My kid ended up having egg allergies. Within DAYS of stopping eggs the skin cleared up for the first time in several months.

Even if it doesn't come up in tests you could try eliminating eggs, peanuts, etc.

This has been very helpful as well - along with Vanicream ointment.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N0O0TV7/

If you aren’t close to a pediatric dermatologist, a regular one will suffice. We saw a very experienced older dermatologist who prescribed steroid creams for our toddler with terrible eczema. He had about 30 years of experience and reassured us about safely using steroids on the face. We found that it was way more effective and steroid sparing to be proactive with the steroid cream. We would treat until the eczema was completely gone, and then if we saw any small sign of a flare up, use a milder strength right away to avoid the flare up. That way, we were using the mildest strength only every few days rather than trying to put out a fire all the time. Good luck. We also cut out dairy and soy, but not sure it was that effective.

My kid is 14 now and has not had a flare of eczema since he was 7 or 8, and has an unrestricted diet. This will get better, OP!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We solved it by just going to a dermatologist. We didn't eliminate any food. True eczema can increase the chance of getting allergies, but it isn't caused by allergies. Our pediatrician had us trying so many different products and elimination diets from 6 months to 2 years old. It was always confusing and never matched up with her flareups.

We saw a real dermatologist who recommended 3 levels of care and it hasn't been an issue ever since. Basically, there's daily creams/meds and then there's a higher level you use for a few days if there's a flare up. If that doesn't work then there's an even stronger level that you use as a semi-last resort. The doctor also gave us lots of general tips that our pediatrician didn't know about. He also told us the blood allergy tests aren't always accurate.

This -- but specifically a PEDIATRIC dermatologist. An ordinary dermatologist is fine after age 12 or so, but for serious eczema at a younger age, the pediatric dermatologists are more succcessful at finding a treatment which works.

Unfortunately we just moved to a smaller town and the closest pediatric dermatologist is four hours away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:mine ended up with food allergies. was a game changer. go to an allergist

Washington the allergy to something unusual? We've done the standard food panel.

her eczema started around 6 weeks and got worse - there was a cream that cleared it but it kept coming back. When she started solids at 5 months it flared really badly.
ended up having dairy, egg and peanut allergies. We've cut those out and her skin has completely cleared.

If eczema appears as a baby there is often a food protein at play. OP, you can be negative on a food allergy test but still have an allergy. This fun fact is not well explained by doctors. Google “non IGE allergy” and you will see that they can’t be tested for and they frequently cause eczema. Allergists don’t typically understand these as well since they are GI mediated. They test for IGE allergies only.

So is elimination diet the only way to determine the trigger if it's non IGE?

Anonymous wrote:We solved it by just going to a dermatologist. We didn't eliminate any food. True eczema can increase the chance of getting allergies, but it isn't caused by allergies. Our pediatrician had us trying so many different products and elimination diets from 6 months to 2 years old. It was always confusing and never matched up with her flareups.

We saw a real dermatologist who recommended 3 levels of care and it hasn't been an issue ever since. Basically, there's daily creams/meds and then there's a higher level you use for a few days if there's a flare up. If that doesn't work then there's an even stronger level that you use as a semi-last resort. The doctor also gave us lots of general tips that our pediatrician didn't know about. He also told us the blood allergy tests aren't always accurate.

This -- but specifically a PEDIATRIC dermatologist. An ordinary dermatologist is fine after age 12 or so, but for serious eczema at a younger age, the pediatric dermatologists are more succcessful at finding a treatment which works.

Here’s a great article about when it actually makes sense to change the diet for eczema. I’ve noticed that the food link is always automatically pushed these days.

https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/fast-facts/eczema-and-food-allergy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:mine ended up with food allergies. was a game changer. go to an allergist

Washington the allergy to something unusual? We've done the standard food panel.

her eczema started around 6 weeks and got worse - there was a cream that cleared it but it kept coming back. When she started solids at 5 months it flared really badly.
ended up having dairy, egg and peanut allergies. We've cut those out and her skin has completely cleared.

If eczema appears as a baby there is often a food protein at play. OP, you can be negative on a food allergy test but still have an allergy. This fun fact is not well explained by doctors. Google “non IGE allergy” and you will see that they can’t be tested for and they frequently cause eczema. Allergists don’t typically understand these as well since they are GI mediated. They test for IGE allergies only.