Eczema Galore...

My daughter who is 6 years old now has suffered from eczema since a baby. This can be caused by allergies or foods. If you give your child a bath, you have to get in and out quickly and gently dab to dry. Yes you can see a dermatologist, but I agree to start your child on maybe a litle bit of a steroid, depends on how bad the eczema is. You really have to lube up your child with creams, I use Eucerin, this works wonders. She also has alacon, topical for her eczema. So you can use other medications without a steroid first and go to a topical steroid if it worsens. Like I said depending how bad it is and how long thi shas been going on. Try and see what makes this worse, foods weather, allergies. I hope this helps. It wont hurt to put some topical medication on, depending on the area that the eczema is in.

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Can't help with the dr. recommendation but can tell you that I can't use Dove because it makes or gives me eczema. Have you tried oatmeal baths? You can get it at any pharmacy or I wonder is you can just use oatmeal but don't know for sure. Good luck

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My son and daughter both have Eczema and I use Aveeno for babies for sensitive skin after they get a bath and sometimes reaply on arms, back tummy and legs later in the day. Our family doctor said not to use Aqquphore but then a Pediatritian that I work with said that it's a good thing to use. I have found that as long as we put the 1% hydrocortisone on as soon as we see a new patch then we can keep it undercontrol with the Aveeno. I try to only put the hdydro stuff on once in a while because their skin can become thinned by using it too much. My babies just need to be slathered in lotion at all times. The Aveeno is great though because it has oatmeal in it which calms the itch down. Good luck!

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My son too had eczema and is allergic to hydrocortison so the doctor prescribed a skin cream called Elidel. He has not had any problems since. Hope this helps.

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I can sympathize with your situation. My daughter is 22 months and we have been battling eczema for quite some time. We were doing the same thing that you were. We recently saw a dematologist in the city and they gave her some antibotics (since it had become infected) and the 2.5% hydocortisone. She has been doing much better since then. It's still a daily battle but better. Hope thet helps.

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My son's eczema first appeared at around 9 months. The doctor prescribed everything that you mentioned above in addition to elidel and other stronger topical creams. This went on for 10 months! My son was miserable and I sensed that there was an underlying problem that was causing it. For those 10 months, my son hardly grew and could not sleep comfortably. He also did not have any interest in eating so we were never able to go through the normal food introductions. At 18 months old I decided to leave my pediatrician for one at HomeFirst in Rolling Meadows. They immediately referred me to an allergist. I found out that my son had wheat, gluten, and dairy allergies, along with a whole bunch of other sensitivies. I immediately removed those foods from his diet, and my diet (I was still nursing him b/c he wouldn't eat enough regular food). The eczema cleared up completely within a week.

Now, I'm not saying that this is the case with your child. However, had I known that it could have been a food allergy that was causing all this, he may not have suffered the physical and developmental delays that occurred and I could have saved him 10 months of misery. He would scratch his skin until he bled. :(

Regarding going to see a dermatologist: I mentioned this to my pediatrician and he just said that the dermatologist would just end up prescribing the same topical medicines that he was.
I don't know if this is the case or not. My suggestion is to see an allergist. This is only based on my experience and the immediate, successful outcome.

Whatever you do, good luck. I know how it is to feel helpless in helping your child get through all this. Trust your instincts and keep pursuing action until this gets resolved.

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We've seen Dr. Solomon who has offices in Glenview and Evanston for a few years. He's sweet, gentle and really a delight. ###-###-####.

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I also agree that it could be food allergies. About 40-50% of eczema is food allergy related. Have you introduced a new food or brand of food lately?

Dr. Mancini is a great derm at Children's Memorial - in Glenbrook Hospital. Also Dr. Jennifer Kim at the same location is the allergist we see. My dd had eczema as her 1st and main symptom for a while. Do a search on my posts and you'll read my info on allergies, resources etc. Good luck!

Hello,
I work in the health field with a Natrapath and my girlfriend's son who was 6 months at the time developed eczema. My girlfriend is breast feeding and was told to take cod liver oil and acidophilus which the baby would get through the milk. Also, when you give your baby a bath dump in oatmeal which will soothe the skin. I would also use only natural soap like bert's bees which you can find at the vitamin shoppe and sometimes Target. My girlfriends's son is 90% better. He should also stay away from dairy & nuts. He might be old enough to take the oil and probiotic. I'd look for a Naturapathic doctor to treat your son. Conventional medicine seems to only treat it externally. It's really an internal problem.
N.

Try bathing him with Cetaphil instead of Dove. My dermatologist suggested us to bathe him, then put on the creams and then damp pajamas. Then cover with dry pajamas for a nap or bedtime. Sounds crazy but it helps the lotion soak in.