New to Eczyma

My son has eczyma and we bath him with Cetaphil and lotion him day/night with Eucerine creme. The pedi told us that creme is the key (not lotion) because it has the oils that the skin is lacking, and also to apply it immediately after drying off from a bath/shower.

First of all, eczyma is NOT that big a deal. I have suffered all my life with it and I'm 58 years old. You didn't say where he breaks out, arms, legs, chest, hands, or face. I also had very soft, smooth, silky, feeling skin and the eczyma didn't effect that at all, only when I was broke out. I would truly love to talk to you about this as I know it must be scarey to you. I was lucky, I had/have eczyma all over except my face, but my Mother NEVER made a big deal out of it. When I was a child, I was allergic to everything you could think of, some thing more than others, but I was allowed to be a normal kid and we would deal with the break outs later. As for school, yes kids can be mean but I had a teacher in the 3rd grade that sent me out of the room and had a good "talk" with the rest of the kids and after than I had no problems. You just have to relax and let him be a kid!

Have you used Glaxol (I think that is how you spell it) But it helps with itching and smooth it. I get it once in awhile and that is what helps me.

My mom and I have both had eczema all our lives, my daughters
(ages 5 yrs. and 15 months) also have extremely sensitive skin. Vaseline works great on hands apply it at night so that all night the moisure sink in. Also at bedtime rub a little hydrocortizone creme on other problem areas after it's rubbed in good apply the tiniest bit of vaseline over those as well. My girls and I use baby wash instead of bath soap. Also avoiding purfumed bubble baths and laundry detergents might help. Also both of my girls had to use unscented baby wipes, scented alway gave them diaper rash. If your child is in diaper still. If regular diaper rash cremes dont help try vaseline, and instead of baby powder try plain cornstarch the kind you buy at the grocery store in the baking supplies aisle.Cornstarch works wonders for my baby. If you have any more questions please feel free to send me a message. Good luck. H. T.

Both of my sons and I have eczema. It's a pain. The doctor has always told me to use Aveeno, but personally I prefer Eucerin. Don't use regular lotions, they have too much water and will dry out the skin. Slather on eucerin, or whatever you use, after a bath while the skin is still moist. This will help trap in the moisture. Let him play in the bath first, if he likes to do that, and then wash him. The soap in the water will irritate his skin. Stress can cause outbreaks. I have heard some foods make eczema worse, but i'm not sure how true that is.

My son will be 5 next month and has had this sence an infent. The doctors told us to limit his baths to 1 maybe 2 a week if that often. We were told the water w3ould only make it worst. As he has gotten older and loved tub time I let him sit in my tub, it's big and more room to swim in, But I noticed when he would get out of the tub he would have red patches all over his body and the hands always being the worse looked like a lobster as they trun bright red when put into hot water.
So keeping a little boy clean who loves to play in the dirt(which makes his poor little hands really bad) We got a special shower head just for him, it's a fish and it suctions to any height you want it. So now he can shower often and we do use a special soap for him and I have found all these products to work wonders It is called Orgins, it is sold at Macy's, I use the facial bar soap on my son $10.00 a bar, lasts forever, he is the only one that uses it.
You will get all kinds of advise, and loads of diferent products that are being used, But it is a total hit and miss process until you find the right thin that may work for you.
My mom had it so bad she could only use things like olive or cooking oil, crisco and butter on her skin, and I can Honestly say that with all the hundrads of cream and lotions on the market that claim to give you beautiful skin, My mom out did them all with a can of crisco or a bar of butter.

Try Kukui nut oil, it is 100% nat. and is able to soak into the skin easier than most other products. We use it for everything. From reg. burns to sunburns, dry skin, bug bites, ect... It is a dark brown nut the Hawaiian men use for their leis. Fred Myer I know carries it in thir natural product section, you can also try Zupans, Trader Joes or any other stoe like that. Some other products are shampoo and condit.lotion. You might want to consider any of theese products due to touching his skin durring bath time also. I would also give any new product at least 7 days to see how it is working as long as it does not get any worse. C.

