Eczema- home treatment recommendations, please

[East Coast Sue]

My ds3 has eczema on his elbows and behind his knees. We use aquaphor, try to keep him hydrated, and he sleeps with a new cool mist humidifier by his bed. What else might I try? He is constantly annoyed by the itching- especially at nighttime. Would benedryl or zyrtec help? Any other topical remedies which don't require a prescription?

 

Thank you for your help!

Sue

[Tammyla]

Cotton, cotton, cotton and no inks, dyes or perfume detergent. Make sure your soap is the same (Dove Sensitive skin and All Free and Clear is what we use, no softener.) Warm not hot baths and use soap very sparingly. Lots of jammies are blends and treated making them very itchy to sensitive skin.

 

Poor kiddo, Benadryl will help a bit.

[KatieJ]

Do you do daily baths? My oldest Grandson had horrible Eczema due to some really iintense food allergies. His diet needed to be addressed. Bathtime was nightly for 20 mins..in tepid water. No Soap. Pat off the water, don't rub. Then apply moisturizing lotion all over. I made all his jammies..100 percent cotton. In the winter they layered his jammies...Grandma ones first and then a blanket sleeper over that so only the cotton touched his skin.

 

I am trying to remember the name of the lotion they used on him...but I can't. They bought it at the pharmacy counter, but it is not a prescription. It is in a huge blue tub. If you want it, let me know and I will call my daughter and ask her.

 

they also had him on a regimen of natural oils daily. (Again I can ask her if you want to try that.) He did take a Rx for the itching for a while until they got it under control with his diet. BTW..broccoli is really good for his skin. Now they can tell when he is breaking out ffrom something and she feeds him broccoli for a couple of days to help heal it.

 

Protopic is another cream they use when necessary but I don't know if it is an RX or not..I don't think so.

 

Clorine makes it worse..as in swimming pools. Be sure you are using an allegery free detergent.

 

HTH

[Mothering7]

The only thing that helps my 18m ds is hydrocortisone cream. It even clears it up.

 

Our doctor said that as long as it is lower than 2.5% it can be used regularly, up to 3x per day. We use 0.5% and only use it as necessary and sparingly, since it contains a steroid.

 

I also second the recommendation for all-cotton clothing. Ds had a pair of synthetic pjs. When he wore them he sweated more and scratched more.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Our pediatric allergist says the best prevention is moisturizer, moisturizer, moisturizer. And the best moisturizer around is Crisco - yes what you use for baking. It works well for 13yo ds when he uses it nightly. He's got it on the top of his feet. He puts on Crisco, then socks, and goes to bed.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, Benadryl helped my Dad, but not me. I agree with what the others have said regarding cotton, etc.

 

I don't bath my youngest daily or he'd be one big eczema blob. Fish oil capsules (they make some much smaller ones now) and lots of olive oil in the diet might help, but might also create other concerns over time in the area of bowel movements.

 

One of the things that's helped my problems the most is bathing on a regular basis in Dead Sea salts (not the same minerals as Epsom or table salts). About 20 minutes, twice a week should help, but in winter you'd still need to follow with a lotion. Wal-mart sells them in their spa section with other bath and body products. $4.67 for a large plastic jug of them.

 

I've also gone over to using natural soaps, such as goats milk. My Wal-mart has also started carrying some Tom's of Maine natural soap and other products, so you might be able to find natural soap there, too, if you don't have a natural food store in your area.

 

I use no Clorox in my washer. No dryer sheets. Both can be sources of skin irritation. If you've used those dryer sheets in past, it can take months and months to work the chemical particles out of the dryer and your wardrobes completely (per an old gynecologist and dermatologist of mine).

 

I can only use a certain detergent or our skins crawl. I've gone to using a natural, hydrogen peroxide based bleaching product.

 

Cotton, cotton, cotton, as the others said. The more white next to the skin, the better. If you could find unbleached cotton, that would also be great. I'd like to find a local source of this, myself, LOL....

 

Water, water, water. The more hydration, the better, although with little guys you do want to err away from water intoxication, so I'd check with my doctor to see what amount is recommended for his age/size.

