Advice on Help for a Child with Excema

Dr. Moise Levy is apparently the best in practice...he is a Pediatric Derm, his waiting list is extremely long but well worth it!

Hi there,

Wow, you have a full house! I just have a 10 month old and he wears me out! I have something that works great for excema. It's called Olive Butter Body Balm. It's from BeautiControl, which I sell. I have had and know abotu many clients that have used it for excema and it's worked wonders. If you're interested, email me at ____@____.com care,

L.

My youngest 2 have terrible eczema too. First, they were allergy tested and we are able to avoid the foods they are allergic to and also dust mites and pets. We use mild steroid cream (over the counter is cortizone, but we get a prescription cream from the doctor). Also, I love the Aveeno moisturizer for eczema (I have tried everything and this one works the best for us). If you swim, it is really important to get that moisturizer on as soon as she is dried off. Good luck.

My daughter's excema is controlled with:
1. Cetaphil soap (remember to make sure the bath isn't too hot).
2. Eucerin cream lotion
3. Keeping the area dry and able to breathe!
4. Use fragrance free dryer sheets and soft cottons (flannel and silky or polyester materials do irritate my daughter's skin).

The most recent research suggests supplementing an infant's diet with probiotics to treat excema is the most effective way to eradicate it. In other words, it's an "inside" job. Because of this, treating it from the "outside" will always have limitations. To find out more, go to mercola.com and use their search engine to explore "probiotics/excema". Always avoid using drugs when possible!

try emu oil from the health food store....you will want to apply it several times a day but you should notice a difference in about a week....

Both my 10 month old son and I have eczema and we manage to keep the flare ups and itching to a minimum by using dove sensitive skin non-fragrant soap, eucerin lotion and any kind of fragrant/dye free laundry detergent. At bath time make sure to use luke warm water and pat dry and immediately apply the lotion. For the summer heat, keep them cooly dressed and shaded as much as possible.

Go to a pediatrician. Mine gave me a 3 page print out of about eczema and how to prevent and treat. There can be many reasons for her break outs and a doctor can treat the child specifically and may be able to pin point the causes.

AVEENO has a bath soap and lotions made especially for eczema. They aren't cheap but CVS store makes their generic version if you need it.

On very dry patches of skin, my doc recommended AQAUPHOR. It's like petroleum jelly texture wise.

The more you bath, the worse you can make it.
The more soap, the worse.....
The hotter the water, the worse....

On all broken skin, I use NEOSPORIN or something similiar.

If you can't make it to the doctor, a pharmacist at your store may help you. Try to talk to the actual Pharmacist and not a pharmacy technician. See one at your grocery store or a Walgreens, etc.

If your child is so itchy at night that it affects his/her sleep, you can give BENADRYL to sooth the itching. I only used this in extreme cases where my daughter was very uncomfortable.

Our daughter has mild excema. It got worse the years she was wrestling (108lbs - not Sumo) She is allergic to metal & many detergents etc. (We used Dreft for years until All Free came out. On a side note - you have ruled out things like detergents with enzymes, scented products, dryer sheets & softeners. We can't use any of those things here) Even after all that she had excema problems when hot & exercising heavily. This creme works well for her.
Infinite Aloe Skin care
1-888-luv-aloe, www.infinitealoe.com
We started using it because of my diabetes. My knuckles would literally crack open. Over the years I have recommended it to many people. Only 1 person had a negative skin reaction and a few didn't see a difference. Many more started using it.
It is $40 an 8 oz jar. If you buy 3 they send a 4th free plus 6 small travel 1 oz jars. I have 1 of the small jars left if you want to try it first. E-mail me back if you live near Cypress.
God Bless,
S.

L.-
My 5 month old has mild excema and our pedi prescribed a steroid foam Verdeso and a cream Mimmex (SP?) We use the foam for a few days on the affected area and the cream is used daily. It seems to be helping. We also bathe him with the Aveeno Baby Calming bath also recomended by our pedi. Hope this helps.
Just to clarify the Mimmex cream is a intense hydrating cream that is also given to radiation patients to help heal the burn and extreamly dry skin that results from the treatment. It is also given to patients for excema and sever dry skin.

My son and I both have eczema. It's very important to use a mild soap and moisturize after bath time! Eucerin, Lubriderm and Aveeno are great lotions, and most stores have store brand versions that work well too.

It's important to bath every day because the heat and sweat of summer tends to make me and my son break out more. So luke warm bath water and then lotion really helps.

You may need a prescription cream from your pediatrician. My sons pediatrician gave us kenilog mixed in lubriderm, it's a mild cortico steroid and I find this works better than some other prescriptions we have tried.

If it's infected you probably will need an antibiotic cream your pediatrician can get you that too. Eczema seems to get infected so fast!!

Whenever possible keep to the shade outside, direct sun can make it worse or the topical medicines may make the skin more sensitive to sunburn. For me the sun seems to help clear it up but the humidity and heat make it worse.