Oh my, you have received wonderful advice! I have a daughter that I adopted that had this and we've done the things mentioned. It improved and I'm told with age it usually (not always) becomes less of a problem. I know if she breaks out with it we do cool baths and put her steroid medicine w/a dab of A&D ointment and rub it in and it clears up right away. We did notice as a toddler that she seemed to have a problem with milk and took that out of her diet in any large quantity and she doesn't have to deal with it as much and as often. It will appear (especially behind her knees and elbows) if she gets hot and sweaty. My girlfriend, years ago, found that her husband, who had a bad case of it on his hands, reacted to eggs. So she took eggs out of his diet and it cleared up well. If she would even 'try' an egg in a cake or other food without telling him... he would break out... So no more eggs for him! Don't borrow trouble.. he will most likely be fine by school age... blessings...

My second grade grandaughter has eczema. At times it's quite noticeable. She's had no difficulty at school because of it. Perhaps it's because so many kids now a days has eczema. I have playground duty and have seen a couple of kids with breakouts worse than my granddaughter's. The seem to have friends who play together without teasing.

I agree whole heartedly with Holly's and Christy's comments. At the doctor's suggestion we also treat my granddaughter's eczema in this way. I've noticed also that stress and possibly allergies contribute to the outbreaks.

A thin layer of vaseline seems to work the best but my granddaughter doesn't like the greasy feel. We have used both Eucerin and another expensive cream recommended by the doctor. (don't remember the brand) We found a generic cream to use instead of Eucerin. I think we found it at Fred Meyer. It's equate dry skin cream with added moisturizers. Equate is the brand name and is all small letters. What you use needs to be a cream and have no scent.

Her doctor also recommended having a bath everyday after which we lathered her skin. She likes to play in the tub. Now she washes herself while in the tub. Because the water gets soapy she rinses off in the shower. When she was a toddler, my daughter often showered with her which was easier than the bathtub routine.

When her eczema would get out of control her doctor prescribed an ointment to apply to the rash. It's called Elidell. By out of control I mean her arms and legs had more than the usual breakouts. Used daily, this cleared up her skin in a week or so. It seemed miraculous. Now I use the Elidell any time the rash is starting to spread.

She now has rough tough skin on her elbows and knees that looks like the rash but doesn't itch. She still has a lot of itching without the rash. However, if she doesn'nt faithfully use the cream these areas do become rashy.

I found a cream that she likes but I don't know why she prefers it. We only use it when she's at my house. Her preference may not have anything to do with the eczema. It's de-luxe SHEA butter hand cream and comes in a large silver tube.

I know a clinic at the University of Oregon Medical complex did a study involving a new kind of prescription cream. We didn't know if he received the new cream or a placebo. We didn't finish the study and so I don't know anything more about the study cream. However, the cream that we used entirely cleared up his eczema or perhaps he outgrew it. Anyway by the age of 3 he had no more eczema and hasn't had a reoccurence. He does use the same mild soap and shampoo that his sister uses. He's now nearly 5.

Eczema doesn't seem to have the negative meaning that it did when I was growing up. Your son will be fine. He may also not have eczema by the time he reaches school age. Even if his skin is still bothered with eczema you can keep it in control and no one will pay attention to it if he doesn't focus on it.

My granddaughter has had eczema since she was an infant and it seems natural to her to have rashes. She will even read incregients and say "this has perfume. I can't use it." No big deal. I think that has helped her to become a "normal" kid. She also has asthma and food allergies. The allergist said that kids frequently have that combination. Whether or not our kid feels stigmatized by it is influenced by the attitude of the parents.

If using Vaseline (which I've been told is the most effective) or a moisturizing cream doesnt help I would recommend seeing an Allergist. The more we know about the eczema and it's treatment the more comfortable we can be.