 

That's all I can think of right now. Good luck to you,

[BMW]

Great ideas so far. What I will add is that our allergist said that children itch more during the night because that is when the liver detoxes... and toxins excape through the pores of the skin. So, we used Bendaryl and sometimes Zyrtec at bedtime when flare ups were worse. These little ones need rest, too!! And, mine drink lots and lots of good water. No sodas or dyes in foods. As much fresh as possible. Hope you get some relief, soon. Eczema is one of those hard things that you just can't "fix" at times and I felt so helpless... but it can get better.

[klmama]

Have you seen this video from Dr. Mercola? He mentions several home remedies you might find useful.

 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/30/fend-off-psoriasis-and-eczema-with-simple-inexpensive-remedies.aspx

[Tammyla]

I know I mentioned cotton;), but cotton jammies, sheets, towels and clothing washed in sensitive det. go a long way towards getting sleep.

[Ellie]

You could try using one of Jordan Essentials' lotion bars. They are amazing.

[sjp]

avoid hot soapy baths or long showers which dry the skin.

 

if he takes a bath with soap rinse with clear water to get the soap off

 

figure out if he has any food allergies. in our case it is definitely food related. citrus and dairy are big triggers for us. try to avoid the foods you see as problems

 

l'occitane 20% shea butter handcream is very effective all over. costco has carried it off and on. otherwise you can get it at a mall location perhaps.

 

if that doesn't fix it completely we use otc hydrocortisone sparingly.

[3lilreds in NC]

We use hydrocortisone cream, and also Renew lotion by Melaleuca. That stuff is AMAZING. The doctor told us to use Eucerin, and I have a huge tub and I do put it on the baby, but I think Renew is better.

[AuntieM]

That in addition to what all the others have said about cotton, moisture, Dove Sensitive soap, All Free and Clear, antihistamines at night... you've gotten lots of good advice already.

 

Dust mites can be an allergy trigger. Be sure that bedding is washed regularly in water that exceeds 120F. That includes comforters and stuffed loveys. Pillow and mattress - in our case even the box springs - were covered in allergy-preventative cases. Bed frames and under bed dusted regularly.

 

At one point we used those sheets made out of cotton jersey, similiar to t-shirt material. They are a bit sloppy on the bed, but comfy.

 

Maybe not a bath every night, but my allergic kids had to have a hair wash every night that they spent any time outside. A short hair cut helps.

 

If you figure out his triggers, that will help a lot, so do experiment with what foods may cause it. Also, some with eczema are sensitive to lanolin, some are not. I understand that Aquaphor has a trace amount of purified lanolin, which is not supposed to be bothersome, but as a test you may want to switch to straight petroleum jelly for a couple of days and see if that makes a difference.

 

Hope this helps! It is tough to watch our little people suffer with eczema.

Edited December 31, 2008 by AuntieM

[LaxMom]

High GLA oils (like evening primrose, borage, flax) help tremendously with eczema. I'm not sure if they come in liquid options, but you can certainly pierce a soft gel and squirt it into his food or juice. (Cool food - heat damages these oils) The flavor difference should be minimal at most.

 

Definitely avoid excess bathing. There is really no reason that a kid, in the middle of winter, should be dirty enough to warrant a bath daily (or an adult who is not engaged in heavy manual labor, for that matter). That's way drying and is always good for triggering eczema on me. I also find that my eczema (at the nape of my neck) all but clears when I use baking soda paste with an apple cider vinegar rinse (and final, chamomile rinse) instead of shampoo.

 

Mine seems to be triggered quite readily by chemicals, not just fragrance and dyes, though. As they say, your mileage may vary.

[KatieJ]

I understand this daily bathing is a contraversial issue. My Mom was told to only give my younger sister a bath every week or two!

My daughter struggled with contrary advice from her pediatrician, allergist and dermatologist..no one could agree on course of treatment. She finally found a nutritionist thru her chiropracter who was schooled in natural healings and allegies. That woman had a son going thru the exact same thing at the exact same time. She was the only one who gave my DD advice and help that worked. So my DD opted for the daily soaking and it helped. She rarely used soap on him as it was an irritant, even tho she used very mild soap. She continues them now even tho his ezcema is under control and notices the patches behind his knees and such act up when he misses a day or two.

