My little guy has battled eczema every winter since he was 2. However, it continues to get worse each year and has become so difficult to keep under control. We even had to do a round of an oral steroid this winter to get it back to the point of manageable. It was awful!
Wondering from other moms dealing with similar issues: did your doctor recommend allergy testing to see if something else is going on that is making the eczema worse (or even causing it in the first place?) I am planning to ask the doc at the next appt. but wondered if you all have any advice or thoughts. Thanks.
Hi Deanna,
My name is Kelly and I was looking online for ways to help your son. Try this link and tell them what you need. The photos were incredible!Their web site is www.freederm.com
My neice has battled eczema for as long as we can remember (now 8). After trying almost everything, the last resort they wanted was to go to an allergist. But it paid off! All the testing, showed exactly the problem. Allergies to weather outside! Mold, mildew, spring flowers, etc (the list seemed to go on). And after putting her on allergy meds, she is doing fine. The eczema is still there but under control now. Her hands were the worst. She now wears gloves when touching things like leaves. And one more thing that helps...after taking a shower/bath/or even washing hands...put lotion imediately! With-in 2 mintues of her hands getting wet. This helps out the most! so please don't hesitate on taking him to the allergist. I'm not saying this is a cure, but it might get to the bottom of what's really going on. And I hope you find the right solution for your son.
My son, now 11 years old, battled eczema until he was about 6. I had someone at the pool ask me how he got such poison ivy! Luckily it never ended up on his face. It was all over his body but worse on his hands, feet, and legs. We finally got our answers from an allergist. We continued to treat the symptoms with cortizone ointment and lots of aquafore. this seemed to relieve him. The allergist assured us that he would grow out of it, but it would probably end up as upper respiratory symptoms. Guess what? It did! He's now 11 and his skin is well under control - although he gets itchy and dry often. He has slight athsma and is very healthy otherwise. I think going to an allergist is a good idea. Eczema can be caused by so many things. My Doc told us that some people just get it for no known reason. As long as you can keep your son comfortable with ointments (these are WAY better than creams) I think he'll be ok. Good luck!
My six year old has eczema too, so I sponge bath her every morning and massage her entire body with natural massage oil with coconut. Her skin has seriously improved. She takes a quick shower on the weekend to wash her hair and just to get her wet, but that is it. The more she is exposed to water for more than a few mintues her skin begins to dry out and become itchy. I stopped usining the perscription creams because they were said to be bad for children and as a massage therapy I know that steroid weaken connective tissue and that can be very scary with a small child who like to run around and play.
By far the best thing I know to GET RID of eczema is ABC baby oil from Arbonne!! Arbonne's products line is pure and safe and WORKS!! There are no phtalates in ours which there has been a recent buzz about the dangers of these ingredients. Phtalates are found in almost all other products but arent listed!! Google phtalates to see the dangers they pose!!. You can go to www.arbonne.com and order the oil. Use ID# 17295923 when it asks you for id#. Any further questions call me at 255-1597.
My 19 year old daughter was a mess with eczema as an infant and we battled with the typical medical route to no avail. It wasn't until we switched all our cleaning products, especially the laundry products, to Shaklee. In fact the only thing I could finally give her a bath in, was the Basic H that Oprah loves. I's be happy to share more.
From: We did everything right and still it was wrong.......till we changed to Shaklee. I share Shaklee with other moms who want to see a difference! Mare
My name is Jackie DeCataldo. I live in Sparta, NJ. I am an Independent Consultant with Arbonne. Arbonne has several different products for eczema that are phenomenal. I would be happy to give you a 35% off discount on any products for eczema. Please contact me at (201) 873-6363 or [email protected]. Thank you and good luck! Jackie
Hi Deanna,
I have a now 10 year old son that also suffered with terrible eczema as a infant; it covered over 90% of his body. Our peditrician told me it was a baby rash that would go away; common dermatitis. Well, long story short, when he was 2 I gave him a cracker with peanut butter on it (not knowing anything about allergies) and he blew up like a balloon and went into anaphlaytic shock. From there I found out about all of his allergies (Dairy, Egg, Peanut, and enviromental to name a few). When he was little he was on formual that was dairy based. They switched him to soy base and eventually I put him on rice milk which he still drinks and is thriving on.
