Ecemeza

[Maria30]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anybody has any advice on treating ecemeza. My 2yr old had a really bad flare up this week and itch is driving him mad.
I ve been bathing him every day, plastering him in silcocks base and giving him liquid Zirteck to ease the itch but its still waking him up at night.
Hes getting warm during the night and then the itching starts. He has himself scraped to bits even though his nails are short. I m at the end of my tether with lack of sleep so any thoughts are welcome. Hes not a great sleeper at the best of times but has been worse this week.

Thanks

[liz]

Hi Maria I know all to well the desperate frustration associated with this my son had it from birth,i suggest you go to the chemist and get some viscopaste bandages they really give relief and protect the skin from infection and give it a chance to heal [im sure they ok for his age], sometimes chemists dont have them in stock so maybe ring around first, vallergan is a lot stronger than zirtack i think you need a perscription though, i also cut out any dairy yogurts milk cheese not practical long term but a day or so might help also one year we got a case of fizzy orange sent to us from granny for christmas it caused his skin havoc took us a while to figure that out.best of luck its very tough on you and him support here if you need it 🙂
ps silcock base always made my sons skin much worse so did lots of baths i only gave one bath a week. a very good alternative is paraffin gel avail in chemist.

[Jedt]

Try to avoid any products with the following ingredients:

Soduim Lauryl Sulphate
Sodium Laureth Sulphate
Propylene Glycol
Check your shampoo, bubble bath, shower gels, baby washes etc.

They are irritants and can upset skin. Skin is a carrier – not a barrier – so anything you put on the skin, will be absorbed, so try to avoid smelly, lathery and colouful products.

Also, be wary of dairy products, they can have an impact for some people too.

And baby wipes often contain nasty chemicals. I use Irish Breeze, Derma H20 wipes. They are more expensive but they are very thick so they last much longer and they are made with 99.5% water, they are brilliant. You can get them in chemists.

Elave have a good range or products as do Burts Bees and are both available in chemists. I use Burts Bees and Neways (they are available online at http://www.neways.co.uk). If you want any recommendations on the ones I use please PM me. I only bath my children 1-2 times a week, too much bathing can make it worse I find.

Also, a handful of oats in the bath can be soothing, they contain a natural milk which can ease eczema too.

I know how awful it can be but once you know what to look out for and avoid it can really help..

Good luck, hope the little mite feels better soon.

[Almae]

agree with all that was said , also dont put talc powder on him , and avoid wool , only cotton should be worn.

hope he is ok soon

[Maria30]

Girls thanks for all the advice. Its great to know we arent the only ones going through this.
I looked Irish health website and that suggested the baths everyday but think you are right as it would strip away any natural oils the body is producing so marking that one off my list now.

I have stopped using bubble bath, shower gels etc on him because of ingredients. I just need to find a shampoo that suits him now. I m not 100% convinced about the Silcocks base either as have been plastering on for the last week and there is no real improvement.

[Muso]

My 5 month old ds has been suffering from this for the last month or so, and it was going from bad to worse. My heart has been broke looking at his poor wee face getting redder and redder- it’s spread to his neck, tummy and to a lesser extent his arms and legs. Nothing was working: bath every day or bath once a week, silcock’s, aqueous, elave, oilatum-I tried it all but the itch was still driving him mad, and every morning I dreaded looking in to the cot to see the state of his cheeks 🙁 Doctor prescribed a steroid cream which after researching I wanted to avoid, but was about to start using this weekend if things still hadn’t improved…

Since yesterday however I have seen a massive improvement 😀 We bought scratch sleeves from http://www.scratchsleeves.co.uk/index.html and after one hour of wearing them he had stopped scratching, after 3 hours I could see that the red patches were beginning to heal. I couldn’t believe it! Even dh noticed (and he never notices anything!) and ds was more content than I’ve seen him in a long while.

I’m continuing to moisturise his face at every feed, and his body at every nappy change with Oilatum- I’d agree to avoid the creams with SLS, but probably any such cream will work. Then put a barrier over this to ensure that the cream doesn’t dry intoo quickly- I;m using Lansinoh, as I have it left over from my early breastfeeding days, but you can also use parafin gel- get it in a big tub (like silcocks) in the chemists.

How are you getting on now?

[Maria30]

Hi Muso,
My son is doing much better now. We brought him to doctors on Tuesday evening. I couldnt take any more scratching and disturbed sleep. I cant even imagine what it was like for my little boy.

Doctor prescribed steriod cream and an anti hiztamean to help him sleep. I also started using paraffin cream instead of silcocks base. Only used the steriod cream once but there was a big improvement the next morning and he is back sleeping too.

Doctor printed off info from patient.co.uk for us to look at. It gave details of creams etc. You should have a look, you might pick up some tips.

I know when my son was younger his ecezma would flare up when he was teething especially on his face and neck.

Hope your son gets better soon.

[Author]

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