Eczema Problem

Hi M.

I would like to give you a free consult and take a look to see if there is anything I can do for you. I have helped many patients of all ages with this condition. Look forward to hearing from you...

D. R., DC
____@____.com

I've has Eczema all my life and this doesn't sound like it. Eczema is more like severely dry itchy skin...I've had it pretty bad and have never experienced bumps or puss. I use sesame oil or even olive oil as a treatment for it.

Hi! I JUST took my 13 month old son to the doctor yesterday for the same problem. He had splotches all over his trunk area and red spots under his arm pits and under his knees. The doctor said to rub Cortaid (1%) (available anywhere) on all the red and inflamed areas twice a day (for 7-10 days) and then to also put lotion on the rest of his body twice a day. I tried the Aveeno baby lotion and find that it really works the best. His skin is already looking better. Hope this helps...Good luck!

My daughter used cortizone on her spots, and then the doctor prescribed a steroid cream for spot treatments. talk to your pediatrician and see if you could use that in the mean time... you don't want your poor little guy to have to suffer... good luck.

We were also at a loss after taking my 6 yr old granddaughter to the doctor REPEATEDLY with the same responses you received. I prefer using non-allopathic or western medications as I have found homeopathics, chinese and western herbs to be more effective with few if any side effects. We literally CURED my granddaughter's severe eczema with a nightly regimen for less than two weeks of a shower with organic soap (no scents), a pat dry around her legs and thighs where the scaling was prominent and applying Psoriaflora cream. She then put on light leggings or cotton shorts before getting into bed for a story. Her skin is flawless where the red patches were and the situation has completely cleared up. This condition started in the winter with dry skin and continued so that she wasn't able to swim--the chlorine burned those areas so severely.

I recommend this product which can be purchased at any health food store, Sunflower Market of Whole Foods. Good luck!
And start studying up on the chemicals that are in "children's" bathtime products. A quick search on the internet will quickly inform you that children are receiving large doses of unwanted chemicals in some of their soaps, shampoos and skin lotions. Do your homework and get those products out of your home. Good starting place: Childrens Environmental Health Network at http://www.cehn.org .

Hi M., I would check out the Mayo clinic web site. Sounds like could be scabies .....but need more info . They have a great site that can help give diagnosis with
entering all his symtoms. Also for relief maybe a baking soda bath luke warm water ....old fashioned but soothing and natural. Maybe also ask at Whole foods what they recommend for the itching, something natural. Good Luck ! O. (mom of twin 4yr olds G/B and 7 yr old daughter.

My daughter had horrible eczema too when she was about a month. I took her to the dr and the dr said to eliminate dairy from my diet because it could be a milk allergy. After three days of no dairy her skin totally cleared up. It's not a true allergy in that she'll never be able to have milk but she was unable to digest the protein and should outgrow it.

It was hard at first but when I saw how much she improved (no rash!) I stuck to it. Alot of people recommend cream but ezcema is an allergic reaction that you should figure out the reason for.
Hope this helps!

Instead of a product that contains skin-irritating chemicals you might want to try a completely natural skin cleanser, vitamin C serum and moisturizer. There are a lot of toxic things in "baby" products and even (especially) in things "prescribed" by your doctor. Be very careful what you put on your baby's skin - skin is the body's largest organ - it both eliminates waste (through the pores) as well as absorbs nutrition (as in topically applied products). If you are applying anything with MINERAL OIL in it STOP. It clogs the pores so waste can't be eliminated nor nutrition absorbed. I can give you a researched list of some highly toxic ingredients often included in products labeled "natural" which you can check your baby's product labels against. I can also suggest a completely natural and extremely high quality product line made from wild grown Amazon rainforest botanicals that works on all skin types and ages. The herbal extracts have been proven to protect skin and repair damage naturally by providing the body with the things it needs to help itself - without harmful or toxic ingredients. You could actually eat this skin care system and it wouldn't do you any harm. It literally feeds skin the nutrients it needs to be healthy. It's never too late - or too early - to start repairing the body. Feel free to contact me for any more information.