I. myself, have eczema. I didn't really have many breakouts, and when I did, they were really little. Until a couple weeks ago...then I had a really *bad* breakout. So, it does come and go, but with this last break out, I discovered the Curel lotion. I started putting it on and it really soothed the patches that had broken out. It has oatmeal, lavender, and chamomile extracts. I've been putting it on other parts of my skin, too, hoping to keep breakouts away. Anyway, that's what I would recommend--Curel Natural Healing lotion. It comes in a green bottle. Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

Hi my daughter is eight years old. she has had skin issues since she was six months old. I've tried every thing that I have come across but so far the best has been. 20 minute baths 1-3 times a day. depending on how bad the skin is. After the bath use the atopic sterod cream the Dr. has prescribed. Than I order this cream called Vanicream from the Pharmacy. I put that on the skin where it is not red and broke out. wear the skin is broke out put the sterod. If the skin is really bad we put wet pj;s on or sweets and then dry ones on top of the wet ones for 2 hours. make sure to put on all the creams on first. at times my daughter looks like a mummy she hats this, but it is better than having her skin all cut up and bloody from scrating. If your daughter gets really bad and they say it is allergies check this hospital out. National Jewish Hospital In Denver Colorado. It"s on the net. It"s expensive. but maybe I can save you some of the stresses I have had to go throug. About school it is some time hard on her becouse her teacher had a soft stomach and other kids have compared her skin to theirs.[this is a gril thing] It was also hard to use the pencil becouse her finger were so sore. but since her wet wraps it has gotten better. Thank God! This has maid my daughter vary aware of other peoples pain and suffering she is gental and kind and thougtful. as far as the lotion and creams it would be helpful to know what your allergic to. my daugter is allergic to alot of weeds grasses flowers.[chamomile] check the ingredents. My daughter is alergic to animals so it is not alway's food. We also found out that she is low in vitamen D.

I know what you meen about how pretty your son is because all my children are the same. I get people staring at my children. There doctor as well makes comments about my children. They were all born with a head full of hair and no bruising or scatches. They are the light of my eyes. However, they get a little itchy also. I mix vaseline and euciren cream together and put it all over there skin. Also, I skip out on all the smelly stuff. I do put a little baby lotion in my one year old's hair to have that great smell. I hope that will help you and hopefully it's not a appearence problem. I do know how kids are these days.

I have it on my hands, it drives me crazy. My two little granddaughters also have eczyma (and their mother) My daughter has found that Arm & Hammer laundry soap is the best to wash their clothes in and she always makes sure she washes new clothes before they wear them. They hands are very sensitive to being washed often so she has also found that Dove deep moisture hand wash is helpful. Hot water also contributes to the skin being sensitive. I have an cream that the doctor has prescribed for me to use two times a day. Hope this may be helpful to you.

R., please research essential fatty acids, vitamin E and A. Then speak with a naturopath. I can't recommend dosages as I am not a doctor but I believe that this will put you on the right track. This is not a superficial problem, it is metabolic. Chris

Hi, my son was born with eczyma. For him, it gets worse in warm weather. Sunblock with lots of alcohol (which dries out the skin) seems to intensify it. I was always telling moms that he did not have the chicken pox. At this moment, he is seven and we use goats milk lotions and soap. We get it through www.windrifthill.com but I'm sure you could find it in any grocery store. It is less harsh on the skin!!! When he has a really big flare up, we have him take a bath with epsom salts. We started doing this after taking him to a hot springs in the area and saw his eczema clear up within a day. The salts seem to really help. We do not wash our clothing in brand name detergent. We wash with Kirkland from Costco. It seems to be less harsh on his skin. My husband has lived with his eczyma all his life not knowing what to do until we started doing all of these things. For my husband, his gets worse in cold weather so he keeps his goats milk lotion on hand and applies every night when needed. Now these are the things that work for me but they could change as my son gets older. I hope not though!!!
Oh, and if the doctor gave you hydrocoritsone. Don't use it. It would go away only to come back even worse each time. I did it for 6 months before figuring out that it was not working.

My daughter has mild eczyma and we use Dove Supreme Cream Oil Sleek Satin Body Wash and that seems to help keep her skin moisturized so she doesn't break out. Other than, that, we just slather on lotion after a bath to keep it at bay. Good luck!

This condition is also called "atopic dermatosis." You can find a lot of support on the web if you google this term. Keep the skin moisturized even if he has to take two or three baths per day. While he is still wet, slather on a think moisturizer such as Eucerin Cream or Cetafil Cream. Use only the creams that come in a jar. A tube or bottled cream will not be moisturizing enough. If you haven't already, cut ALL dairy products and eggs out of his diet!

