Looking for Info About Eczema

my son has a mild case of eczema. i tried all kinds of things to try to clear it up..even prescribed creams. and, though they helped a little it never really got rid of the rash. imagine what a one year old boy looks like going around all day trying to get his fingers in his diaper to scratch his little booty because of a rash. while he looked comical, i felt horrible for him. finally, a few weeks ago a friend of mine gave me some lotion that she uses on her kids and her hubby (who is a nurse) uses on his dry hands. much to my delight it worked. it's called "renew" it is an intensive skin therapy lotion. i used that on him a few times a day and bathed him in aveeno's moisture body wash for babies (it's a creamy bodywash.) his rash is gone and now i just have to use the lotion on him every few days or when he starts to get dry patches. i even use it on my dry elbows and feet..it is wonderful. i hope it works for you. good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Eczema is something that is on the skin, and there are no tests for it...It can be just extremely dry skin, or a reaction to a food allergy/intolerance, or a soap. There are many reasons they develops. My son has had it since he was 4 months...I recently had him tested for food allergies (at 3 years old) and found out he is allergic to milk, wheat and soy!! Once i took him off these, the eczema went away and he is doing so much better. Look into what you are feeding your daughter. After a meal/snack, take a look at the spots where the rash is developing and see if its worse or if it flares up...look at the detergents or soaps you are using..anything new? New cleaners? carpet? furniture??

I hope this helps some...please email me if you need any help..:)

Hi J., I used to suffer from really bad eczemas when I was a child and I still remember it like it was yesterday. It could be caused by allergies to food or pollen, dust, etc. There are test that can determine if your child is allergic and to what. In that case you will have to remove whatever is causing the allergies. I was allergic to almost everything but mostly all allergies went away as I was growing up and I currently live a normal life with no know allergies, so there is hope. God bless.

My son, who is 4 now, has had eczema since he was about 1. His dr told me too, it was an allegry - as well as hereditary, my father and brother have it - not as bad has my son did tho. AND... my husband has asthma, which they say is the biggest culprit. He would scratch himself so bad it would bleed and blister. We have tried numberous creams - prescribe and OTC. Most lotions would just burn his poor skin and he would cringe when I'd go to use any. What I did learn from other parents is to use Cod Liver Oil. I got it from the health food store and it's cherry flavor (but still is kind of blahhhh). We gave my son a teaspoon everyday and I swear in 3 days - his skin looked great! The reddness was gone but he was still dry in some parts. We started using Cetaphil Soap and now he only has a few places here and there that flare up. When ever he has a cold or around my MIL's golden retreiver, it flares up bad. I hope he'll outgrow it and I was worried my daughter would get it too - if she does - not so far... we'll know what to use! Good Luck... A.

Dear J. G.

My daughter suffered from eczema when she was younger and I took her to her doctor who immediately diagnosed her with eczema. He is a fabulous doctor and knew right away what the rash was that she had on her face. I questioned him about how she could have contracted eczema and was there anything that I should have done that I didn't and he assured me that it was nothing that I did, it was just one of those things because her skin is so sensitive.

Here is my recommendation to you:

If you have taken your daughter to her pediatrician and a dermatologist, then you have covered the bases and I can not see any reason to take her to another doctor for a 3rd opinion.

Depending on the severity of your daughter's condition, her doctor would surely know exactly what the plan of treatment would be. My daughter's doctor prescribed a steroid cream (anti inflammatory medication) and recommended Benadryl for the itching and to allow her to sleep because when the child has eczema, they usually are off with their sleep schedule. He did not give her an antibiotic at that time because her eczema was bad but severe enough to justify giving her an antibiotic. Some children do require an antibiotic along with the ointment treatment, but in most cases not.

Keep your daughter cool at all times. Heat only aggravates the condition and makes her more miserable. Sometimes it helps to put a cold compress on the area to calm the nerve endings which causes the pain and the itching.

Limit your daughter's baths because it drys the skin and worsens the rash. Purchase Aveeno oatmeal for bathing and use it in her bath, when she is out, pat her dry, do not rub. Immediately following her bath, apply the steroid cream prescribed by your doctor followed up with taking a package of the Aveeno oatmeal and add a little bit of water to make a "paste". Apply the paste on the infected area. It will reduce the swelling, the itching, and the oatmeal is good for healing the skin. Also, when you do bathe your daughter, make sure that you are using a hypoallergenic soap...you do not want to put any other soap on her skin because it will burn and be painful for her.