My son still gets an occansional flare up of eczema and it usually has to do with something he has eaten.
My suggestion to you is to ask your Doc about allergy testing. It cant hurt and it may give some clearity on what's going on.
With my son's eczema I used Aquaphor after he bathed and when ever he gets a patch . I recently got a script for Elidel, which we have only used once and it seemed to work great.
Good luck to you.....I know how helpless you can feel when you see your child going through such an ordeal.
Deanna,
My ten yr old grandson suffered for a couple of years with the same condition, but on one of his legs. The doctor finally gave his an antibiotic along with cream and it is all gone. Keep being persistant with the medical community. Has he been to a dermotologist or even an allergist? What seems like eczema may not be. There may be an underlying cause such as a food allergy.
Best of luck.
Mom L
HI. My daughter is only 19 months, but what doctors thought was eczema turned out to be allergies. I would definitely have him tested for allergies. good luck.
Hi Deanna,
I have a daycare client who's 7 year old daughter has suffered with eczema most of her little life. She does have allergies, some to food and also some severe seasonal allergies. It probably wouldn't hurt to go to a specialist and have him tested. Some children with eczema also have asthma, so if he is a great sufferer I would want a complete check up done. In the meantime Avon makes a cream called moisture therapy (hand cream) that my client swears by. My daughter also has eczema, but not too terribly and she has recently started using it and she claims it works very well.
Hope this helps.
Sue G
My friend is a dermatologist at Baylor Univ. and I just asked her what to do with my son's eczema (he's 14)and my 3 y.o. daughter's. She said to minimize bathing- short showers with warm, not hot water since water dries out the skin. Immediately after washing use Vaseline or generic store petrolatum. She said lotions are the worst as they often have fragrance, other chemicals are are actually drying as they evaporate. Creams are not much better. She said some kids are allergic to the ingredient in Eucerin and even in Aquaphor that is almost like wool.
For bright red, angry, swollen eczema, an over the counter steroid ointment or cream like triamcinolone .25% just a very little bit will calm the scratching. She said just to use it once or twice until the redness and scratching calms down. If steroids are used too much , the skin gets thin, weak, and actually more prone to sensitivity.
HP (if it's not getting better, see a dermatologistin case it's not eczema and needs different treatment or allergy testing)
Eczema is becoming increasingly common in children, and that's probably because nutritional habits have gone downhill. The most common causes for eczema are:
1. Food intolerance/allergy
2. Essential fatty acid deficiency (which makes the skin sensitive to fabrics, cold, etc)
3. Nutrient deficiency, most likely zinc and very possibly freidnly flora in your little man's digestive system
I would suggest finding a good CRA practitioner of someone who practices Applies Kinesiology and get your child tested that way. I do not recommend doing the scratch test, especially on many different things - I personally find it a barbaric practice. Someone proficient at muscle testing can not only test for allergies but also for deficiencies.
If allergies come up, please consider NAET to take care of them in a non-invasive way - just google NAET allergy elimination technique to get more info and a list of practitioners.
Since zinc and essential fatty acids are vital to good health, I would recommend supplementing with a Children DHA (Nordic Naturals and Colson's are the best) and a Children Multi (avoid the ones from the drugstore, which usually have colorants, sugars and synthetic vitamins added). Until you find something better, try the Emergen-C Children Multi from Alacer, which at least contains immune boosters and is better than most children multi on the market. For good bacterial flora, I'd recommend FloraKey from UniKey Health, but it's usually only available on the web. If you have a Whole Foods or Wild Oats near you, go there and choose among the numerous products on the shelves. Again, I would recommend drugstore products because they contain additives and whn it comes to how effective they really are (not very much), they are not that cheap!
