is also a cream called Vani-cream, that is non prescription but you have to get it at the pharmacy, and it is an excellent moisturizer.

I agree with Lynn. I have heard many stories, but don't take just our word, here is a link to a reviewers' site: http://www.viewpoints.com/Melaleuca-Renew-Intensive-Skin-.... This is just one of many (almost 400 products) made by Melaleuca.

Go to an allergist and have him allergy tested. My daughter was peanut, milk, egg and fish allergic and we had no idea --her MILK allergy was causing her eczema. She had the eczema when I nursed, when she was on formula and it worsened when she switched to whole milk at 1 year. I guess we should have suspected but since she never had the bloody stools that most milk-allergic infants have, we had no clue. They actually sent us to get the allergy test not because of the eczema but because she had accidental ingestion of a piece of chex mix that had been in a bag with peanuts and had a reaction. So, they sent us to confirm the peanut allergy and get the epi-pen script.

She has rice milk and soy yogurt now and has CLEAR skin (she is 3). If she has cheese on her pizza (we order hers without) she will get it again in the folds of her arms and legs -- bad. All that hydrocortisone creme is not good and it shouldn't be a long-term solution. I am also not sure I would go dipping a 13 month old in a diluted bleach bath. We stick with the aquaphor ointment and Cerave if things get bad. Good luck!

Eczema, allergies, and asthma are linked. If mom or dad has any of the three, your baby is more likely to have 1, 2, or all 3. I agree with pushing for allergy testing. My son had eczema from very early on, then developed wheezing around 6 months, and we finally ended up in the ER with ansphylactic shock from an unknown egg and peanut allergy at 14 months. Now that I keep all egg and peanut products out of his diet, his skin is the clearest it has ever been. Good luck!

my sister had the same problem
her eczema was verry severe and the normal treatments would not reduce it
I would go to a dermatologist and let them tell you what treatment would be right for your childs specific case

Updated

my sister had the same problem
her eczema was verry severe and the normal treatments would not reduce it
I would go to a dermatologist and let them tell you what treatment would be right for your childs specific case

There are varying degrees of eczema but california baby's calendula cream worked wonders on my son when aquafor didn't seem to change a thing. It is expensive, but could help in the interim while you speak to a dermatologist or alllergist. I wouldn't do the bleach bath without talking to his pediatrician first. Best of luck to you!

agreeing with the allergy testing. One of my twin girls used to require a Costco-size jar of aquaphor and a tube of Elidel every couple months until we had her allergy tested and found she was allergic to eggs. Once we eliminated eggs, her skin cleared up and 5 years later we still have an unused jar of Aquaphor and haven't needed the Elidel at all.

You can also make your own oatmeal bath by grinding up rolled oats in a blender or food processor and adding a scoop of it to the bath water

edited to add - I see you're in San Pablo. The allergist who treated my daughter is Dr. James Nickelsen of the Allergy and Asthma Medical group, office is in Berkeley. http://www.bayareaallergy.com/physician_profiles.html#nic...

I referred another friend whose sons were having problems with eczema and she also found Dr. Nickelsen to be very helpful in getting her sons' eczema under control.

Unscented Dove soap for baths, Aveeno makes eczema products, too. Use scent free/dye free detergents and lotions, etc. No fabric softener.

Hi M.-
This may be long, but I just want to give you a little background. I am part of an organization called Dining For Women. It's a wonderful organization that supports women and children around the world living in poverty. (For more info, the website is www.diningforwomen.org) We've supported an organization called Bead For Life. A new product that they make is an organic Shea Butter. This product is amazing!!! I now use it as my daily face moisturizer. Other women in our group have also used it for Eczema and say that it has cleared it completely. It rubs into your skin like lotion so you don't have to worry like you would with a petroleum jelly. And it's also 100% natural. Here is the website with some more information.
http://www.beadforlife.org/shea/products.html
I've never bought directly from them as I can get it through our group leader. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a private message.
Best of luck to you and your little guy!

With my nephew we followed the doctor's orders for a month or two, when it didn't get better we looked at alternatives. His was so bad it would bleed and crack, he was miserable. I did some research and found out a milk allergy could cause it so we took him off milk immediately, went to soy milk and it cleared up!

He is almost 20 now and can tolerate cow's milk just fine :)

My son has Eczema and his Dr. has always suggested using Hydrocortizone cream and vasoline. The hydrocortizone to stop the ich and the vasoline to soothe and hydrate the skin. Just apply a light layer of the hydrocortizone first and then a light layer of vasoline. The skin will be a little sticky at first, but then the skin will soak it up and it will feel a lot better.

2 of my kids get it pretty bad, too. One gets it one her arms and the other gets it on his bottom. I brought it up to my doctor and he told me to stop using baby shampoo. Even though it doesn't sting the eyes its very drying for the skin, one of the worst. Buy dove or some type of soap that moisterizes. Right after they get out of the shower, while they are still damp, put lotion on it. It should clear up. It doesn't keep it away so we try to keep them lotioned up all the time. If it gets really bad we put some hydrocortozone on it. Doctor says make that your last resort, though. Hope this helps!