Definitely talk to you pediatrician I'm sure they will have some great suggestions!

I used to work for At Home Division of The Body Shop, and they sold a naturally-based Hemp line (body butter or hand protector). I heard A LOT of 'testimonies' from people who tried it on their children and it made a huge difference on their eczema. My husband used it on his eczema and was able to go longer periods without his medication. I also heard of people using their coconut body butter on eczema with success. You can buy it at Barton Creek Mall, or online.

Knowing what we know about the medication (since my husband has eczema), I would try the non-medicated route first, if I were you.

Hope that helps!

Where the excema is inflammed, cracked and split there is a messy, greasey ointment called "Bag Balm" that will help. This ointment can be found at any feed store, country store & even Walmart. Put the ointment on at night & cover up the affected area. It will heal overnight and help with the irritation the next day. Be sure to cover up the area with bandage, gloves, etc because this stuff is greasy...but it works!!!

At our house we can't have anything with scent/fragrance in it. So, free and clear laundry detergent, no soap but Ivory (only on occasions where bar soap is necessary), no dryer sheets, etc. Oh and baths only every 3 days or so...sooner if needed but not everyday.

We use the generic Cetaphil CREAM not the lotion the CREAM, you can't put it on too many times a day, every couple of hours. Then occasionally the hydrocortizone for itching...but not more than a few times (2 to 3) a day for 3 to 4 days. (On advice of our pediatrician).

Talk to your pediatrician...ours was very helpful. My son is now 4 and only has small patches (mostly on his bum, which is embarrassing if he scratches in public). My poor husband can get it on his entire back during the winter months...super itchy and horrible looking.

HUGS!!

I would keep a light long sleeve shirt on (I know) outside, and try aquaphore, go to Whole Foods and get an organic cream to help with the infection, possibly for the eczema too. I changed my laundry detergent from Tide to All free and clear and no perfumes or dyes in any soaps and saw a DRAMATIC change!!
Hope this helps!

There is a Vitamin E lotion at Sam's Wholesale that will take care of it. My daughter has had eczema since she was about 2 and once I found this lotion/cream she has been fine. She is now 10 years old. It is in a jar, pale yellow and has Vitamin E 100,000 units on it. Have recommened to others and they to have had great success.

We have used all of the things suggested in the other responses but this cream has completely cleared her skin of any trace of the eczema. I can not express enough the success I and several others have had with this cream and it only cost about $7 a jar.

I use Dermarest lotion available at CVS. It really seems to help my little one!

My three year old has moderate excema and was prescribed an ointment called protopic which really seems to help. when Im not using it I use aveeno lotions and creams

The excema, on my hands, underneath my fingernails, and on my arms, infected, bleeding, horrible itching, began when I was about 9 years of age. I was totally healed by a Dermatologist at the age of 18, with Kenalog Cream. I highly recommend it!

My son had very bad eczema when he was a baby. Treatment is going to vary depending on the child. You've gotten lots of good suggestions so far: just try stuff until it works.

What worked for my son was prescription strength hydrocorizone, 2%. Within three months his eczema was completely gone. I still have it and use it for occasional flare-ups, but otherwise I just moisturize every day with Aveena's colloidal oatmeal cream.

The key is to moisturize frequently, at least twice a day but even more if needed. You may need something stronger like prescription strength to bring the eczema under control, then maintain with the moisturizing cream or lotion of your choice. The thicker the better.

Good luck!

You can use cortizone cream and Lubriderm lotion at the same time. Some of the creams that my daughter has been perscribed are just these two mixed together. Good Luck! =)

My doctor prescribed an ointment called Diprolene for my psoriasis which I've also been told treats excema. It's a steroid cream, so you might research it's effects on children, but it works very well, clearing up chronic patches within 3-4 days and keeping them gone for 6-12 months before recurring flareups.
Good luck

When I was in middle school, which was a while ago b/c I'm 30 now, my excema was really bad and my dr. prescribed Elocon. It relieved me over night and it was a life saver b/c I remember being just like your child. The heat would flare it up and it was horrible. But as soon as I put this cream on, it was complete relief. You might want to ask a dermatologist about it. It would flare up every now and then and Iwould just use the cream and it would go away again. I don't suffer from it anymore now so I hope this helps.

After bath, apply tea tree and vitamin e. I prefer not to use pharmaceutical drugs on children unless absolutely necessary. Eczema is her body's way of releasing toxins and responding to potential allergies--it's like sneezing. Eczema is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Using drugs is like applying medicine to stifle a sneeze. You wouldn't do that; you would wipe her nose and try to address the real issue of what's making her sneeze. Thank God for bodies that tell us when something is wrong! Her body is responding and adjusting to the world around it, and introducing medicine into the process keeps her immune system from strengthening properly on its own.

Once you address the skin discomfort, you should address whatever the allergy is. Try to figure out what she's allergic to. It might be something that she's eating that she doesn't have to eat.

Meanwhile, be careful not to use skin-irritating detergents and lotions and bath soaps.

Good luck!