Good luck.

Hi R.,
I'm sorry that he's going through so much.

I would recommend going to www.melaleuca.com, and order the Citrus Bar soap, and the Renew lotion. These two items are very effective on skin problems with little irritation. You may also want to get some of the tea tree oil from Melaleuca, it's a little bottle, and yes, it's expensive, but you only need to put like a drop in the tub and it will help immensely.

You don't need to be a member customer to order from Melaleuca.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Warmly,
M.

Dairy is often a great cause of outbreaks of eczema. some parents find taht after cutting out all dairy there children will not have an outbreak at all. another idea is a couple our drops of lavendar oil in the bath water, you can get it at target for about $5 but i do mean really mean one or two drops. a thing called green salve you can get from mother love herbals www.motherloveherbals.com works AWSOME!! I am sure someone near you probably sells it. it is 100% all natural and has healing herbs in it that are soooo safe. i sell it in my business and my best friend uses it, she gets outbreaks so bad that her hand will swell and crack and she cant work for days at a time, the salve really has helped her with it alot. and i have to say, i recently cut our dairy i thought it would be much harder than it was but not really and i feel better and look better!!

Hi R.,
Our doctor suggested using Dove bodywash when my son was just 6 months old. It worked great!! Just be sure to avoid the eyes. There is also Aquaphor which you can get anywhere. It has the vaseline texture without the greasy feel.
I hope you can find something that works.

I know a mom who suffers from this condition, too. Also, her young son has been diagnosed with it. He is 3 years old. She started using Arbonne products and her condition cleared up! Nothing ever worked for her before. Also, it worked for her son, on his baby skin. The specific product that she used is the "ABC Baby Oil". Find an Arbonne representative and give it a shot. The products are botanically based and are pure, safe, and beneficial. I work with a girl who sells it, so if you can't find a local rep, let me know. You can contact me at ____@____.com luck!

My sons eczyma was cause by a food allergy. There's a chiropractor near us that does a procedure called NMT. Its noninvasive and within a couple of months the eczyma went away. Every once in a while a little patch will show up we'll take him in for one more treatment and its goes away. I'm not a huge chiropractor fan, but this really worked.

My husband has eczyma. The only thing that has really helped him was, Draw a warm bath, in a tall glass of milk add 1 -2 tablespoons on olive oil. After the skin has soaked for a few minutes mix in the milk mixture. Don't use soap!! after playing and soaking for about 20 min. drain water and ONLY PAT dry. His skin will absorb the oil and he will be much more confortable.

I have lived with the stuff for most of my life. eczyma is kind of itchy and flaky. keep it clean, be aware that he may have "super" sensitive skin to things like laundry soap, lotions, foods, dryer sheets, anything that can leave a residue on clothing. My break outs are mostly limited to places where my skin touches itself, behind the knees, between toes, butt cheeks, behind ears. others break out on flat surfaces. I have heard of people who use ace bandages to cover the rash, mostly to prevent their kids from sctraching wich makes it deeper by tearing the skin. I view and treat mine more like a surface skin infection, this helps really limit the amount of cream from the dermo i use, they usually have a 'roid in them that beefs up the skins ability to heal. the problem with continued use isn't like other 'roid usage but the skin does build a resistance to them and eventually they stop working for you.the dermo's meds will sting when applied, as a kid i hated that, even seeing that they helped didnt change my opinion of them. I've heard of people who break out from the sun, to much exsposure.But i also heard that dead sea sunlight is good for it, something about the super low elevation filtering the light to just the right frequancy to help heal it, the minerals are soothing as well but test it first! pick a spot apply small amount watch it to see if any signs of irritation appear. i have noticed fewer break outs since i started taking a fish oil or flaxseed oil supplements I did that more for heart helth, and my joints, but my skin seems happier to.