M
Have you heard of Arbonne? OMG, we started using the products on our nephew 18 months ago ( he is now 2 and a half) and even with a family history of eczema (my husband and the boys dad both have experienced eczema) he has had great results. they are botanical based and have no chemical dyes or fragrances. let me know if youre interested and i will help you get some for your little man, i have a wholesale account. i also have seen many testimonials in regard to all different skin problems that arbonne has corrected.
p.s. we also have to be super careful with laundry detergent.
kk

I see you already have tons of responses and I don't know if this will help or complicate things but here it is...My cousin's son developed severe eczema when he was only a couple months old. They discovered that it was a contact allergy to dairy. He was exclusively breastfed and whenever my cousin ate dairy the eczema got worse. His allergy to dairy was so bad that even if someone ate dairy and then touched him on his skin he would breakout. So, maybe you want to see if there is some kind of correlation between the food your son eats and his eczema. It could be some kind of allergic reaction. Best of luck to you.

Have you asked about food allergies? maybe he has food allergies something you may be eating! My neice has severe eczema shes had it since she was pretty much born and is now 7 and they finally got her tested and found that she is allergic to all kinds of food!
I have read a lot about food allergies and there are many links to other disorders and diseases but it seems like the doctors dont want to go that route unless you insist! you can look up the web sites i know of they are
www.celiac.org or www.celiac.com
my husband has celiac so i know its not easy! but if you search these sites you may find some interesting things!
Good luck

Use oatmeal bath and some aveeno lotion, that should help cut down on the scratching and also make the skin not dry.

Hi M. -

First of all, stop the Eczema wash. The chemicals in the wash may be exasperating the condition. Add blood cleansing herbs to your diet - like red clover, alfalfa, chlorella - and he will get the benefits from your breast milk.

On a holistic level, eczema is caused by deep emotions that have been buried for a long time - since your son is only 4 1/2 months old, he may be attempting to clear your buried emotions that he is picking up in your breast milk.

If you would like more information, feel free to contact me.

Blessings,

M. M. Ernsberger
Holistic Healthcare Practitioner
Certified Clinical Herbalist
Certified Hypnotherapist
Certified Life Coach

There are people, including in this group, who have had GREAT success using the Southwest Lifestyle Lotion Bar. I encourage you to start with the unscented. There are NO CHEMICALS, NO PRESERVATIVES. Most products htat claim to work (including medically prescribed) include chemicals and preservatives that really do more harm than good. This is my body care line and I refuse to put all the junk in there. IT is the ONLY thing that has ever worked for my skin. I used to crack and bleed...hands, feet, face, etc and look very old. Now I don't look old enough to be a grandma :)

Go to www.southwestlifestyle.com and check it out. If you have questions, don't hesitate to give me a call at ###-###-####.

S.

The lotion bar from Southwest Lifestyles worked great for my son. We had tried everything and nothing helped, ointments, creams - lotions - it stayed the same or got worse.

The lotion bar was a mirical! Overnight there was a HUGE difference - I would say an improvement by about 80%.

Their website is www.southwestlifestyles.com. The bar is about $5 - but it is amazing.

When he sees the dermatologist, also have him tested for Dermatitis Herpataformis. It looks like Eczema, but if he is blistering and oozing, it could be that. The testing is a skin biopsy of an active blister though.

~D.

M.,

My son had eczema to and the doctor told us that it is sometimes food related. After my son had caught a stomach bug, we were only giving him Pedialyte because he had diarreha and noticed a real difference in his skin. As it turned out, it was his milk based formula that was causing his break out. We switched him to soy and his skin has cleared up with the help of Cetaphil. The doctor told us to use Cetaphil instead of soap. Soap drys out the skin and Cetaphil doesn't contain any soap. We also used hydrocortisone on his red spots and Aveeno Baby lotion to keep his skin moisturized. We don't use anything on his skin that has fragrance and that includes the laundry soap. I hope this helps.

T. W.

Hi M.-
My daughter Amaya suffers from eczema as well. It seems to get worse in the winter time or when she plays outside (allergies). The dermatologist perscribed cloderm. Also try to stay away from soap & lotions with fragrance. I really like the CeraVe body wash & cream. You can find it at CVS drug stores. It is really good for their sensitive skin. I hope he feels better.

Hi M....I have four kids, three of which have excema so I have been around the block with creams/detergent/prescriptions and it seems like something different worked with every kid. What helped my 9 year old is a bath in Aveeno Oatmeal Bath (at Target it is in the make-up area and it is 100% colloidal oatmeal) every other night and you immediately pat dry her skin and put Eucerin cream on liberally and make sure the nails are cut short so no scratching. Arbonne baby products cured my 21 month old. Any I just started putting over the counter Cortaid on my 12 week old and it seems to be clearing up. I totally agree that it is aggrevated by dairy products so cut back on those (it takes 2 weeks to fully get out of your system while nursing). Good luck!!

