Finding Relief for Eczema: A Parent's Journey

[janel kelly]

Does anyone else have a child with eczema? My son is 7 months old and has had it on his little cheeks since he was 6 weeks old. I thought it would go away but it is still as bad as ever. He has it bad on his knee pits too. We have a military doctor so you can imagine how much help I've gotten there. I bought the Aveeno eczema cream and it has cleared up a couple of times but it comes back a day later. I'm so tired of people I see every where always asking whats wrong with him like I've done this to him. I've tried several different lotions but nothing has worked. So today I got on the internet and ordered a cream called freederm. There were a bunch of testimonials about how well it has worked for them so I'm hoping for the same thing. Has anyone else heard of this cream? Is there anything that has worked for you?

 

[jdavis]

When I took my second son to the doctor one time I had him look at a couple of patches and I don't recall him actually saying exactly what it was but I remember peeking on the sheet and it saying something like eczema, but all he told me was that he could prescribe a medicated lotion for him to put on these patches or just keep putting a good lotion on them, the spot on the back of his neck bothers him the most, I haven't noticed any other spots in a while, or he hasn't pointed out any.Sorry to say I don't have any advice, but please keep me updated on how this new stuff works out for you, hopefully you will get it under control for both of your sakes.

 

[lisacb77]

Not a child but I've gotten it myself lately around the eyebrows & corners of my nose. I'm on prescription stuff from the derm. I notice it flares due to stress Hope you find something that works!

 

[rennea]

Poor little guy Is it on his cheeks because of his sucky? My husband used freederm. Hope it works for your little guy cause it worked for my big guy

 

[Chef Kearns]

My oldest son has eczema. He is 9 years old and has had it since he was an infant. The best stuff is Aveeno. We were given prescriptions and told to buy special creams, but what worked best for us was the Aveeno line of products. When he was a baby and toddler (still bath tub age) I bathed him in the Aveeno Oatmeal bath then put on the Aveeno lotion (for severe dry skin). It helped keep the inflammations down. He would occasionally still get rough patches.

When he turned 6 (I think) we took him for allergy skin testing. He is allergic to alot of things (grass, dander, dust, etc) and we started treating him for the allergies. Once the allergies were under control the eczema got a TON better. His skin was smooth. It took awhile to balance out the allergy meds (he was prescribed ALOT of medicine). I didn't want him on all those meds so we worked out what would help him the most, but not keep him drugged up. So he is on Claritin and Singulair. The allergist told him to wash his body with either Aveeno body wash or Dove body wash and put lotion on at least 2x a day.

He's doing alright. I know it is hard to see and feel your baby with the rough patches on his skin or his skin all inflamed, but it will get better. The best thing you can do for him is become his advocate. Do some research so when you see the doctors you can MAKE them do their job because you will know when they are just trying to skate by. I grew up military so I know what you're saying about that. The more you know (especially about your options) the better for your son. Also, if having him ingesting a bunch of meds concerns you LET THEM KNOW!! Make them find alternatives and offer some yourself.

Tip:
Do NOT use hydrocortizone cream on his patches. In the long run it will not help and will only exacerbate the situation. Over time the cream will also bleach his skin.

 

[cat]

Both my sons have eczema. Ethan is now 4 years old and it's a lot better but always flares up in the wintertime. His eczema started at 3 months old and was all over his face, arms and legs. People always asked me what was wrong with him too. He would be so miserable and itchy (as an infant) that he would rub and scratch, leaving open sores and getting skin infections. It was terrible!! So hard to see my firstborn suffering. We found out he was allergic to dairy at 7 months old when we took him to an allergist. But even after removing dairy from his diet his skin was still bad. We went from doctor to doctor, dermatologist and allergist to find a solution. After he turned one, his skin kind of cleared up on his own. All of the oral and topical medications we tried didn't have a huge effect on him at all. We used Atarax (an antihistimine) to control his itchiness, especially at bedtime since he had a hard time falling asleep when he was so itchy. We used various prescription creams, but none seemed to work that well on him, so we stopped using them altogether, even though the doctors told us to keep using them. We gave him tepid baths every other day and slathered on Aquaphor or petroleum jelly after his bath and multiple times during the day to keep his skin hydrated. As for soap, we started using a mild cleanser like Cetaphil, although now we use Dove Body Wash. We switched to dye-free, fragrance-free laundry detergent and stopped using dryer sheets. We basically stopped using ANYTHING that might irritate his skin. I even asked Grandma to stop using her lotion, because it was very strong in fragrance (I could smell it from downstairs when she was putting it on upstairs!). And I did notice that stress caused flare-ups. So I tried not to let him cry (or get really upset) because if he did, he (and I) would suffer for the next 5-6 days with flare-ups.

Our younger son Evan is 18 months and his eczema just started recently. But it's not nearly as bad has his older brother's, but we are taking the same measures.

By the way, my husband and I do not have eczema. But our dermatologist told us if there is a history of hay fever or asthma in the family, then eczema will probably pop up too.