Regarding medications - please note that any over the counter medication containing hydrocortisone (1%) will definitely bring relief but the problem with using it, when you stop...her eczema comes right back within 48 hours as a guesstimate.

One thing to remember...it may disappear as quickly as it came, it may disappear after treatment and not return, or it might be something that is chronic and remains with her throughout her life. Hopefully it will go away with the treatment.

Hope this helps you and I'm sorry that your little one is going through this.....having been there myself, I know exactly how you feel.

T. H.

Hi J. I am new to mamasource.(I know you wrote this over a month ago)However, I hope you have found a great product for your baby's eczema. If you have not I have product called RENEW. It is great for "eczema". Renew is a all natural product so ots safer for you and your baby. I works like a charm. If you have any questions feel free to respond.

H.
Enhance Your Green

my granddaughter has eczema on the back of her leg really bad.and i have tryd all kids of cream'S but the best tretment i have found is a shampoo. head and shoulders 2 in 1 also aveeno.it really has help as the rash has gone.

My daughter is 18 months and has had it since she was about 6 months old. Some of her flare ups are extreme where they get pussy and everything. We have differnt strength creams depending on how bad they happen. She is not "allergic" to anything however we did notice that the medicines that where petroleum based made the redness worse. It finally seems that Sara is growing out of it as the flare ups are fewer and farther between (don't know if it's all the swimming she's been doing though since we do have a pool and live in Fla)
Good Luck.

My dad had it and now my 18 mth old son has had it since he was 2 mths. His is caused by the heat and him sweating too much. It doesn't seem to bother him as much as me. I used eczema cream from the store. The doctor told us to just keep putting on lotion every half an hour until it subsided and then let up a little. Eczema can also be heratatary (spelling ?). So you might ask some relitives if they have had it in the past, before you go do a bunch of tests to see if it's an allergic reaction. Well hope this helped. Good luck.

Yes, tests aren't necessary for eczema. Trust the dermatologist and go with the treatment. LOL

My daughter is 7 and has suffered from eczema since birth. Having access to saltwater is a huge advantage. What has worked for us is not using any soap in her baths. Make sure her spots are dry and try to help her not scratch. It is so hard on the little ones because of the heat :(

My 8 year has it & has since she was a baby, if she gets around cats or dogs, it seems to flare it up until she gets used to them, hers it real dry red patchy, she usually gets it in the bends of her legs or arms, sometimes on her stomach, there is a cream her dr. prescribed called elidel, I usually give her Benydryl & put some on the area that is bothering her, bathing seems to help to if it is bothering her.

My daughter and I have eczema. It really can be such an array of symptoms. The degree to which she gets eczema is important as well. My BFF's daughter Ella has it really bad when she is around something she is allergic to. I just get it in the summer time when my skin gets really dried out. My dughter gets a mild rash in the creases of her arms and legs when she eats strawberries. It is treated with a steroid ointment. I hope your daughter doesn't have it too bad.

Just get allergy tested ASAP so you know the triggers. Turns out Ella was allergic to an ingridient in Lysol which her mom uses everywhere in the house. She wasn't sleeping at night because she was so itchy. Now the house is cleaned with soap and water and it is much better.

HTH,

S.

i am 26 and have suffered from it for as long as i can remember. i pray that my children dont get it, eczema is hereditary. maybe one day there will be a cure. until then anti-histamines for the itching and creams/ointments for the rash. also when the itching is bad, point of crying, frozen veggies/ice packs are good. as she gets older and helping around the house keep away from abrasive chems, certain dish soaps, scalding water, and have her use hypoallergenic gloves. good luck maybe one day we wont have to deal with it.

I was diagnosed with this when I was about in the 5th grade. It's a great idea to get a third opinion when it comes to your kids. Don't hesitate! Alot of times a doctor can just look at it and tell but when I went they took a sample of it and sent it to lab before they diagnosed me. They gave me some cream to use. However, he also recommended sun baths. I never did this but when I got into high school, I started going to the tanning bed about once a week and that cleared it right up. If I stopped going, then it would come back. I haven't had problems with it since then. Now whether it was the tanning bed that made it permanently go away or if I just finally outgrew it...I don't know. I know you can't send your two-year-old to a tanning bed but maybe you could look into the sun baths or something like it.