Hello M.,

Eczema just plain sucks!! My son had it forever it seemed a couple of years. Everything Valerie has already said is exactly what I did to help my son get rid of the outbreaks I just want to add to it. We put Vaseline on his fingernails at night and during the day so when he scratched he wouldn't be able to effectively. Also, I'm not sure what kind of fabric softener or Detergant you use, But I changed mine to the baby dreft( or the generic brand) and no fabric softener. I know it's really hot, but we put long sleeves and pants on him ( thin cotton) so he wouldn't have as much access to scratching. At night we put the hand covers over him. I also started to use the Mel products for cleaning his tub, room, and body wash along with the Aveeno Oatmeal baths. The Dermatologist will probably tell you a lot of these things. Make sure you put the cortizone on him, it will really help. BTW don't forget to cut his nails really small. I really hope this helps and he will get better.

Sorry to hear about your sons skin problems my son had them really bad too at that age. I found that worked best for us was to bath him in Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser (we tried the aveno washes but they seemed to make him worse), wash his hair with johnson's regular baby shampoo, and then coat him with aquaphor healing ointment and put him in longsleeve cotton clothes so he couldn't scratch. I also gave him probiotics which helped a lot. Probiotics replace the good bacteria in your intestins that is lost from antibiotics and other medicines. They sell them at the healthfood store. It's a powder you just put in their formula or breast milk.
Like the other ladies said too, make sure you are using a baby detergent. I tried Dreft and baby ALL but they seemed to irritate my sons skin more so I got a natural one from the health food store. We had a strong hydrocortizone cream from the doctor that I used when his eczema got really terrible, but if you are going to use it do so sparingly. If you use it a lot it really does thin and weaken the skin. Plus, it is steroids that are absorbed through your baby's skin.
If you are breast feeding stay away from acidic foods. If i ate anything acidic his eczema would be three times worse the next day.
I hope that some of this helps you. I know how hard it is to see your child suffer.

I know this sounds funny, but MSG in in most everything. Traditionally, it's thought of as the poison in chinsese resteraunt food. Truthfully, I've found it's in most every food AND non-food products available to us consumers. It IS a poison and can cause symptoms that you've described along with numerous other symptoms. It's used to help with shelf-life of a lot of food and non-food products. It's used to make food taste better, to cover up the taste of canned foods. It's ADDICTIVE. Most fast food companies have it in their food. A lot of household products used daily have MSG in them, including shampoos, body soaps and perscription and non-perscription drugs. And worst of all, the FDA hasn't set a limit on the amount that can be placed in products. Food and product companies don't have to put MSG on the label, as long as they have one of the "hidden names" on the label.( "Natural" can be a hidden name among many others.) You mentioned that you breast-feed your son, so even if he's too young to eat table food, chances are, you eat it and pass it along to your son through breast milk. I'm not saying this is definitely his problem, but it might be worth looking into. If you google "MSG" a lot of different sites will come up. I hope you find this helpful, or at least interesting. Your son is in my prayers.

I have a friend who is also experiencing a severe case of eczema with her 7-month-old. She is also breastfeeding, and her doctor has suggested she cut out various things in her diet to see if her baby's skin improves. She first started with dairy, then nuts, and then various other things. You may want to make an appointment with an allergist to see if they can help. Good luck!

Sometimes with very sensitive skin less is more. If you can, try only washing these affected areas with water. I also use Aveeno products because they tend to be mild for my kids. When her skin gets really dry I pretty much lather my daughter's legs with lotion and then coat with aquafor (the consistancy is similar to vaseline and keeps the moisture in), which tends to keep her skin from progressing to redness and cracking. I tried the oatmeal bath that Aveeno makes but I didn't really notice any difference. Also, my doctor had informed me that if she gets a "break out" that no matter what I do it doesn't get better, it could be a slight skin infection and gave me a low 1% ointment. I can't recall the name, something with a Tri-... but it has worked well.

Hi M.,

My name is N. and I know exactly what you are going through. It's tough watching your little ones suffer. I live in Queen Creek and I know so many Moms out here who have this problem. Most likely if you are breast feeding, he is sensitive of a certain food or foods that you are eating. It takes a while to figure out what the allergy is and That is something you'll have to work on with your doctor. It's very possible that he will just out grow it.

In the mean time, I can make you a LOTION BAR thats made out of emu oil, slippery elm bark and balsom of peru.

I have an all natual hand made soap store and I specialize in Eczema. Truley all you really should try is just using a fragrance free , chemical free bar of any one of my soaps and pat him dry twice a day. If it doesn't clear up than I would suggest the other.