 

Here is a link I found. Notice it says avoid hot showers, saunas, etc..but recommends a daily soak in tepid water. That would be the difference, hot water vs. tepid.

 

http://www.pharmavita.org/eczema/living-with-eczema.php

 

 

Free advice is worth what you pay for it. Give everything a try and figure out what works for your son. I wish you the best.

[FO4UR]

All males in my family have severe eczema. Here are the things we do:

 

Emergency routine: (this is what we do with a BAD flare-up)

 

1) tepid bath/shower (and the frequency changes from season to season and person to person. Dh CANNOT go without a daily shower:ack2:, while ds5 and ds2 CANNOT handle daily baths in the winter, but can in the summer.....it's all variable.)

 

2) Pat dry, leaving a bit of moisture on the skin....and IMMEDIATELY...

 

3) Apply Rx steroid cream to ONLY flared spots. We use elocon.

 

4) Slather entire body with heavy skin cream of choice. Eucerine, Aquaphor, Aveeno, etc. I've even used Coconut oil and grapeseed oil with success. Grapeseed oil can go in the bath water as well;), just be careful not to slip in the tub.

 

Maintenance Routine:

 

See steps 1, 2, and 4 above.

 

On the days you don't bathe, apply a wet rag to dry spots - don't rub, just let it soak in for a minute. Then apply cream liberally.

 

 

Other thoughts:

 

ALLERGIES!!!! Eczema can be caused by allergies from foods or just something that your skin somes into contact. (My dh is allergic to wool, for example.) I suggest trying an elimination diet to see if it's a food allergy thing, and wearing only cotton. All F&C is OK, but it still contains optical brighteners. I like Charlie's Soap. When I use Purex or ALL F&C I rinse 2x.

 

Animal danders are notorious allergens as well. (another one of my dh's allergies:001_rolleyes: - If you ever want to see his skin turn RED before your eyes, just put him in a room with cats.)

 

Oh, and heat can trigger outbreaks. So, be sure to take off heavy winter coats inside quickly.

 

And (LOL), keep nails trimmed.

 

hth

[stripe]

I use liquid bath stuff for my kids that is soap free, and I use VERY sparingly (or don't use soap at all). I take a drop, add in a bit of water, and lather it -- I don't use it straight out of the bottle or in large amounts. I don't let them sit in hot water for a long time. I have used a lotion from Shikai that seems to help, maybe, and I otherwise moisturize well. I go by the adage, an ounce of of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or however that goes. I also have a prescription from the pediatrician that I turn to when rashes come.

 

When my son was very young, his skin got awful and he couldn't sleep at night because of the itching, and I did use (per pediatrician's advice) Benadryl, which works in part because it makes people sleepy.

[mom2mea]

Omega 3/DHA supplements from Nordic Naturals keep my ds4's skin soft and smooth. Also foods with Omega 3s like avocados and wild caught salmon.

[mazakaal]

I haven't read all the replies so someone may have mentioned this. But goat's milk and washer balls worked for us.

 

My dd had eczema and moisturizers didn't help. Finally the dr prescribed hydrocortizone, but I didn't like using it too much. A friend mentioned that she could be allergic to cow's milk. We switched to goat's milk and it helped a lot. A few months ago a friend told me about washer balls that are a lot more gentle than detergent. It took about a month of using them before I saw improvement, but the eczema is almost completely gone now.

 

This is a link to what I use. You can probably find something similar in the US.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/wash-it-laundry-ball/F/C/washing-laundry/C/washing-laundry-washing-laundry-detergents/product/5718

[lmrich]

We used vitamin E along with everything else mentioned here. We opened up a capsule and smeared a little bit on. No idea if it helped, but we always giggled trying to pop the little pill.

[Scuff]

DD4 has excema. I didn't want to use the perscription she got because it had SLS in it and other things we try to avoid. (I already knew she and I had sensitive skin) I finally found that Burt's Bees Hand Salve works wonders. Clears her skin right up. And because of my/her sensitive skin, I had already been using all natural in everything else. (All F&C still had me breaking out. ECOS and Melaluca are the only things I've tried that don't give me trouble.)

