Eczema and humidifier?

[rafiki]

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[NanceXToo]

I haven't but I'll keep an eye on this thread since my 9 y/o daughter has had eczema since she was a toddler.

 

In her case, she gets it the worst over the winter. The rest of the year, it isn't nearly as bad. We use medicated cream when she has flare ups, and I try to keep her diligent about putting on lotion in between.

 

This past winter was the absolute worst she ever had it. And it used to only be in small patches on the insides of her elbows and by her wrists, but this year those patches got bigger and the areas spread to behind her knees, and a little on her back and even under her eyes. I felt awful for her.

 

She's seen her pediatrician and a dermatologist. I wondered if I should try taking her to an allergist but then figured if it was allergy related, she'd have it year round, not just in winter. The dermatologist gave us prescriptions but said that the key is keeping lotion on it every single day, even when there are no symptoms, and using the cream as needed. I'm hoping this winter won't end up being as bad as last winter was, because it was awful!

[easygoer]

I'm a humidifier junky, they ease symptoms of a medical condition of mine.

 

To start:

 

Get a humidity gauge and use it in the room. You don't want to be guessing, and it's cheap and easy to measure exactly what the relative humidity is in there.

 

You're probably shooting for something over 50% but under 60%. I can't in good faith recommend going over 60 even in the summer because of mold issues. In the winter if it gets cold where you are, you're going to have to carefully watch for any signs of condensation on the windows or walls. I live on the edge and push my humidity to 50% even in the cold months up here in upstate NY, but I have to relent and go lower when it's really really bitter or the water will just drip (again, mold and damage to your house.)

 

As for machines, by far the easiest to keep healthy IMHO is this one (and I've tried more than I'd like to admit.)

 

http://www.essickair.com/index.php/products/humidifiers/humidifier-categories/essick-air-whole-house/821-000

 

It's design is an open-top bucket with a fan on it...so easy to clean (so many have closed tanks with itty bitty access holes impossible to clean well.) You can even reach the fan blades (from inside) to wipe them off.

 

It's extremely quiet on speed one. One of the cons of that machine is that it has only 2 speeds: Extremely Quiet and Airplane Engine, but speed 1 works for me in the space I use it. If I needed more, I'd get a second machine.

 

It's an evaporative type, cool mist so no issues with areasloized minerals or scale. To keep it healthy, the wick and tank must be rinsed weekly and the wick changed depending on the hardness of your water.

 

For the bedroom in winter, I use a steam warm-mist humidifier and like this one very much:

 

http://www.honeywellstore.com/air-quality/humidifiers/HWM-450

 

It's very clean-able, too. I use distilled water in mine which keeps it extremely clean and scale-free, but we have hard water. YMMV. Distilled is so nice in humidifiers if you can stand to use it. For a warm-mist, I rinse it in with some vinegar every 3 days and clean it with diluted bleach every other week or so. If you get hard water scale it could take some scrubbing on the heating element, but vinegar helps a lot.

 

I don't recommend cool ultrasonic humidifiers myself. The EPA has some nice information on all the differences and options here:

 

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/humidif.html

 

Hope it helps him.

[sixpence1978]

I would be hesitant to put a humidifier in a bedroom if there are other allergies present besides the eczema.

 

Too high of humidity levels increases the chance of mold and dust mite allergens...both of which are huge no-nos in my house.

 

To keep DD's eczema under control we use fragrance free everything and CeraVe cream. When those don't work, we will bring out the medicated cream.