Child Eczema Again - More Advice Needed

Thanks to everyone for all the previous advice. My little girl (almost 3) was prescribed Fucidin H, which began to be effective after a few days but by the end of the 7 days, the skin flared up again, even while still using the cream. I left it a few more days and started using it again but the same thing has happened.

Visited the GP but he just said this will happen and to keep the area moisturised. But this is what I've been doing, loads of moisturising in the day and I don't want to have to use the Fucidin H indefinitely with just a few days between treatments (it says not to use for more than 7 days) because of the possible side effects. Carys is now complaining that her inner elbow hurts as the inflammation has flared up badly again, a couple of days after stopping the Fucidin H. I've got her watching Jungle Book with a poultice of grated potato on her arm because I read that this might have anti-inflammatory properties.

I've stopped using soap and use Aveeno oil in the bath. I am moisturising with Aveeno and Dermol antimicrobial cream.

I'm wondering about some kind of food issue. I know that cow's milk can be a culprit if the eczema is food related. I bought some oat milk but I don't know if has any calcium. Does anyone know of a really good alternative to dairy products that contain calcium?

Also, if it is food related, how does it happen? Does the skin flare up as soon as the food is eaten or does it take a few days? And if you exclude that particular food, does the skin calm immediately?

Thanks.

Awwwww LS it's hard trying to know what to do...
I have eczema that flairs up periodically and it drives me nuts..it is extreme. I get it when I am stressed or tired or run down. Once it flairs up it is very hard to get it under control and I resort to antihistamines as well as creams as my allergies also start to flair up.

It may be food related, or it could be seasonal, or it could be that she is growing and her body reacts that way.

You can only find out if you rule out one thing at a time, which of course is very difficult as we are also in the hayfever season. It could of course be triggered by any number of things.

I don't have much advice...I just wanted to send my sympathies. I have lots of sympathy for people with eczema as I know just how awful it can be and when you are a child it is even worse. The itch is just awful.

Aw thanks Ailsa, that is helpful, honestly. It started around the time of the hayfever season - she's had teeny patches on her torso before but it has spread and become worse since around then. Her little tummy was almost like sandpaper the other day but it is the inner elbow that is causing her distress. It also coincided with Easter and chocolate - I'm a mean mum and have seriously limited stuff like chocolate although I don't think that it can be the Easter egg because she ate it over a long period of time. Or maybe it was because she had chocolate more often?

Sorry you have eczema too - it's horrible. I get it on my legs and contact dermatitis too. I also have asthma and a bit of hayfever so poor Carys didn't stand a chance, did she?

I'm just wondering what has caused it to flare up so badly recently.

Thanks.

Ah so it's your fault then!!!!

Sounds like it could be seasonal.
I wonder if maybe a low dose antihistmaine would help at all? May be worth asking your Dr. If you can get it under control then you will find it easier to see what causes a flair up perhaps?

I had read that running bathwater through oats can help, Im sure it was something like that, my sister gave me some of her Aveeno cream as I had dry skin, its fab stuff,

hope the wee sole is better soon, xx

Hiya

Sorry to hear that Carys is a bit poorly...

Firstly the Oat milk, if you buy Oatly then you can get a red label one that is calcium enriched, however at this point i wouldnt worry too much about the amount of calcium in the milk, as she will get calcium from lots of other food now she is a big girl.

If its food related it could occur in many ways, Luca has an instant skin reaction to things like Kiwi, and tomato, however he has a slower skin reaction to cows milk as that has to build up in his system for him to react as its an intolerance rather than an allergy so its the quantity not the actual instant reaction.. Also by cutting out cows milk for example you would need to give it 6 weeks to allow all of it to leave her system before knowing if it was the culprit, however if you take it out for a week and her skin doesnt look any better at all, even if the redness doesnt go away then think you will probably find its something else.

The creams can sometimes make the skin worse with the parabens etc in them, I have found Aveeno to be the most gentle and the only one that calms luca's skin down, all the thicker ones tended to make it worse.