 

[Momma23boys]

My oldest gets it worse than my other two boys but nothing like what your son gets! If I catch it early aloe vera helps.. but it will actually sting if it has gone on for a couple days (wouldn't think aloe would sting???) but my favorite is Calendula cream or lotion from the health food store..
You could also try this cream from a place onlinehttp://www.skindazzles.com it is my fav place for lotions,etc. (she custom blends and most have foodie fragrances, like Birthday Cake or Strawberry Shortcake) and her daughter has eczema so Candy (her name) made up a no-sting eczema cream loaded with all kinds of good stuff.. She is out of Medicine Hat, Canada so the shipping is't super cheap but she is great and always adds a sample of something wonderful to your package. Good Luck!

 

[janel kelly]

Some creams that I have tried are cetaphil, baby arbonne lotion, hydracortizone, aveeno, even emu lotion which is popular up here. So far the aveeno works the best but doesn't keep the eczema away. His cheeks look pretty good today but that may because the weather has been nice up here the past couple of days. It probably doesn't help that we live in very dry North Dakota. I'm hoping the freederm works. They are supposed to ship it today. I tried to attach a couple of pictures of his eczema but it says they are too big to attach. Thank you all for you e-mails. Its nice to know there are other people who know how frustrating it is to have a child with eczema.

 

[DZmom]

For DS we used Pond's Dry Skin Cream and for DD we used hydrocortizone. DD was nearly as bad as DS. He looked like he had 2 HUGE scabs on his face. One on each cheek. It was awful. But a daily regime of washing is face with water only, NO SOAP, and then immediately applying the Pond's worked wonders for him. DD just had scaling patches on her sides and the hydrocortizone worked for her.

Good Luck! I remember how bad it was and people always pointed it out. DD has a small patch of THICK black hair on the top of her head and people always rubbed at it trying to get the "DIRT" out. She still has it, but now that she has hair it's covered up. We were lucky that it didn't grow a long with the rest of her hair.

 

[klsnyder]

I have it as well as did my daughter. She grew out of hers at 2 years old. The presciption cream works the best, I have found. Also Buedrows butt cream works very well. Try not to bathe him everyday, as the water will make it worse...

 

[supergirljennie]

Not a child but I've gotten it myself lately around the eyebrows & corners of my nose. I'm on prescription stuff from the derm. I notice it flares due to stress Hope you find something that works!

I used to get it on the corners of my nose as well, and the only thing that has worked for me is Bath and Body Works C.O. Bigelow Lemon Body Cream. I know it's called body cream, but it works really well for me, and then my face smells like a Lemon Drop. The only thing about it that is unfortunate is that it is made of lemon and it can bleach your face in the sun!

Here's the website:

http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/pro...&cp=2484525.2079003.2128724&parentPage=family

I hope you find something that helps!

 

[Chef Laurie]

Looks like you've gotten tons of suggestions. I'll add one more. My older son had eczema his first 2 1/2 years off and on. I tried lots of things also, but what worked for him was a lotion called Renew from Melaleuca.com. We've also switched our household to environmentally friendly cleaning products and personal care products, and the eczema hasn't returned since. I hope one of these suggestions on this thread works for you!

 

[janel kelly]

I use melaluka products as well Chef Laurie! I have Renew but haven't tried it on him. I didn't know if it was baby friendly. My first son would get little eczema patches on his arms and legs but they would go away with the prescription cream. He never had anything as bad as my second son. Neither my husband or I have skin problems so I'm thinking it has to do with the dry climate up here. I've heard there are alot of people that get skin problems when they move to Minot.

 

[Chef Laurie]

Oh, I'd love to hear the results if you do try Renew. Please let me know! I've never heard that it's a problem to use it on babies--after all, it is free of harmful chemicals.

We used to have to lotion up our son twice a day. Miss one or two times, he would break out. Now I don't do anything, and he's been fine for months. We'll see what the future holds...

 

[Chef Kearns]

We tried the Renew from Melaluca and didn't see results. I also thought it was a little too greasy. I'm glad it worked for your kiddos, though.

 

[janel kelly]

I'm supposed to get that freederm cream within the next couple of days so I'm hoping it works. If not I can send it back and get a refund. Thats one reason why I did buy it because it guarantees results and if not I can get my money back. If it doesn't work I'll try the renew. Either that or I may push to see a dermatologist. Jordan's knee pits started bleeding yesterday. They have never bled before so I feel so bad for him. He just learned how to crawl but he doesn't crawl very much even though he can. I wonder if it may be because his knee pits hurt. He's also very attached to me and I wonder if I could get his eczema cleared if he would be a much happier baby. Although he does well now for having all the skin issues. Sigh...

 

[agw]

If eczema doesn't respond to simple moisturizer, then it's time to look for the underlying cause of it - like food or environmental allergies. Once we did, it made all the difference in the world.

My older daughter battles eczema. We went to the doctors, the dermatologist, and even an allergist. Finally, I simply had to do my own trial and error - which we're still doing.