With sensitive skin in mind, I have developed a pure chemical free line of products for people of all ages. I don't belive anyone should put any kind of harsh chemicals on their body, especially a baby. Many people dont understand that our skin is our largest organ of our body. When we take a warm or hot bath that causes our pores to open up and here we are putting sodium larel sulphates and other harsh chemicals right into our blood stream.

Any way, I know that there are several moms here in this group who use my products and they swear by it. So , if any of you ladies are reading this please speak up *grin*

Id be happy to return your money if it doesn't work or you can swing by and pick up a free sample. I'll also be at the Gold Canyon Farmers Market tomorrow, Sat the 16th from noon to 6:00 if you want to stop by my booth. We are called Aromatic Botanicals and here's the wbsite. www.aromaticbotanicals.com

Hope to see you, I really love success stories.
Blessing and respect,
N.

Hi M.,

My daughter recently was diagnosed with eczema on her finger, her Dr. had given her two different ointments and it cleared up in about 14 days. It had became infected from scratching it within a couple of days. I would recommend getting him in sooner if the areas look infected. I hope this helps.

Have you tried switching laundry soaps? Some eczema is allergy caused, some by stress. But using a gentle laundry soap may help and vinegar as a rinse instead of a product like Downy. I would call the Docs office back and tell them that the soars are oozing and you want your child seen NOW. They save appointments for more urgent cases. See if they also have a waiting list for cancellations. Has his diet changed at all? or should I ask, has YOUR diet changed? It could also be food allergies, and some allergens go through the breast milk. Good luck, I know its difficult my son had it all over his feet!!

Melaleuca's renew lotion is by far the best on the market. I've struggled with excema for more than 12 years and their lotion was the only one that helped. It has melaleuca oil in it. A little goes a long way and you only have to put it on once a day. It has all safe ingredients. With Melaleuca, you have to be a member to get their products at a 30-40% discount or you can order it from a member to get the discount. You can get the travel size for $2. I highly recommend it. You might know someone who uses Melaleuca and you can order it through them or I can send it to you. Great products!

sounds a like my latex problem. I was never allergic then developed the allergy at a job where I had to wear latex gloves all day. I developed bumps, they got inflamed. I scratched and scratched becaus they itched like mad. They oozed. I went to multiple doctors who wanted to say excema or whatever. FINALLY I went to a doctor who saw it for what it was. Latex allergy. It's pretty common! You should check into this. What kind of latex do you have in your house? band aids, on the bottom of your rugs, gloves, halloween masks, ETC It is EVERYWHERE!

IF it is a latex allergy, I have been through all sorts of creams, etc and the ONLY thing that worked is Diprolene (by prescription). I actually found it as a "trial medicine" the docs had years ago. It IS a TOPICAL steroid, but its not some crazy harmful preformance enhancing thing. You only use a tiny amount. It dries up the weeping spots within a day, and soothes itching right away. My "thank GOD I found this! medicine" Stopped the maddening itching.

I know you are getting lots of good advice so all I can do is what worked for us. My son also had eczema like you son, lots of red itchy bumps, red oozing rash on elbows and legs. We tried diet, cortizone creams, washing cloths using dreft which has very few chemicals and lots of different creams. What worked was Derma Smooth. It is a cortizone oil that is prescription only and it was the miricle stuff. It does not go into the blood stream so it can be used long enough to get the eczema under control. Thankfully he eventually grew out of it. I really can say the best advice is keep trying to see what works for your son. All kids react to things differently and you will eventually figure the triggers and what works for him. Good luck and it will get better especially after it cools off.

I have heard that Eczema can be food allergy.....have you looked into that area of things? My nephew has eczema & when my sister gives him Omega 3 which comes in the form of DHA for kids (you can find it at Sunflower) it clears it up.... just a few thoughts. :)

M.,

Eczema is caused by allergies. I am sure by seeing that you had 31 responses already that someone else probably mentioned that. See www.naet.com for a way to safely and non-invasively ELIMINATE allergies!

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Good luck!
L.

We also have the eczema problem in our family until my kids get to be about 6 or 7 months old. We always would use a 50/50 mix of a unsented very mosterizing lotion and just regular hydrocordizone. It has worked for both my kids, I hope that helps.
J.