My sister has had eczyma since she was 3 years old I believe. I remember her going to Doctor appointments in various times of her life while we were growing up. Sometimes, it would be worse and then she would get better and it would clear up. My mom took her to get tested for allergies, and then they would say "she's allergic to this, that, and the other thing". So, my Mom wouldn't let her have those things, and she still broke out. We were raised in Eastern Washington, where we had extreme cold winters (when her eczyma would flair up badly in winter months) and hot summers (when her eczyma would clear up). In her teenage years to adulthood, her eczyma would also flair up when she got stressed out. When she was 18-19 she wanted to be a nurse (this was 20 years ago) and she had to wear latex gloves. Her eczyma was the worst I had ever seen it. She found out, she was allergic to latex, so she had to quit and figure out another career choice (this was before polyurathaine gloves, she has since gone back and got her nursing degree 2 years ago).
We have better resources now, then we did 30 years ago. Here are some things she does now to keep her eczyma in "check".

1. Use non-purfume, dye-free, detergent. She uses All "free", she told me the cheaper detergents have made her break out, she doesn't know why. She also uses Bounce "free" dryer sheets. She liked the Downy "free" liquid as well. She has tried the biodegradable, natural fragrance, "green", expensive stuff, and she had a break out. She would love to have her clothes smell nice, but no such luck.
2. Use Aveeno body liquid soaps and lotions. She finds when she "strays" from Aveeno, she breaks out. She has also used fragrance free,hypo-allergenic stuff, and she will still break out. She has even used different baby liquid soaps and lotions with scents, and she will break out. She always uses the liquid soaps, the bar soaps dry her out.
3. She wears 100% cotton clothing, underwear, and bed linens. Polyester blends also sometimes (depending on the percentage of polyester) will provoke a break out. My children would break out a bit when they weren't wearing 100% cotton, I break out in a rash when I wear something with polyester in it. Look at the labels where the tags are. It will say 100% cotton on it. Polyester doesn't let your skin breathe, any percentage of polyester or nylon. My 12 year old will break out in a rash when he wears shirts with spandex in them. Bed linens, you don't think about too much, but, if you think about it, we sleep 8 hours (or we try) a night and spend 8 hours rolling around, sleeping in our bed. She makes sure it's 100% cotton, she doesn't spend a ton of money on high thread counts on her sheets, she does get a higher thread count on her pillowcases though. She also washes her bedlinens in the ALL Free detergent.
4. CREAMS She has tried creams off the counter and percriptions, and stuff from the health food stores. She has told me it's all trial and error. I remember my mom would get excited when she found a new cream to try on her. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't. She has used hydrocortizone, and she tends to get the brand names of creams and not generics. She would also give it 4-5 days to see if it gets better, before she will move on with something else. If it gets worse right away, then she doesn't use it obviously.
5. DIET She has told me that it doesn't matter what she eats. She went on an all organic diet for a few months, thinking that would make a difference, and she told me it didn't. Try the first 4 for a while before you change his food.
The first 4 things I've listed, she is very,very dilegent about. She has messed around with her diet, and it doesn't affect her break outs at all. The only time her eczema was totally cleared up is when she was pregnant, she was even cleared of it in the winter months when she was pregnant. She has thought of hormones being the problem, but she didn't want to mess around with hormone treatments to clear her eczyma-she didn't do well on birth control pills, they made her really cranky. Her eczyma has been so bad at times on her neck, that she looked like she had hickies, and then there would be times she would have very little rashes on her. Her neck, arms (inside middle part), and under her eyes, and the top of her wrists seem to be where she gets it the worst.
When her skin is cleared up, she doesn't seem to have scarring. She didn't when we were younger either.

Good Luck, be patient. It may clear up this summer. We have had an unusually dry, hard winter here in Western Washington.

I've heard nightshade plants make it worse. I don't remember which plants qualify other than tomatoes, and potatoes. I tried that, elimination diets, blood allergy tests, and every "natural" "free & clear" and/or "hypoallergenic" product on the market. All to no avail!

What I found for her was she's allergic to formaldehyde. You won't see any lables saying formaldehyde but I learned that Q-15 aka Quaternium-15 is a cheap preservative used in everything from personal care products to laundry detergent. When Q-15 mixes with water it releases formaldehyde.