However there wa sone treatment that made a huge difference and that was a tar like substance called special Ointment no 1 and you put that on and then put a bandage on the top and left it overnight, Luca would get up in morning and his skin would be great and then we would just treat it with aveeno from then on and keep the skin moisturised to ward off the extreme dryness.

Its worth a shot if her skin is really sore in the elbow and knee areas as it also prevents her from scratching it if its bandaged.


Is there anything new that she is doing that perhaps could be making it flare:
Ie: Playgroup - sand box, new paints, crayons
new foods you may not know about - ie : at nursery?

Is she starting anything new that could be making her stressed?

Has she been swimming lately as chlorine can really irritate it.

If you arent getting anywhere withj Gp ask for a referral to a dermatologist as it will take about 6 weeks before you get your appointment anyway. My first GP was crap and justkept giving us different creams to try and by 6 weeks into his skin flaring we had a windowledge full of creams ( over 10 different ones) and none of them were making it better and some made it worse.

Eventually i cut out the dairy, got the referral, got him allergy tested and within 6 weeks of doing that and his appointment his skin was under control ( but that was 4 weeks of permanent body bandaging) had i waited for the GP to get their act together his skin would have been loads worse.

Also just a thought but has she had any innoculations recently that could have flared it also as this was what set luca's skin off in the first place??
please ask any questions that I havent answered as have been there and its so stressful and you get nowehere fast with it.

also I gave luca piriton medicine every night for 4 weeks to get him to sleep as he was so uncomfortable., however you can really only give it an night as its a drowsy formula thats suitable for the kids.

Yes, oats in the bath do help. I use a little laundry tab net with oatmeal in and run the bath through it. My son has eczema which gets considerably worse in warm weather. I give him antihistimines and it helps with the itching. He is also on epa and dha fish oils. We tried cutting out lactose from his diet but it made no difference tbh. I also use hemp body butter from the body shop, which I find really good. The fucidin and hydrocortisone creams can irritate the eczema further in some cases. I only use it on rare occasions. Hope this helps a bit. My son's eczema has flared up at the moment so we are also trying to beat it. It seems to adapt to whatever cream we use after a few weeks though, and we have to change products.

thats really common apparantely it gets used to the creams and stops working.

Also i found steroid ointments worked a lot better than steroid creams.... but i only use the steroid when the skin is really inflamed and red looking, if its just dry DONt use the steroid.

Goats milk is apparently excellent for eczema you could try that. Get a piece of muslin and put some porridge oats inside, tie it up and put around the taps when you run her a bath. The other cream i used on my sons severe ezcema was fucibet - the cream is ok to use just put on a very thin layer., its because it is steriod in cream form. Also try keeping a food diary and list everything so you can eliminate anything shes eating, maybe think about getting her allergy tested. Also try just washing her down in the bath with plain aqueous cream from the chemists which is good. Hope she feels better x

Sorry just wanted to say also that my sons excema was so bad he was under a consultant, tried all sorts of different creams before we found one that worked and he was prescribed Vallergan to get him to sleep because the itching was bad. My son is 11 now and he rarely gets any skin problems now just dryness sometimes and he doesn't use soap or bubble bath.

When my Son's eczema was diagnosed as being a dairy allergy at 5 months (it wasn't just his skin, he used to vomit after every feed but the Health Visitor said that was normal for some babieseven though the eczema started immediately I took him off breast milk ). Anyway, the Consultant at Gt. Ormand St. said to use Soya Milk (baby formula) until he was two and then to gradually introduce Dairy, slowly. I did so over the next couple of years. He is a very healthy little boy so it worked for him.

Also, I think I mentioned this before but my Daughter who suffered from eczema on her face was prescribed Alphasyl (sp?). This was because the hydrocortisone and the Fucidin stopped working after a while. The Alphasyl did the trick but she'll use it occasionally if she's tried a new beauty product that triggers off her eczema. It really does smell though so can only be used at night really (I think it's a kind of charcoal smell - horrid).

I hope you manage to get your little one sorted as I know it can make them miserable