Ezema

Hello A.,

Eczema is considered dry, itchy, irritated, rsshy skin, there is not real definition or explanation for it, but there are ways to help with it. Eczema comes from and unknown idealogiy (meaning we don't really understand it yet).

I was a dermatology registered medical assistant for 9 years prior to having my children. I have seen millions of cases eczema, no exageration probably millions. I can honestly tell you that there is no cure for eczema only treatments. Yes eczema can be caused by allergic reactions. At my old facility we always first off reccommended that you change anything in your home that might have a fragrance or lotions etc... This means that you even have to be careful with the nail polish or hand lotions you wear, the hand soaps you wash daily with or the dish soap you use, the shampoo's and conditioner's, and especially your laundry detergents. Everything you use is ultimatly rubbed or transfered onto your baby. We always recommended changing your laundry detergent to something that is "Free and Clear" (ie: All, Free and Clear) this means that you need to rewash clothes as well to ensure that you have completely changed everything. You also need to change your babies soaps and lotions. All the lotions reccommended were great too. We liked Cetaphil lotions, or Dove lotions and shampoos etc... ( I have recently started using the Arbonne baby care line, and have not had a breakout with my son since) Just start being careful of all the little things you use daily that could cause a reaction. Keep the baby "lubed" up with tons of lotions to keep your babies skin moist to avoid potential reactions. By keeping the skin moist you are actually creating a barrier from outside "stuff" to get inside to give you a reaction, and also allowing for new skin cells to produce in a nicer environment. I know that this is a huge thing to do, but trust me as a mother who has a son with severe eczema, it's all worth it in the end. After you have changed these items and done as much as you can, after a few months of switching you can gradually start to bring things back into your routine one thing at a time to see if your baby is allergic to those particular items. Good luck, and be patient and keep trying you'll find something that works.

I also have a trick we used to use for a new rash or new spot coming up. Mix in the palm of your hand whatever baby rash cream you use ( i like arbonne or A&D) and mix that with 1% hydrocortizone cream and use that as a mixture to help with a new rash or even a diaper rash, it works wonders!!!!!!!!!!

1 mom found this helpful

my dermatologist always told me after a bath to put vaseline on wet skin. it seals in the moisture and forces the skin to absorb the water. seems to work.

Hi A.,
I had a friend whose child had ezema reaaly bad too. She tried everything at Whole Foods and completely changed her life. She endedhearing about Arbonne, and tried their skin conditioning oil, and it went away. She brought the oil to her pediatrician, and that's what he gived to his client's now.
If youre interested, let me know. I know how life changing ezema can be!

Hi A. my daughter also has terrible eczema. Her doctor told me it is just somethng that she will have to live with. He told me to use hydrocortisone over the counter and that was it. I did research and after lots of trial and error learned that we have to bathe her in dove soap or aveeno with oatmeal body wash and wash all her clothes in dreft. The ointment did nothing. Finally I took her to a dermatologist who gave her dermasmoothe. Withon 24 hours her skin was 100 percent better. It is a mild steroid but after only a couple uses it only use it when it is really dry outside. She is a much happier little girl. Good luck

My whole family has had eczema including my mother, sister, father, grandfather and my daughter. Try putting vaseline on his elbows - with the combination of the eczema and where his elbows hit the carseat, his little elbows are more irritated than normal. Keep putting the ointment on, but using vaseline will keep his elbows moisturized and protected from outside friction.

My 7yo has been suffering with this since birth. If you really think it's the car seat - then get some really soft 100% cotton material - and stitch it on the car seat arm where your son's arm rests. I had to do that with my daughters school uniform sweater and it really helped.

My son also has eczema and his flare ups are caused by allergic reactions. We know he cannot eat wheat,gluten (especially oat & barley) and dairy. To make things worse we discovered he is allergic to carpet. I discovered how many chemicals are in carpet and it is no surprise. Keep an eye on what he eats and touches to figure out what is causing it. For my son a flare up will occur within 30min of touching or eating an offender. I wouldn't use any harsh products like vapor rub because it is too strong for a 6mo old baby. Gentle products like calendula, aveno lotion are best. The lotion that has worked best for him is Shikai Borage Therapy Pediatric Formula, you can find it at health food stores. Also, if you are breastfeeding what you eat affects the baby. If you are breastfeeding you should be taking fish oil supplements because they are natural anti-inflammatory. Evening primrose oil supplements are good for skin, again if you are breastfeeding. I know how frustrating the situation is but once you figure out the offenders and right products for his skin the situation will get better.

