I made a doctor's appointment, but I'm wondering how this stuff works.
My husband has horrible skin and he will scratch until he bleeds sometimes. His skin is kind of thick, if that makes any sense. It sounds gross but his skin starts to actually flake. The rash leaves like a cluster of little scars. It's mostly on his back and upper arms. It comes and goes, like flare ups I guess you can say. Our daughter had it too, but it doesn't seem to bother her. In fact, that was when she was a baby hasn't seemed to returned. Her's was a mild case.
I feel so bad for him! I'm thinking what we can do to help it. He can't sit on certain fabrics, and it drives him nuts. When he's having an episode it's like he's going crazy :-(
EDIT: The fabrics make him itch. It doesn't create a rash. I think the rash comes from him scratching.
My son (age 7) has eczema on his hands like that. It's so itchy he goes batty sometimes. We use a steroid cream and heavy lotion on it daily.
I'm hoping the weather change and not washing in soap at school will help - that industrial soap is really hard on his hands.
I have eczema - have my entire life. When I had a flare, I get the itchy rash, and when it subsides the skin in the area flakes off.
So, what do I do? I use hydrocortisone cream on the rash. I swear by Aveeno products products - I soak in an Aveeno bath at least once a week (way more in the winter), I keep my skin moisturized, and I am very careful with the laundry soaps and what not that I use.
The other thing that helps is an antihistamine - since my eczema is mostly allergy related, a regular over the counter Claritin helps alot.
Take him to the Doctor also :)
Good Luck
OTC Cortizone cream can help a lot. But the doctor may prescribe something a little stronger because it sounds like your husband's is on the bad side. The certain fabric part confused me a bit... is it just that he does not like how it feels when her rubs against it, or does he actually have an allergic reaction?
I know some people get eczema from certain foods, and when those eliminated, they get better. (My daughter can't have milk, but butter, yogurt, and cheese are all fine.)
If you are looking for a topical help, my husband (who also has eczema) swears by "grandma lotion." It's lotion recipe that his grandmother came up with, and it seems to heal just about every skin irritation we've had... even chapped lips! She mixes one bottle of pink baby lotion, one tub of Vitamin E cream, and one tub of petroleum jelly in a big bowl with a hand mixer. We store it in Tupperware containers and use it all the time.
One of my sons had it bad when he was an infant. He had a rash all over his face and neck, almost non-stop for months. We primarily treated it with Aquaphor and tried to prevent him from scratching. He's mostly outgrown it, but I've noticed that sometimes he can get flare ups on his ankles and inside of the elbows. It seems to happen more when he gets hot. We did get some prescription medicine for a patch on his scalp once. It worked well and faster than Aquaphor, but since he was just an infant, we didn't want to treat with too many steroid based creams.
I'd ask a doctor if there was something your husband can take for the flare ups. And then I'd look at finding a mild bath soap and lotion that might help reduce the flare-ups and maybe help keep his skin from being dry.
When my son was affected, I did some searching online. Some people recommend some kind of oatmeal wrap to help. I never tried it though because my son had it on his face and it's hard to wrap that.
We found laundry detergent made a difference. We use Tide Free now and double rinse all his clothes. Oh, and fabric softeners can be an issue as well.
http://www.nationaleczema.org/
This is the website for the "National Eczema Association."
Has your Husband, ever gone to the Doctor for this? Or a Dermatologist?
He should.
He needs a proper diagnosis.
This may be psorisis (sp) if it's scaly.
I know a cure but it's kinda yucky but works great.
Pure Caster Oil - (unfiltered, cold processed, cold pressed) you can get it at Home Health products. Look it up on the net.
Put the castor oil on every day, wrap it if need be. Reapply a few times a day. It may take a few weeks but keep doing it. You may want to wash it off before putting re-applying.
I had psorisis very badly for a long time, it just got worse no matter what I tried. I used the oil three times a day for six weeks and it never came back. Other people have used it too and it worked for them too.
I hope it'll be healed for them both and very soon
Hi,
You might offer your husband castor oil for his skin problem. Castor oil used externally is very healing for skin issues. Rub it in gently and leave the affected areas exposed to air. Apply often and don't expect immediate results.
Good luck to your husband!
"Grams"
from the Pocono Mts. of PA
