help with eczema!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3 year old has eczema. It fluctuates throughout the year, and has never really been a problem... until now.

His poor little hands are so raw and bumpy, and they hurt him.

We're trying to keep his hands as dry as possible (nearly impossible with a grubby, active 3 year old whose favorite play toy is mud!)
We have some cream that has worked in the past, but its not working (or not working enough) anymore.

I really hate to go the route of steriod-based creams (although I may have to).

Does anyone have recommendations for safe OTC lotions/creams that have worked for their kids? Any other tips?

We recently started using Emu and Jojoba oils and they seems to really help. It's only been a couple of weeks but we're hoping using these oils a few times a day-- along with getting rid of artificial sweeteners in her diet and curbing her dairy in-take, her eczema will improve. We also use Aveeno cream...not lotion, which also works. When the itching is so bad due to a flare up, we put a little calamine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 3 year old has eczema. It fluctuates throughout the year, and has never really been a problem... until now.

His poor little hands are so raw and bumpy, and they hurt him.

We're trying to keep his hands as dry as possible (nearly impossible with a grubby, active 3 year old whose favorite play toy is mud!)
We have some cream that has worked in the past, but its not working (or not working enough) anymore.

I really hate to go the route of steriod-based creams (although I may have to).

Does anyone have recommendations for safe OTC lotions/creams that have worked for their kids? Any other tips?

We recently started using Emu and Jojoba oils and they seems to really help. It's only been a couple of weeks but we're hoping using these oils a few times a day-- along with getting rid of artificial sweeteners in her diet and curbing her dairy in-take, her eczema will improve. We also use Aveeno cream...not lotion, which also works. When the itching is so bad due to a flare up, we put a little calamine.

Any more dietery ideas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this was a really old thread but trying to figure out what is causing my son's eczema. I think it is food related but it is really hard to pinpoint the cause. I thought eggs and dairy but cupcakes and treats at school and etc.. have dairy and/or eggs and since he doesn't have a full blown allergy to them it is hard to figure out what is causing it. Anyone else figure it out?

We thought food was causing our eczema but it was just the weather. Our eczema goes away in the summer and resurfaces in October. Even with the humidifier, lotions (vanicream which works wonders), dreft and watching his skin, DS still only get the spots and dry skin in the winter.

Do you have a pet? Our allergist told us that for some reason cat dander is less reactive in warm weather; but once you turn on the heat in the house, it bothers more people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this was a really old thread but trying to figure out what is causing my son's eczema. I think it is food related but it is really hard to pinpoint the cause. I thought eggs and dairy but cupcakes and treats at school and etc.. have dairy and/or eggs and since he doesn't have a full blown allergy to them it is hard to figure out what is causing it. Anyone else figure it out?

I thought my daughter's eczema was caused by a milk allergy. Before eliminating it, I took her for allergy testing (just under age 2). Turns out her allergy isn't to milk but to eggs and all nuts. She wasn't eating nuts so it was the eggs that were making her break out. Two days with no eggs and her skin was almost clear. She has since outgrown the egg allergy but will break when she touchs nuts (don't want to know how bad it would be if she ate one!) Also, she breaks out if she gets over-heated in the car seat or in someone's home that isn't air conditioned (over 90 degrees). This summer she is swimming a lot and the clorine is making her break out a bit.

The obvious helpful things we did: oatmeal baths, lotions, cortisone ointment on the worst spots.

My sister has eczema on her hands because she is so sensitive to soaps and cleaning solutions and unknown other things that she touches. What helps her is

- lathering her hands with aquafor or Eucerin and wearing cotton gloves to sleep,
- taking Borage Oil (not plain old fish oil because Borage Oil has more GLA). For an adult, the dose is 1/4 tsp a day so it would be very little for a child.
- combining helpful oils into her own lotion: unrefined shea butter, coconut oil, evening primrose oil, emu oil, jojoba oil and hemp seed oil

Some people swear by dringking raw milk instead of pasterized cow's milk. But everyone who has told me that it helps eczema hasn't actually experienced it. They just love drinking raw milk and pass on this advice.

[Anonymous]

We started using Vanicream on our child, and I like it - no fragrance. You can buy it on Diapers.com. Not sure if it is any better than Cetaphil cream, though, which we bought at Costco.