My son suffered from the same problem. I used 1% cortizone and aquaphor ointment. try to keep the area clean and dry. Hang in there. My son out grew it but it does sneak up from time to time.

Dear A.

My brother says that Vicks Vaporub is good for Eczema. I don't know about 6 1/2 month old babies, but you might try a tiny bit and see.

Also, try something called Udderly Smooth, Udder Cream - the jar is decorated with something that looks like cow hide - black and white. People use it on cow teets after milking, and they found that it keeps the milker's hands smooth. Also it keeps my old hands soft when my fingers get dry and itchy. I know that it is good for diaper rash because I used it on my great grandchildren.
I buy mine at Rite Aid Drug Store in the lotion department, usually on the bottom shelf.
C. N.

Hi my nephew has ezema and what really worked for him besides the ointment was aloe vera but the actual plant. The inside of the plant is kind off mucusy but if you rub it on any part of your body it helps its an herb.

Do you mean eczema? I have that too, sometimes eating fruit will bring it on, like cantelope and other acidic fruits. what ointment is it? elidel? there are others to try also so if thats not working go back and have him try another. heat also brings it on and allergy season. if you have any more questions feel free to write back. tina

Hello A.,
I was wondering if you have tried Melaluca. My Son has HORRIBLE skin, allerigc to his own sweat even! I use the Melaluca bar soap, the koala kids shampoo and the renue lotion on him and my 3 year old daughter and in just 2 weeks, their skin is softer, smoother and just looks healither. If you would like more information on Melaluca, give me a call at ###-###-#### and I can give you information on when the next presentation will be and you can decide for yourself weather you would like to try it or not. In the meantime, you can go to www.melaluca.com and check it out there!

Bright Blessings,
C.
Annabelle 3 yrs
Giovanni 17 Months

maybe you should put towels down where his skin is touching the carseat to stop it from rubbing and irratating it so much. i have eczema. i was born with it and i know how ichty and painful it can get. in my experience, wool items irritate the most along with perfumes and stuff like that. sometimes though in some people the eczema on the elbows never go away no matter what. hopefully the doctor told you to change all soaps, laundry and body and some materials. i feel for him because its a life long painful skin problem. oh one more thing that might help, but because he is so little i don't know if he could take it, if so try benedryl. i take one everyday and that cut back on the ichty and inflamation. one more thing i don't know if doctors still practice this but when i was about 4or 5 a doctor told my parents to put my medcine on and then wrap my body in saran wrap. allot of doctors i've talked to say that it does help, but its torture. the heat and sweat made me itch like crazy. 10 times worse then what i normally do. i would not recommend this for anyone.
i hope this helps for you both. i feel for the little guy. goodluck

Hi A.,

I'm A. :-) as you can see. I have eczema in small patches all over my legs. I find that it flairs up when I am exposed to heat. So hot showers are out. Maybe because his elbows are exposed he has more opportunities for it to flair up? I wonder if he wore a light shirt over them or something else for a few days if it would clear up. The problem is that when it is inflamed it is hard to clear up. But that's what I do, just cover them up for a week and it usually goes away. But I use the ointment every day too as a preventive measure even if there are no flair ups. You might also check to see if he has any skin allergies. That may be a problem too. I am allergic to certain laundry detergents and soaps. So I use the same stuff no matter what. oh and I am also allergic to Charmin products. Something about Charmin makes me rash out (in horrible places too if you know what I mean.)
Take care and I hear oatmeal is a soothing treatment. I know you can get oatmeal bath stuff to bathe in.