The doc said it was eczema and to treat it with moisturizer and steroid cream if it got worse. The dermatologist said it was extreme dry skin and to use a thicker, more emollient, moisturizer cream along with a stronger steroid cream until it was under control.

The allergist said that true food "allergies" were the life threatening kind and that skin or blood testing for them was useless. The "only" way to test for food allergies is by food challenge. BAH! What a load of ... of ... of excrement! I finally found someone who would run a blood allergy test for us, and discovered that I was dead on - my daughter has antibodies in her system - aka allergy - to cow's milk.

I had already noticed that the eczema was markedly improved when we eliminated cow's milk from her diet. It didn't go away, but it improved. Then we noticed a correllation of the eczema to sugar, especially fructose. Eating food high in fructose - like fresh fruit, or high-fructose corn syrup - every day made her worse. Again, the eczema improved, but didn't disappear. Then we noticed a correllation of oats and splenda to the eczema. We eliminated those, too. Finally, the eczema appears to be on its way out!

In your situation, I'd get rid of anything having to do with cow's milk and see where it leads you.

 

[chefann]

My niece has an issue with dairy, too. She has to have soy milk, or her eczema acts up. Yogurt is OK, because the bacteria that turn it into yogurt from milk eat the lactose. But she has to be really careful with cheese and ice cream.For a while, my sister thought it was corn. So they wouldn't let her eat anything with corn or corn syrup. Do you know how hard it is to feed a 2-year-old without any corn syrup? She couldn't eat anything processed.

 

[janel kelly]

Does formula have cows milk? I'm pretty sure it doesn't right. He's only 7 months old and he's had it since 6 weeks old. So he just started on baby food last month. I wondered if he has food allergys but I don't know how he could when he's had it before he even ate food. I really think it has alor to do with the climate here. His cheeks were really red since 6 weeks old. When he was 10 weeks we went to NY for 10 days to visit family. His cheeks were fine. The day we got back to ND his cheeks started getting red again. They've been red since although during the summer it cleared up a couple of times. Now that its cold out his cheeks are horrible. AGHHH!

 

[chefann]

I don't want to scare anyone, but a friend of mine also has it, pretty badly. He's not aware of any triggers, so he has no way to control it. He's over 40, so obviously didn't grow out of it. He has weekly treatments involving some sort of goop and an ultraviolet light.

 

[klsnyder]

Does formula have cows milk? I'm pretty sure it doesn't right. He's only 7 months old and he's had it since 6 weeks old. So he just started on baby food last month. I wondered if he has food allergys but I don't know how he could when he's had it before he even ate food. I really think it has alor to do with the climate here. His cheeks were really red since 6 weeks old. When he was 10 weeks we went to NY for 10 days to visit family. His cheeks were fine. The day we got back to ND his cheeks started getting red again. They've been red since although during the summer it cleared up a couple of times. Now that its cold out his cheeks are horrible. AGHHH!

Yes, it does have lactose in it. You can buy lactose free formula..it is very expensive.

 

[agw]

Yes, regular formulas are made from cow's milk. If you noticed the problem coinciding with the start of the formula, then it just might be related to it.

The problem with the cow's milk is actually the proteins in it. Mother's milk - aka human milk - also has lactose in it, but has slightly different different proteins. Even if you had breastfed, if it's a cow's milk issue at all, there still might have been an issue if you're a milk drinker. Stuff like that goes through mom into her milk. I've known lots of mom's who had to go onto elimination diets to "cure" things like eczema, colic, and diarrhea in their infants.

 

[janel kelly]

I nursed my son til he was 6 months and then he wanted the bottle. He drinks the soy formula and I get it on WIC. He would probably have to be diagnosed with an allergy before WIC would let me get lactose free formula. What kind of tests do they do to find out if a child is lactose intolerant? I would think there would be more symptoms than just eczema if he were allergic to dairy.

 

[jentapp]

My hubby has it on his hands (he's 36 and just got it this year, but did have a couple of outbreaks when he was a kid). We think it's something he's touching at work, but can't figure out what it is. He can't wear gloves most of the time (wiring, assembling light fixtures/ceiling fans/etc) so the doc has him on a prescription cream. He never mentioned taking any allergy meds, though, so I think I'll see if taking those would help any.

 

[jentapp]

I would think there would be more symptoms than just eczema if he were allergic to dairy.

Not necessarily. We have a lot of allergies in our house. Some trigger asthma attacks (I have Reactive Airway Disease, so mine act a little differently). Some trigger migraines. Some trigger severe sinus problems. Some trigger diarrhea and stomach cramping (our youngest daughter has a friend who is so allergic to dairy products that it causes her intestines to bleed and could actually cause her to die, so they are VERY careful). Some cause hives (our oldest daughter looked like a reverse dalmation, pink with a few white spots, the last time she had amoxicillin and cefzil...we called her "spot"). Some cause eczema.

They're all different and we vary rarely have more than 2 at one time (usually either a migraine and asthma or sinus issues and asthma, all of the rest are just one or the other depending on what triggered it).