I switched stores and started shopping from Melaleuca. I replaced all our personal care and cleaning products and within three weeks my daughters eczema was 100% gone. That was 3 years ago and she remains eczema free. We shop online for what we need and it's delivered right to our door. Their prices are great too!

Happy to help if you have any questions!

C. Busy WAHM to 4 y/o virtual twins
Owner: BeHappierAtHome.com

Hi R.,

My name is R. and I work from home with a wellness company out of ID. We have an amazing product that helps reduce and/or completely eliminate eczema, which was thankfully the case with our daughter. Your son's eczema may be attributed to sensitivity, toxicity, or an allergy. Feel free to email me at ____@____.com if you would like more details on our wellness products. All of our products are completely free of harsh and harmful chemicals and toxins. Good Luck!!!

~R.~
www.MomsOfferingMore.com

R.,
My daughter and husband have eczyma. You want to be careful of perfumes and other additives in shampoo soap ect. Eucerin is the best lotion and cetephyll is what I used to bath my daughter and slowly transitioned to an mild soap. Elidell is wonderful since it is steroid free but your skin is more sensitive to the sun like cortizone. Allergies in the spring seem to trigger it laundry soap and heavily perfumed fabric sofeners. Also, be aware that clorine in swimming pools can make it flare up if you don't wash him off after swimming. The older my daughter gets the easier it was to keep under control, she has more scares from learning to ride a bike than from the eczyma- it does get better :-)
A.

I work with a Wellness Company from home. I really just came here to make friends but they sell a lotion called Renew it is 100% all natural (like all there products) and i love it.
I'm not trying to sell you anything just thought you might want this information
S.

My 15y. old has had eczema since he was an infant. He's on elidel now and it works wonders.
When he was smaller we used Cetaphil for soap, no actual soap products. For lotion try Eucerin or the generic thereof.
Has your son been checked for allergies? Skin testing is the most accurate way to do this.
Maybe you can avoid things that make his skin worse.
Also remember to always dress him in cotton, no synthetics at all.
Reduce allergens in his environment by covering his bed with plastic, pillow too, remove carpet if possible, no pets in his room, and no stuffed animals except possibly his favorite, frequent washings of all bed linens and you can run the stuffie through the dryer on high a few times a month.
Good luck.

R., so sorry to hear! I know for some it's not a big deal, however, being from Texas I understand how important showing your skin can be. I have a product that my son uses for his eczema, as long as it's used once a week, his skin is clear. It's from Arbonne International and is the main reason I have a business with them. I do not use anything else on his skin! It's the ABC baby line and I use the wash for his body, Arbonne's medicated shampoo for his hair but most esp for his eczema, I use the ABC lotion. It took about a week of applying nightly for it to clear, but now we do one treatment once a week and his skin is clear and smooth. You can learn more at my website www.J..myarbonne.com or the company's main site www.arbonne.com Hope this helps!

R. ~

You don't sound petty ... I had to smile, but you don't sound petty :). I have eczyma, and all three of my kids had it as babies -- They are teens now and one outgrew it entirely, one has it only on occasion and my youngest (which happens to be a boy), has it the worst. The good news is, it's worse in the winter, goes away almost entirely in the summer and warmer months. Here are a few things that I learned: One, for US, peanuts and most nuts or peanut oils break us out (as a family) ... so we had to basically cut those out. My oldest daughter, who rarely breaks out, will break out if she eats peanut butter. My middle daughter who "outgrew it", hates nuts. So ??? My son eats nuts on occasion. I buy ONLY unscented soap -- I buy Oil of Olay Unscented -- I started buying it when they were babies -- absolutely NO scented soaps and very mild shampoos -- NO BUBBLE BATHS -- that was really hard for my girls, but I had to do it. Any areas where they sweat will cause break outs -- so make sure to dry him off really good after his bath -- especially behind his knees and in the inside of his elbows. That's really the only place my son breaks out now. And, once summer starts and the sun comes out, it goes away completely. For myself, if I go to a tanning bed 3X, my eczyma goes away completely -- for the whole cold season. (And I'm not a "sun bed" tanner type, at all). I do use hydrocortizone, also Burts Bees (my son says this doesn't burn his skin and likes this better -- it's more "natural" as well), any type of Vitamin E lotion will make him feel better -- but be sure to avoid any scented lotions. Honestly, the bottom line is, he has sensitive skin -- you will learn, as he grows, what seems to trigger it -- I think certain foods do, myself, but I'm not a doctor :) ... but I do know that heat/sun helps and cold/sweat irritates it. I hope this helps!