My daughter has Ezema also. I learned one of the best things I did was change her soaps to Aveeno and her lotion to it also. After I give her a bath I apply the lotion. We used Johnson and johnson and it made her itch more. I hope this works for you as good as it did for me. Good Luck

hey A.
My daughter had exzema last summer. It is due to allergies or it is hereditary. I had it as a child. You usually grow out of it. Anyway i went and looked up herbal treatments and then went to the chinese store and got some chineses medicine. Doing the herbal thing is the only thing that helped my daughter and i even went to the dermatalogist twice. I got sick of putting those steroids on her body and giving her medicine orally. I suggest you do the same!

You could sew a small patch of silk or satin (or any other really smooth fabric) onto the car seat where his elbow rubs. This should help prevent it from becoming inflamed. I hope this helps!

CALENDALA CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!

natural and works!!

my 6 1/2 month old son also has eczema. my dr. told me to put a very thin layer of hydrocortizone once a day after bath time. that seems to be helping a ton. did your dr. tell you that eczema is considered an allergic reaction?

Pure Beauty in Montgomery Village carries YUBE. It is the #1 selling medicated skin creme imported from Japan. Apply it thickly to the skin at night and it will probably be cleared up by morning. THIS STUFF IS AMAZING.

my daughter also has ezema, i dont really like using the ointment since its a steriod. ive noticed certain foods causes hers to flare up. or contact dermatitis like when she crawls on the carpet, or is on the couch, i even had to switch her soaps. i use little docs i believe there are many other brands, but it really helps. i mean ive been using it for a couple of weeks, i bathe her everynight before bed, and its really helped. give it a try, i wish you the best of luck

My 2.5 year old daughter has eczema. We use Desonide (a steroid cream) and it works great. On her "trouble spots" I keep the cream on twice daily. Just a smidge. If I forget to do it, she flares up and I have to use a larger amount. So basically, I'm in love with the steroid cream. I have noticed her flare ups have reduced considerably since we switched from Johnson and Johnson's Head to Toe babywash to Aveeno tear free babywash. You can try other over the counter moisturizing creams (I had no luck with them) and you can switch baby washes as well as laundry soap (try perfume/dye free, I think All-Free and Dreft are good) as well as leaving out the dryer sheets int he laundry. There are chemical free ones. Hope this helps!

Hi A.!

I'm sorry to hear that your son has a problem with exzema that won't quite go away. I wanted to let you know about a product that works really well for that. Have you ever heard of Melaleuca? They have a lotion called Renew that has just done wonders for people with exzema. My friend has twin boys that have had exzema really bad... she tried everything, and nothing was working for them until she tried Renew. She said that she loves it! If you would like more information about it, please feel free to contact me at: ____@____.com

Regardless of whether this lotion is the answer for your son or not, I hope you find something that helps real soon!

Best Wishes in Finding what you need,
J. Teutschman

Hi, my daughter has had ezema since about 6 months (now 5 yrs). I have it too. We get it bad when the seasons change and due to outside allergins. What the docotors advised us to do was this. Bathe your son and pat him dry. Then immediatly apply the ointment or hydrocortizone. We used .5% hydrocortizone. The follow immediatly with Eucerin plus lotin. Eucerin plus has alpha hydroxi, which aids in removing the dry skin (which ezema is). Good luck with this. I have been dealing with this all my life and all my daughter's life. It can be controlled.

My 7 month old son also has excema. We too were given an ointment, but also told to use Olay Body wash. It has vaseline in it which helps soothe the skin. So far it has worked for us.
A.

Hi A.,

A certain amount of cases of eczema are actually Candida overgrowth especially if you took anti-biotics when you were pregnent with him or if he has had any anti-biotics himself. Although it manifests on the skin it begins in the gut, that's why creams don't work or only work for a little while. The best all natural product is Threelac and you can google it and find many people selling it. It tastes good, like lemon, you can just sprinkle it on his tongue. Even if he doesn't have Candida overgrowth it won't hurt him and the company will give you a full refund less shipping within 30 days if it doesn't help. It's almost impossible to get a pediatrician to diagnos Candida, they don't know about it. So I'd try giving him the Threelac and see if it helps. Good Luck,C.

