Anyone with experience with Eczema?

[Jims5543]

My 3 y/o suffers from it really bad and we are at our wits end trying to treat it or manage it.

The pediatrician has been useless. My wife tried a natural health food store and they gave her a cream to stop the tiching but its not halping with the rash or dryness.

Anyone have amazing cures / treatments for this terrible condition?

[Halm]

Fought it my whole life. Started on my toes as a young child. It went dormant from teens through 40's. Now in my 50's it is on my cuticles. The only thing I have found is a prescription strength hydrocortisone cream. It is probably too strong for a 3 y/o, so try the weaker over-the-counter version.

[speeder]

I, along with my siblings suffered from it as a child but it cleared itself up by adolescence. I remember it well, skin so dry that it cracked and bled. really painful. It was mostly on the bottom of my feet in my case.

I remember getting relief by soaking my feet in a pan of hot water, (maybe w/ some epson salt in it?), it would really soften up the hard dry skin. Still, it did not cure it.

Do you have a good dermatologist? They are invaluable. They may have come up w/ something since my experiences ~40 years ago. Best of luck.

[lisa_spyder]

Hell that's awful for your little one.

The only thing I can come up with is an "old wives remedy".

When I was a kid one of my friends suffered really badly. When she came to stay one weekend, her eczema was so bad her arms were bleeding. Mum smothered her arms in natural yoghurt. It took the heat away and soothed the skin. Didn't cure it; but certainly helped alleviate the suffering.

Messy though - and could get stinky; but in the old days there was nothing else that worked with like skin conditions. Mum's grandmother used yoghurt for all sorts of "miracle cures" apparently.

Good luck - it's a horrible condition for a littlun to suffer.

[Jims5543]

Thanks for the tips. I am going to get him to a dematologist asap.

Poor guy does not sleep well and is itching all night. The creme my wife got from the health food store seems to subside that for the evening. I am hoping we might be able to get him something to make it subside a little.

[speeder]

A good dermatologist should have whatever the current state of the art treatment is. It's only been around for about a 1000 years.

As much as old wives cures might have relieved someone at one time, (and any cold moisturiser would at least cool it down), I would worry about infections from putting food in an open sore.

[lisa_spyder]

"As much as old wives cures might have relieved someone at one time, (and any cold moisturiser would at least cool it down), I would worry about infections from putting food in an open sore."

Good point.

I have friends with kids same ages as ours who suffer with eczema as well. Last I heard the only thing offered was steroid based creams - not a great option for long term use. There's got to be something less "dramatic" available; surely!

[Jims5543]

All the research I have done comes up with the same line, "There is no known cure".

Crazy huh?

[ErVikingo]

Here's some old wives tale mixed with science. After bathing the baby with mild baby soap, soak her in water mixed with corn starch (must look milky).

Towel dry (gently) then put some hydrocortizone cream on the lesions. It works, at least with my little girl... Over the counter works but prescription strength works better. I can check the name of the cream if you want.

[dtw]

I deal with it on my hands. Had it all over my arms when I was pre-adolescent, prescription steroid creams got rid of it and I never had it again until after college. Now it pops up a bit on my hands from working on the Porsches all the time - harsh chemicals and abrasives, harsh handwashing, etc. I wear nitrile gloves as much as possible to defend. Other than that, diligent application of cortisone cream at the first sign of itch or redness. When the skin is cracked open and painful, it is very hard to reverse the cycle. Once you get the skin closed and control the itch, the skin has time to heal.

At one point in my brief restaurant career, when I was washing literally dozens of times a day, I had it very badly. A doc gave me a bunch of scrips and vitamins - but the most effective tactic was taping up my hands at night with the steroid cream applied to some saran wrap. Might be way too aggressive for your young'n - check with your doc - but I only had to do it for 3 nights before the skin had healed enough to sleep through the night without scratching.

What kind of soaps and perfumes is he coming in contact with? I generally stay away from perfumy hand soaps, fancy body soaps, etc. No scented dryer sheets on the clothes and no perfumed laundry detergent. Different things seem to provoke a reaction in different people. Contact dermatitis and eczema almost seem to be interchangeable to docs sometimes - I've had general practice docs and dermatologists over the years refer to both for my condition. Anyway - check his environment, both at home and anywhere else he frequents (daycare/preschool).

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by ErVikingo
Here's some old wives tale mixed with science. After bathing the baby with mild baby soap, soak her in water mixed with corn starch (must look milky).

Towel dry (gently) then put some hydrocortizone cream on the lesions. It works, at least with my little girl... Over the counter works but prescription strength works better. I can check the name of the cream if you want.

I am nervous about putting cortizone on my 3 y/o it seems a little too intense for the little guy.


We were up in North Carolina for a long weekend and all the really cold plus heat in the house really did a job on him. Its good to be back in Florida where the temps are more even.

We use only natural soaps to wash him but never thought of the laundry. My wife found some detergent that is really expensive but she is going to get it tomarrow.

Anything and any little thing we think might help we will try. Its so hard to see him like this. He itches in his sleep and we know he is not getting a good nights sleep from this which in turn makes him difficult during the day. Its a horrible condition.