You could try Hydrocortisone cream while you wait for the derm appointment. My son had eczema on his cheeks, legs, and upper arms when he was 6-13 months, though not as severe as what you're describing. My pediatrician said it was safe to use it for short periods of time-- long-term use can cause the skin to thin out. I would try the 1% over the counter creme and see if it helps. Aveeno oatmeal baths seemed to help. It's a packet you mix into the bath water that soothes the skin and will help to dry up the oozing. Also try using soap only on his hair rather than soaping his whole body. Burt's Bees baby wash and Aveeno baby wash are gentle. After bathing, apply a liberal amount of a gentle lotion like Aveeno, Eucerin, or Cetaphil. I hope this helps!

Hi M.,

Have you looked at food allergies? Or had your son see a naturopathic doctor? Try www.lifesculpting.biz or www.naturopathic.org. to find a naturopath in your area.

Something your Dr might not tell you is that eczema is usually a food allergy. It could be wheat, dairy or sugars. Just something to watch out for!
E.

My son has had the same problem since he was a baby - he is now 7. I was strongly against the creams after hearing about so many negative side effects, so we tried all the different soaps and lotions and such formulated for eczema. Nothing worked. We'd just put some anti-itch eczema cream from Aveeno on when it was intolerable, which did ease the itching, but did nothing for the rash itself. Well last month our middle son was diagnosed with autism, and we immediately started a gluten and dairy free diet. Not only did it intensely help with the autism, my 7 year old has had amazingly smooth skin. Like I've never felt on him ever before. One day he bought his lunch (waffles) and he was itchy all night. I am sure this diet is what's working for him. It's hard to get used to, for sure, and the taste of rice flour is certainly an acquired one, but it really is amazing.

M. I sell a product called Arbonne. Have you heard of it. It is an all natural based product with no chemicals my up line had a baby with open wounds all over his body from his eczema and that is how she was introduced to this product. Are Baby line is so safe your child could eat it if they wanted too, but after 3 days that my up line used it her son's wounds were healing and after two weeks they were gone. Keep in mind she had been all over the US to see specialist that could not help her child and that is when her mothers friend introduced to this product. She had to start selling it to help others. I love the skin care for me and that's why I got into it but, if your interested in this email me and I will get you all the information about this product and show pictures on how it has helped others. Also the total cost for the Baby line which I recommend to my clients with Eczema is gonna run you about $96.00 (that is with tax and shipping) the set includes a body wash/shampoo,lotion,body oil,diaper rash cream,sunscreen and a cream for moms that rejuvenates the skin. Let me know if you would like more info. Thanks T.

I'm not sure what wash you use for your kids, but one that you might want to try is Natures Baby Organics, that lady who came up with this product did so because their was nothing else that would work for her children's sensitive skin, they had eczema as well. I buy mine from Diapers.com, where i also get all my diapers, because they are cheaper plus free shipping.

Hi M.
My son also has eczema and has seen a dermatologist. We use Vanicream as a moisturizer everyday, which really decreases the amount of breakouts he gets. You can buy it at some Walmart pharmacies-It's not prescription, but they keep it behind the pharmacy counter-call and ask if they have it before you go-You can also find it cheaper online at drugstore.com The dermatologist also gave him a prescription cream to use with breakouts and it really seems to clear it up quickly. Too bad you can't get him in sooner-I wonder if your pediatrician would write you a script for a steroid cream to at least clear up his elbows (it can't be used on the face) until you meet with the dermotologist...Good Luck!
B.

I'm sure a lot of mamas have mentioned this, but it could be a dairy sensitivity. My son had the same thing until I eliminated dairy from my diet. I was a cheese-aholic and drank a lot of milk, so this was really daunting. However, I just cut it out cold turkey and it ended up being easier than I thought. My son's eczema cleared as did the relatively minor gastrointestinal issues he was experiencing. My advice would be to eliminate dairy for 2 weeks and see if it improves. If it does, great. If not, it might be another food sensitivity. I also recommend checking out the foodlab group on yahoo. Lots of good advice for food and other sensitivities/allergies.

I would use hydrocortisone cream with caution as it really thins the skin. Aquaphor is a good option (I think it is basically fancy vaseline, but my physician sister swears by it for her daughter's eczema).

Good luck!

Hi M.,

You will hear this alot from Mamasource moms: using Melaleuca products helps a great deal in solving skin and allergy issues. They have non toxic laundry deteregent, soaps and shampoos, most famililes with Eczema notice an improvement in 3 days of changing over. The rashes kids have as babies are often in response to household chemicals. Contact me if you need more information: www.livetotalwellnes.com/arizona
--C. Willis