Dear Audry,
As I was reading your request, the first thing that came to mind was to focus on what foods your son is eating. As I finished reading, I still think you should focus on what kind of foods your son is eating. The reason for this is that many times our bodies react to the foods we eat. If we are eating good foods, our body is healthy, if we are eating foods that are not nutritious, then our body signals us that we r eating something that is not healthy. SOOOOOOOOOO my question for you is What kind of foods is your son eating? Focus on the foods that your son is eating and eliminate the ones that you know are not healthy yet YOU r still eating them or drinking them. Get it? YOU might concider a nutritionist or a person who is all into nutritious foods and has a healthy body. Sometimes you have to get to the ROOT of the problem in order to find a solution.
Remember that the sun is a good source of vitamin D.
Also, what kind of temperature is your son in? U also want to look at the soap u use for your clothes and his clothes.
I know you will find an answer to your concern and your son will not have to deal with this problem anymore.
May GOD provide you with more solutions today, tomorrow, and always.
Spreading the LOve,
R. Rodriguez
Success coach,
Bilingual Tutor,
I BUY HOUSES,
Jewelry designer,
###-###-####
N. Hollywood

Hi A.,

My daughter had eczema as a baby and the doctor had us using Eucerin lotion during the day and bathing her in Keri Oil (both items available at most stores. Worked wonderfully! Good luck!

I'm not sure how bad your son has eczema but what my doctor recommended was to use a little bit or cortisone (sp?) and then after every bath we use a moisturizing white lotion. I have found that the vaseline intensive care works really well. I have tried the creams that were initially prescribed but this combo works much better. Just thought I would share. Wish you luck!

Hey A.,
I have a great lotion that I use... you cannot buy it in stores but I would love to send you a sample. Please send me your address or phone number so I can talk to you. Or at least your address if you would like a sample. Or I could tell you how to order it over the phone.

Trust me - I works great!!! Better than Doctor's meds.

B.
###-###-####

A.,

From what I understand, ezema is an allergic reaction. Instead of trying to externally treat his ezema, you should try eliminating whatever is bugging him from your diet. My six month old son has some serious food intolerances so I've had a crash course in this type of thing the last couple of months. His big triggers are soy, dairy, eggs, caffeine and chocolate. Amazingly enough soy is the one thing that is really, really hard to avoid because it is in virtually everything processed. So I'm on a mostly "whole" food diet. I eat lots of oatmeal, grilled meat, rice, potatoes, veggies and fruit. And beans. So I have a really healthy diet and I've lost close to 20 pounds without even trying. And my son is doing SO well. All of the stomach problems and skin rashes he was having have completely cleared up. When I first started my elimination diet, I also eliminated fish, shellfish, nuts and citrus. My son's pediatric GI doctor said that dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, caffeine, fish, shellfish, chocolate and citrus and the most common allergens... I've been able to add back small amounts of nuts, citrus, fish and shellfish without a problem. I'm thinking about trying eggs again here soon. I KNOW he reacts to soy so I'll be avoiding that for at least 6-12 more months. And since he can't have dairy or soy, obviously formula is out of the question... They have hypoallergenic ones but they aren't truly hypoallergenic, they are just less allergenic. And they are close to $30 a can.

But, anyway, you might want to take a serious look at your diet and explore the food allergy/intolerance thing. Ezema is miserable and it would be better to find out what is triggering it and elmininate it instead of trying to treat it.

T.

A.,
I know that there is no proof, but the eczema that my daughter has experienced is because of a sensitivity to a food. For her it was rice and it was easy to figure out because it is one of the first foods that we gave her. One of my best friends has a daughter that has an allergy to both oats and wheat. I have removed rice from my diet and she has removed both oats and wheat from hers. Sometimes it is like going on a wild goose chase. Good luck.
N.

A.- I am going to suggest my all time favorite Aquaphor. This is a bit expensive but lasts a long time. It is a multi purpose ointment. You can use it for exzema, diaper rash, cuts,scrapes,burns,chapped lips etc. I swear by it. Good luck! I use this for mine as well as my kids exzema. V.