Eczema
Hello, there. I’m sorry that I’ve neglected to update this space more. It’s been pretty stressful at our house. Elijah has a terrible bout of Eczema that has him miserable and the rest of us mystified on how we can make him comfortable.
We’ve tried everything from a cream prescribed by the pediatrician to a recommended OTC lotion – both with no relief!
There are dry, flaking, and peeling patches all over his body, including his little tush! He scratches them until they’re raw and bleeding. Several spots of skin on his legs are gone!
His scalp is riddled with bloody sores. We’ve cut his fingernail really short, and coaxed him into wearing a hat in hopes that he won’t scratch as much. I know this isn’t a realistic deterrent.
Does anyone know of any remedies for Eczema that really work? I must admit, the inability to “fix this” saddens me.
Did you ever try Arbonne’s baby line? Products are all natural with no mineral oil. Feel free to contact me if you would like more information.
Aww, sorry that his is suffering so badly. My son suffered from Eczema pretty bad about a year ago. He was scratching himself raw as well. Another mother that I met at the pharmacy while filling an Rx suggested Aveeno Oatmeal soothing bath treatments, followed by using the Aveeno ezcema therapy cream. Did that for about 2 weeks and it worked like a charm. I still do it every Sunday night. He hasn’t had a flare up since. Good luck!
MrsTDJ´s last [type] ..The Danger of Imaginary Friends
Stesha Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 10:10 am
@MrsTDJ, Thanks! I’ve walked right past the Aveeno Oatmeal soothing treatments several times. I even meantioned to my husband that we should try some. *forehead slap*
Ugh! I know the feeling. I have eczema myself and it can get down right ugly. So far, mine has been under control with over the counter Cortaid. I think MrsTDJ has a great solution too. Best of luck. I know it sucks!
Cam – Bibs & Baubles´s last [type] ..Things I Can’t Say
I’ve never had eczema, but I did have an allergic reaction to laundry detergent. I had to go to the doctor who gave me pills to control the itch. It helped so much!!!!
blueviolet´s last [type] ..Quick Washer and Dryer Maintenance Tips #WhirlpoolMoms
I’ve heard that wheat and dairy allergies can cause eczema. You may want to try and eliminate each one separately for a week or two and see if it gets better. Good luck.
Holly Hanna´s last [type] ..Focus on the End Result
Stesha Reply:
October 25th, 2011 at 9:08 pm
@Holly Hanna, Ah, thanks Holly. I’ll focus on removing dairy first.
I don’t have any personal experience, but in recent months I’ve been studying about diet and health (almost everything I thought I knew was wrong!), and I have heard repeatedly that dietary changes can help with eczema. Look into the Paleo or Primal diets (eliminate wheat/grains, possibly dairy, seed oils (canola, corn, etc.) use healthy fats, animal fats, butter, coconut oil), just yesterday, I saw someone say that their eczema cleared up after giving up eggs.
Good luck!!
Kelly´s last [type] ..What a Cutie!
Madelyn had the exact same problem. We tried EVERYTHING. Aveeno did nothing for her. We tried every cream lotion and potion on that market. It got so bad she was bleeding.
Ends up a combination of things worked for us.
First, give him a lukewarm bath with a TON of Sea Salt dissolved in it. Do not bathe him daily, every other day is the most you want to bathe him and use the Salt Water every time. Also, no soap, wash him with Cedaphil body wash. As soon as he gets out of the tub, use Cedaphil lotion. (I have a TON of the body wash if you want to swing by with a container, I’ll fill it up to try before you buy. The crap is expensive!!)
We also used steroid cream and antibacterial cream that her Doctor prescribed. We used them both sparingly. Go check out the pictures of her on my Facebook page, you will see just how bad it got. It is horrible!
Also, Madelyn is lactose intolerant. We removed milk (which is so hard to do to a newborn) when she was 5 months old and the eczema got worse before it got better.
Good luck! Call me any time!
@ Stesha:
i was going to suggest the Aveeno oatmeal products…they work wonders! be sure to search online for some printable coupons. i hope the baby is feeling better.//he’s such a cutie pie!
Donna L. Johnson´s last [type] ..October is The Devil
Jayden is most sensitive to dairy, so we removed it from his diet. We’re using the soak and seal method and he is doing so well! He used to be shades and shades darker with rough patches everywhere, for serious. We also have been using more lotions and a cocoa butter mixture. Try St. Ives Intensive Healing and Curel Itch Defense. The cocoa butter mixture is raw cocoa butter, tea tree oil, and olive oil. Tara @youngmommylife told me about this concoction, lol.