Blessings to you and your family!

T.

Just contact with water can make my eczyma flair up. Making sure the area is completely dry after washing with mild soap and moisturize after every washing. The only moisturizer I found to help mine was the moisture therapy hand cream from Avon. Hope this helps. C.

My son has had this condition since he was born. We've tried many creams from the doctors who insist that they work...and they didn't. We found out what has worked best for us, is giving oatmeal baths (you can either buy packets from the store or make it at home with a coffee grinder) and applying Gold Bond Intensive Care Lotion. These two things seemed to help the most for us. Other things that helped was making sure his clothing isn't rubbing a lot against his skin and when you get to potty training...no undies at night. When my son wore undies at night, he seemed to break out all over his nether regions. EEK! We also avoid any shampoos or bath soaps that are full of perfume. Those products seem to only irritate the eczema further. I just stick to Johnson & Johnson. It's cheap and easy to use for both body and hair. Good luck on this. Hope any of this helps! :D

Hi R.....My daughter started having severe issues with this when she started preschool at 3 1/2. So I started investigating solutions. Look for environmental irritants like the soap you are using. Grace is allowed to bathe without any soaps in the water and as soon as she washes her hair or body she has to get out. The preschool uses and still does MASSIVE amounts of bleach. Also look at food allergies or sensitivities. Grace was repeatedly being given milk or milk byproducts(cottage cheese, hot chocolate, YOGART). As long as Gracie stays away from milk she seems to do very well.

When she does have a break out she gets thick, hot, bright red patches in the creases of her elbows, behind her knees, armpits, and the absolute worst between her legs. As a result I am very PICKY about her soaps and lotions. I have used the same laundry soap and fabric softeners since before she was even born. She has a specific hair soap and body soap she uses.(Dreft, Downey-mountain fresh, Bounce-outdoor fresh)(Melaleuca shampoo and aveno body wash)(Renew lotion and/or Aveno baby lotion).

There is dietary changes you can make too.....flax seed is just one off the top of my head. There are books like....Natural Healing and etc. that offer many awesome suggestions. Hope this all helps. feel free to write back.

Jennifer

Hi R., I skimmed thru the advice you received just to make sure I'm not repeating someone else. I know these things can get redundant and time consuming to read them all. My son Teague's eczema was worse as an infant. His drool would aggrivate his chin, and then he would rub it on his sheets or jammies in the night, and often woke up to a bloody mess everywhere. His doctor rx'd a steroid cream, BUT some advice, it worked great but if you use it longer than 2 weeks, it can cause an adverse reaction, and make the skin thin and harder to heal. Which I did experience. So I would use the cream, and then once it was healed, I would use an excema cream I found in the baby product area at Target. I've seen it at other stores too. I can't remember the exact brand name, Natural something or other. But Winnie Pooh and Piglet are on the front label, and the bottle is greenish blue. They also have a bath wash which we would use. Both of these worked great for me. I have a "looker" too, so I know it's hard to see them not at their best. Good luck to you!

R.,
First off, your son probably is the most beautiful thing in the world to you! As it should be! If you didn't say that about your son, people would wonder. Don't be sorry about being in love with him!
Next, my husband has had psoriasis on his upper arms almost all his life. This has made it difficult to wear t's and tanks. Not having to deal with a child or myself, I can't tell you about treatments, but as a mother of a child who has physical differences I can help you with the other kids.
There is NO promise that other kids will not be cruel. What you need to be an expert at is being a counselor for him. You may be surprised and find that the school he goes to is full of caring, well raised kids and your son will be popular. Or you may find that it's a back-woods, stump-jumpin', redneck, hillbilly school with horribly cruel kids, like the schools my son has gone to.
The key is to know his routine. When he come home smiling, listen to his story. (Sometimes hard to do with K, 1st and 2nd graders with their scattered thoughts.) Conversely, if he is sad, mad or just straight out angry, talk him through his options. Remind him that his feelings are valid and he won't get in trouble for crying. In todays world, we have put so much pressure on boys to "MAN" up and dry it up. Remind him that while he may be teased at school for crying, that it will always be ok at home.
Train him that he is beautiful, lovable, and worthy of what ever he sets his mind to, he should be fine.
I hope this helps at least a little. Good luck!
~A.