I would also avoid all skin products with synthetic ingredients - I will mention Arbonne because it has been mentioned here: it is promoted as totally natural but that's not true, it does have chemical additives that can be irritating to the skin. I got some samples and after reading the ingredient list I threw them away. Since those products are not exactly cheap, either, you are really much better off getting something that's free from synthatic additives like California baby or even Avalon Organics. California Baby has a line that's specifically for children who are prone to eczema or have very sensitive skin, you can see the line here: http://www.californiababy.com/eczema-care.html
I hope this helps. Good luck!
P.S. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my reply.
My husband has the same issue, and someone recommended Renew lotion from Melaleuca, It worked for him..this is the first winter without a breakout. I found someone who sells it, because it I didn't want to become a monthly member.
I have a 5 yo DD who's been battling eczema since she was 1.5 months old, and I now have a 2 mo. old DD who's showing signs of eczema, also. We've been the oral & topical steroid route with the older DD, and they made her act strangely (ever read the side effects? DD1 had all of them!). I refuse to do that to her again, and I'm not going to subject DD2 to the steroids either. My current Dr. is no help (he's younger than I am & just became a 1st time dad in December '07), as he does everything "by the book."
By searching the internet and getting advice from other mom's groups, I've come to believe that my DDs have food allergies. I've begun keeping a food journal of our meals (I'm breastfeeding, so what I eat affects DD2) and then before we eat again, I jot down notes as to how the girls skin looks. B/c of this, I've discovered that DD1 reacts to strawberries & dairy, and DD2 reacts to corn & chocolate. You may also want to try giving your DS probiotics and make sure he eats fish a couple times a week for the fish oil, which helps eczema tremendously. I'd recommend the food journal and probiotics before you subject you DS to the allergy test, as those can be painful.
Also, lanolin has worked wonders on my DDs' skin. Make sure you get Lansinoh brand, as it's guaranteed hypoallergenic and pure. It's pretty thick stuff, and kind of sticky, so your DS may not like the feel of it being put on him, but I've been amazed at how quickly the lanonlin clears up my baby's eczema...I apply to eczema in the morning and by noon it's gone. I've had to apply daily on my girls, whether they show signs or not, just to keep it at bay, but lanolin is a whole lot safer (and cheaper!) than steroids.
Hi Deanna,
I am a nurse in NJ w/ a nutritional degree from Cornell U. Eczema can be exacerbated or confused with an underlying candida (fugal) infection. Also processed foods and any foods high in refined sugars esp high fructose corn syrup enhances eczema breakouts. Intestinal/GI cleansing and restoring balance along with good nutrition is essential. There ia a company Intensive Nutrition, phone # 800-333-7414 that sells two products Viracin and Tannalbit, both plant based and excellent ways to help the GI and rid the body of fungus. Since he is 5 years old, one capsule of each 2-3 times a day for 30 days would be helpful. If you haven't seen a dermatologist, please get to one and make sure it is truly only eczema, they can do a simple light test to see if it also is fungal or scrap a little skin from a patch and test for fungal growth. Limit sugar from his diet to the best of your ability or at least eliminate high fructose corn syrup(HFCS). Read ingredients. Catsup is loaded w/ HFCS - Heinz makes an organic catsup that does NOT use HFCS. Most docs know very little about nutrition and holistic healing. There is also a homeopathic physician in Skillman, NJ named Dr Paul Bahder that may be a good resource for your son - homeopathy works with an individual's consitution. Christine Novak
If you haven't done so already, you might try switching laundry detergents. I am sure you have probably tried the 'free and clear' detergents. However, a friend of mine's son had really bad skin and she ended up using a real soap detergent, I think it was Ivory Snow? While Free and Clear detergents may be ok for 95% of people with really sensitive skin, the other detergent has much less additives and just might help.