[Aggie]

Our ds had severe eczema for the first 5 years of his little life. I won't bore you with the 'remedies' prescribed by physicians of all sorts. :glare:

 

Finally, I put him on a strict elimination diet. All he could eat was meat, veggies and fruit (except citrus), and rice products. In 2 weeks his skin was completely clear.

 

Now he's on a very loose rotation diet. One week he can have some citrus, the next week he can have eggs, week 3 he can have a bit of gluten, etc. The theory is that it could be the build-up of certain foods in his body that make his skin break out.

 

Gluten seems to cause flare-ups now, so we took him off that for a while.

 

Oh, try olive oil as a lotion. It's expensive, but all natural. :001_smile:

[BabyBre]

You're describing my little guy! Aveeno oatmeal baths once or twice a week (no more) have helped him in the past, followed by a healthy dose of a thick, greasy body cream, like Cetaphil. Then quickly put on cotton jammies with long sleeves and long pants and socks so he doesn't get it all over your house.

 

Dr. prescribed Zyrtec, in part, to help with his itching, but he also gets an occassional dose of Benadryl. As far as topical prescriptions, Elidel worked the best but it's not recommended for prolonged use on young children. Our next most successful is Triamcinilone ointment. It's a mild steroid.

 

Ointments are much better than creams.

[Quad Shot Academy]

I didn't read all the responses, so sorry if this is more of the same.

 

My youngest had just about the most severe kind of eczema there is. I put off giving him Zyrtec because I didn't want him on a daily, oral medicine. I tried to treat it with prescription, topical steroids for months. The ped. derm at Children's Hospital told me it would never go away if we did not control the itch by giving Zyrtec. He said a new study finally proves that the itch causes the rash and not the other way around. I finally gave in and gave him Zyrtec every day for months. It is a miracle cure as far as I am concerned. He is not on topical prescription anything now and i only give Zyrtec when he is starting to get a flare up, a few times a month.

[amyco]

I also have children with eczema...here is what our doctor recommended: omega 3 fish oil supplements (we use coromega, no fishy burps, tastes like orange). Bath/shower in as cool of water the child can stand, and not every day. Moisturize with a nice thick lotion like eucerin within minutes of getting out of the bath. He recommended a mild bar soap, not a gel or liquid as they actually have more soap in contact with the skin than a bar. Then hydrocortisone on the spots, sparingly. We use a prescription and it's pretty much just super strength hydrocortisone.

 

I think the trick is to be religious about the moisturizing...sometimes we lapse even a day or two and it flares up again. Crazy.

 

Amy in Colorado

[Peela]

Although it appears on the skin, it is not actually caused by anything external...it is an internal condition that expresses through the skin. It is a tendency some constitutions have. Fish oils, a healthy diet, keep away from junk foods and artificial stuff and too much sugar. My daughter only gets eczema when she eats sugar or oranges. It is very diet related. For some kids, its dairy, others-wheat, others- dyes and preservatives. You need to find out the triggers, and support the liver. Drink lots of water rather than juice or too much milk.

[MicheleinMN]

We found that chlorine in water helped ds's eczema. We went on vacation and the pool was super chlorinated....his skin got better. We were shocked. None of the lotions ever helped him. (He's allergeric to coconut - which is present in many lotions.) (It's like his body reacts in reverse to the stripping/drying action of the bleach water. My hands get dry and cracked, and his skin gets smoother and softer. Strange, but true.)

 

Now when he is having a flare, we put a bit of Clorox bleach in his bath water. Then he uses an olive oil and beeswax cream. (It was originally a n*pple cream for nursing moms, but they changed the formula, so now we make our own.) And last, but not least, we use the birdseye weave cloth diapers (100% cotton) cut into strips to wrap the elbows/knees or other flared area.

 

Benadryl does help him if he's having an especially bad night. The good news is that ds is now 10 and MUCH improved from where he was at age 2 or 3.

 

HTH

[Mommyof4ks]

Once we finally pin pointed our son's triggers (food dyes and polyester) he got much better, but before that we used lots of lotion.

 

This is going to sound crazy, but it works. Put a 'glob' of lotion on the spot and cover it with duct tape over night for a couple of days. We had a derm. that was rather anti-meds, and he told us this when our son was 18 months old. We did this for several skin issues that he had, and they cleared up while we tried to find the triggers.

 

Good luck!