[ErVikingo]

Mine is 6 months old...... DO consult with your pediatrician. My mom is a pediatrician and confirmed it was ok to use a steroid based cream our local pediatrician prescribed.

Another thing, stay away from all those anti-bacterial soaps. They are too harsh on the skin.

[dtw]

Oh, forgot to mention - Eucerin skin lotion - available at any drug store - highly recommended. Hypo-allergenic and really helps the skin stay moisturized.

[notfarnow]

I have bad eczema on my hands. It really flares up in the winter, or when I'm dealing with harsh chemicals. It can takes a couple weeks for it to heal after a bad flare up.

dtw describes my present routine with nitrile gloves & cortisone cream. I also had it worse when i worked in a restaurant with lots of handwashing. My hands were a mess; it was actually very embarassing.

Here something I had GREAT luck with, and still do when I have a bad flare up: Bag balm & cotton gloves overnight. You can get bag balm from most vets or livestock places... they use it on cows udders when they get dry & chapped. I put it on quite thick, then put cotton gloves on overnight. This helps A LOT, either on the onset of a flare up or to help heal up a bad flare up. You could do the same with socks for your son.

[ed martin]

I've been battling the psorisis/eczema thing for a number of years, so I'll impart some of the knowlege I've aquired over the years. Firstly, as explained to me by doctor friend, this condition seems to be brought on by hyperactivity of the immune system. The skin may react to certain things, particularly protiens such as animal dander, dog hair, cat hair, protiens from insects, insect excretions etc. So a clean dander free environment is important. You want to avoid harsh cleansers/detergents and the like when you clean your skin, and avoid hot water as these tend to strip the skin of natural oils. There are certain soaps on the market such as oatmeal based soaps, sulfer tar compound soaps that help. I've been using a soap called Cetaphil that seems to last as long as a traditional soap (the oatmeal soap seems to last me only a couple of days and for me the results are better with the Cetaphil). Immediately after my shower I'll apply an aloe based lotion which helps a lot to reduce the itching and also the dryness of course. As a last resort I use a steriod cream but very sparingly! You have to be careful with steriods because they relax the body's immune function hence locally the body's immune hyperactivety. The problem is that too much steriod used topically can absorb in the skin and the blood stream and reduce immunity in places that you would not desire this effect. I had taken some prednesone (sp?) and had a horrible adverse reaction ( my skin lost ability to fight infection and I broke out everywhere) plus I gained forty pounds. Good luck.

[Moneyguy1]

Thank you, Ed. I was wondering if someone had considered psoriasis. My wife has it on her fingertips and sometimes her feet. Sorotane (or Soritane) plus hydrocortisone at least keeps it somewhat managable.

[alf]

I have it on my knuckles. It is allergy driven.

Goes away when I am in tropical areas, comes back when i am in Seattle. I tested positive for allergies to birch, alder and hay; none of which grows in tropical areas. Soaps and detergents make it worse.

Check with a dermatologist and allergist.

[livi]

Jim,

This is one of the patient groups I spend a lot of time with. Two things are important to consider with a child suffering from a severe eczema:

1. The more severe, the more likely it is provoked by an external factor/allergy. In the case of pre school children it is mostly food alllergies and the absolute majority amongh those are milk protein allergy. If your child has suffered from eczema a long time and badly, I would absolutely try eliminate milk from her diet. That means everything that contains milk protein, essentially all things that are made from cow milk.

There are of course tests, both skin and blood wise. They are however not very reliable. Elimination diet is the only certain way. You need to go at lest a couple of weeks before it is possible to verify the outcome. For that short a time you need not supplement any nutriments, like calcium.

Less frequently children also suffer from egg, fish, wheat and nut allergy (and a whole lot of other stuff) - but it is prudent to try milk first.

Do not (common mistake) mix milk protein allergy with lactose intoleranse. Two very different things. The first is very common with small children but they grow out of it. The second is rather rare in childhood in Western society. Problem is if you try low lactose food you will still get as much protein for an allergy.

Preferably, a pediatrian should monitor this task.

2. Steroid creams are base treatment with all eczema. Can not do without it. Modern treatment is very aggressive. Very often a strong steroid is necessary. Remember that a severe eczema is much worse for the skin than a steroid cream in the long run. Get a group III steroid for the body and a group I for the face. Apply and massage it in every day until the skin is all soft and totally free of eczema. Then daily moisteraiser untill the first sign of eczema comes back - out with the steroid again. Repeat.

You are very welcome to PM or e-mail me if you need assistance! Anything I can return to this great forum is a pleasure.

[ErVikingo]

The allergy link is important as eczema is one of the markers for possible fatal allergies like allergies to nuts.... Careful.....

Fluticazone 0.05% by Fougera Pharmaceuticals works great on my girl.

[jriera]

Not a doctor here but I will be just afraid of giving cortizones to any baby/todler, the known secondary effects of cortizone are kind of scary to me. I will prefer to use some of the 'old wive' remedies, after all there is no known cure.