Oh here’s some info on soak and seal – http://www.megabloks.com/familyclub/sheenatatum/atopic-eczema-care/
Get better Eli!
Sheena´s last [type] ..Small Style: Every Boy Wants To Be A Superhero
Stesha Reply:
November 2nd, 2011 at 9:32 pm
@Sheena, I feel like a chemist at times. We’re mixing up different batches of lotions and creams to determine what works best. Thanks for the link. I appreciate all the help and suggestions:)
Definitely try eliminating things from the diet one by one. Stuff like dairy, chocolate and highly acidic foods are the usual culprits. My son has eczema and it was at its worst when he was only a baby. His pediatritian recommended a few different things that ended up working wonders:
1. If you give him a tub bath, run the water a bit hotter than you normally would, and then allow it to cool to a “bathable” temp. During the time that it is cooling, some of the chlorine that is found in the tap water of many cities has a chance to evaporate. Maybe not completely, but every little bit helps.
2. Wash with a very mild soap. Ivory was drying in my experience, but Dove bar soap for sensitive skin was amazing.
3. When you get him out of the tub, pat him dry with the towel (as opposed to rubbing) and immediately slather him with Vaseline. This stuff worked so much better for me than any of the more expensive stuff, like Eucerine. Although for intense outbreaks, I did use hydrocortisone cream. Followed by Vaseline.
Once I implemented the suggested regimen, I saw results in less than a week. I hope he gets relief soon. It’s no fun seeing your child suffer.
Bohemian Hijabi´s last [type] ..Making it Work
Stesha Reply:
November 2nd, 2011 at 9:37 pm
@Bohemian Hijabi, Ivory is very drying on his skin. This week I’ve mixed Vaseline with aveeno lotion which I apply immediately after his bath. His skin is looking better. I hope we’re on the right path. Thanks for providing tips. I really appreciate everyone helping me with this.
My three year old has terrible eczema, I give him oatmeal baths and it seems to soothe the itchies! Take a cup of plain dry oatmeal powdered in a blender or coffee grinder and pour it in a warm bath…not too warm because that makes eczema worse. Try it, and let me know how it works for him!
Tabitha´s last [type] ..Confessions of A Fashionista Turned Frumpanista
It took me two years to figure out what was triggering my daughter’s eczema (which she had since about 2 months old). Turns out diet was a big part of it (maybe all of it). If she eats a trigger food, her eczema becomes redder that same day, and gets better over the next few to several days. I had read that food sensitivities could trigger it (including through breastmilk), but I wondered how I could possibly make a connection with food and symptoms when she ALWAYS had it – each patch took months to go away, and by then there were new patches. Eventually I realized that even if it was always present, some days it was redder than at other times, and there were periods of months when it would be much worse. For example, when she was around 18 months, it had entirely cleared up. This happened to correspond to a period of months when her dad was away from home. Soon after he came back, so did the eczema, and it gradually got worse and worse. One thing that changed is that we ate a lot more potatos when my husband was home. On a hunch I cut these from her diet, and voila, the eczema slowly started to fade and the itching stopped. A few weeks later I mistakenly gave her something containing potato, and that night she was itchy again. A few trials with onion rings (cooked in same oil as french fries at a fast food restaurant) gave the same results – more redness that day, which faded over the following few days. Similar experience with chocolate, when we were eating chocolate birthday cake over several days. It’s virtually gone now, though it’s only been less than a week since her last exposure to a problem food. This doesn’t mean that your child will respond to the same foods as mine, any more than all people with typical allergies will react to exactly the same foods. But it is well worth considering the possibility that eliminating one or more foods could help. From what I’ve read, the most allergenic foods are often the triggers (dairy, wheat, nuts, soy, etc), along with potato and chocolate. It’s not an easy reaction to recognize because the symptoms are not immediate like in a typical allergy (where hives or wheezing or whatever occurs within minutes usually). At one point I considered doing a few foods diet, where she would eat only a handful of the least allergenic foods for a week or two, then add in other foods one at a time, with a 3 day trial period for each, and see which foods worsened the eczema. This is not a fun thing to do (I’ve done it myself), but worth it in my opinion if you can’t figure it out any other way. You really should consult a nutritionist before attempting this on your own. .. I suspect that many dermatologists would be ignorant of food as a trigger, and want to prescribe creams instead. Note that creams and lotions etc. only treat the symptoms and not the cause. We use Glaxal Base to keep the skin moisturized, but it certainly is no cure.