The best treatment for breakouts that I have ever found is a thing called Resinol. They sell it at Pharmacy stores in a white jar. The product is pink. It moisturizes and yet draws out the weepy part of the break out at the same time. It is fabulous stuff and also halts the itching. Cortisone did nothing for me as a child. This stuff is by far the best topical treatment. Also, check to make sure his iron, calcium and zinc are well balanced in his diet. A lot of my issues were the result of these being unbalanced in my diet. Since being on my prenatal vitamins I have not had any symptoms-8+ years now! The key is balance. :) God bless, and if you use the resinol and balanced diet, he shouldn't have any long term affects. All my only slightly visible scarring and yucky skin is from before my parents found out what to use and were using neosporin. Take my advice and use only Dove soap sensitive skin for cleansing and do not use neosporin on any part of his skin! It will make breakouts about 10 times worse. Let me know if you have any further questions. I've had this all of my 29 years of life.

My niece has eczyma and one thing that helps her is
Aveno. As a lotion and as an additive to her bath. Also unscented lotions help alot with the dry patches and hydrocortizone cream helps with the itching.

Both of my kids have ecxema, and they get outbreaks every so often. I found that Eucerine Calming Creme works to help soothe the redness and also helps with the dry skin. I have noticed that things like tomatoes or oranges which are acidic will make the outbreaks worse, so I try to avoid giving them too much of thost things. I don't know how bad your son's is, but my kids are outbreak free for the most part. Every once in awhile they get a little spot of it, but nothing that that hasn't gone away using the cream. I'm not sure if it ever goes away, I just try to deal with it when it comes up. I hope this helps.

Hi R.,
I grew up with and still have eczema. I find that soft soaps such as Dove while bathing isn't as hurtful as soaps with perfume. Lots of lotion! and get an aloe plant. Aloe works wonders on the itching. You will find that during his growing spurts it will get worse. I feel so bad for your little one I know how hard it is always feeling like you need to scratch.
Good luck.

My husband just recently has been having problems with eczema. We have been recommended on some nutrition and pharmacuetical grade skin care that a lot of others who have had eczema have said tremendously helped them. Let me know if you want more information and I will be glad to get it for you. D. Jantzen; email: ____@____.com

My daughter has had eczyma since she was an infant; she is 12 now and it can still be a problem. As an infant, we needed to put mits on her hands and give her benedryl at night to keep her from scratching her skin off. We initially started with a hydrocortisone cream and eventually went to eladil. Eladil is great for in clearing severe breakouts but is an immune suppressant (eczyma is considered an autoimmune process). If you read the label, in VERY rare cases, can cause lymphoma, so we try to limit its use. Problem times are during the summer when it's very hot and during the winter when it's cold and dry. For maintenance, we use a fatty acid supplement.
Also, she uses Arbonne products on her skin. Either a sugar scrub or sea salt scrub to exfoliate as well as moisturize with essential oils. We follow that with the Intelligence Rejuvinating Cream when she gets out of the shower and throughout the day when she gets dry. We rarely need to use eladil anymore.
Be cautious about some of the really thick moisturizing creams such as Eucerin. They have mineral oil in the product and mineral oil is such a large molecule that it doesn't absorb through the skin. It also prevents whatever beneficial ingredient is in the product to penetrate the skin as well as prevents the skins ability to breathe. That is why Eucerin leaves that greasy feeling on the skin after it is applied. 80-90% of the lotions on the market have a mineral oil base.
I am a consultant with Arbonne International. You can check out our Pure, Safe and Beneficial products at my website www.nursekerry.myarbonne.com.