Eczema Treatments?

[CrunchyMomto3]

My 21 month old dd has a pretty nasty patch of eczema of her right cheek. It appeared out of nowhere right after Thanksgiving. I thought it was a reaction to ketchup, but after not clearing up for 3 weeks, I took her to the dermatologist who did a skin scraping and said it was not fungal and was "likely" eczema and gave us an Rx for 2.5% hydrocortosone. Before I tried that I did try Emu Oil and Lanolin. Both of those helped the eczema to clear up, so I didn't need to use the Rx and her skin was 100% okay by February.

Fast forward to April. The eczema is back; this time on both cheeks and temples. I tried the Emu Oil and Lanolin first...did nothing. So I used the Rx...that didn't work either. So now here we are into May and it seems to be itching her as I find her slapping at her face where the eczema is.

Her doctor doesn't seem to think that it's caused by her lovey (which is a gross cabbage patch doll) or her bedding, nor did she test positive for food/dairy allergies. I'm stumped.

Anyone have any thoughts or natural remedies that I haven't tried yet??

Thanks

[Caden's Mom]

Allergy testing is notoriously inaccurate. It has anywhere from 20-30% "failure" rate. So, food allergies aren't necessarily out of the question. Have you tried keeping a food journal? Tried eliminating the top allergens from her diet for 3 weeks to see an improvement?

When DS gets an outbreak of eczema from getting one of his allergens we go non-natural and do a combo of benadryl and hydrocortisone cream.

As far as the bedding, I would wash it all in hot, hot water (including the lovey) and dry on as hot as heat as possible to kill any dust mites.

Are you using natural detergent? Also, since she is prone to eczema, you should not use any soap on her at all. If you must, it should only be cetaphyl.

Also, DS seems to react to chamomile which I thought was odd, so if she is getting infrequent teething treatments or other herbal supplements, it might be a good idea to examine that.

[CrunchyMomto3]

Thanks for your reply. I have not tried a food journal. That's going to be very very hard on her. She has a sister and brother just one year older and one year younger and they all eat the same things...I guess I'll just have to eliminate the potential allergens from all of their diets and see how that works. She'll throw a fit if she sees them eating things differently than her. :

She hasn't had any Hylands for teething in a very long time, so I don't think it's that. I haven't given her benadryl. Do you give that in syrup or do they make a cream?

[TigerTail]

I'm personally trying out a solution of grapefrut seed extract on ds's excema, my psoriasis, the new cat's mange (admittedly already pretty much gone), my dh's wart... we'll see .

[Caden's Mom]

I give the benadryl syrup to DS. I hope it all works out for you. Docs seem to think that eczema is only about 40% of the time due to food allergies (or so a friend tells me), but given the ignorance I have seen from pediatricians about allergies, I think the percent is much higher. Have you seen an allergist? I know you had the testing done, but sometimes pediatricians do that.

[bigislandmama]

Ds gets these rough patches on his cheeks and his eyebrows. We have been using kukui nut oil. It is really gentle and smells great. If we don't stay on it the patches come back, but the oil does seem to help if used daily.

[CrunchyMomto3]

We had the testing done at the allergist.

So, this Kuku Nut oil (I know I spelled that wrong) you have to use it EVERY day?? I wonder if that's my problem with the Emu oil. As soon as her spots cleared up, I stopped using it. Maybe I need to just keep with it, huh??

The grapefruit extract sounds interesting. Keep me posted on how that turns out.

[SAmama]

Have you tried supplementing with probiotics, enzymes and essential fatty acids (several grams a day)? That has helped us some (full body eczema in dd). Also, we only saw results after eliminating things for 6 weeks.
Just have to say again, probiotics is definitely a big one. We have eliminated and eliminated and finally found a probiotic without dairy or fillers. And after two days it is looking so much better.

[krizzanne]

Originally Posted by SAmama

Have you tried supplementing with probiotics, enzymes and essential fatty acids (several grams a day)? That has helped us some (full body eczema in dd). Also, we only saw results after eliminating things for 6 weeks.
Just have to say again, probiotics is definitely a big one. We have eliminated and eliminated and finally found a probiotic without dairy or fillers. And after two days it is looking so much better.

I heartily agree with this advice. After adding the probiotics and fish oil my dd's eczema turned into dry patches of skin.
I took her to a tuina massage practitioner, after 3 treatments (out of 6) her eczema is GONE and her whole skin feels softer than it has felt in years.
Chinese medicine views eczema as coming from toxins and need to boost the immune system (steroids surppress immune system), and they view eczema as curable.

[serenetabbie]

We have used skin conditioning oil from Arbonne with good results. I don't know if that is an option though... we just happened upon the products as one of my LLL friends started to sell it. It is $, but works very well for us.

My Ds has excema and allergies. The excema got much better when I got dust mite covers for his (well, everyone's) mattress, boxspring and bedding, and switched to exclusively using unscented products (bath stuff and laundry soap). While he did not test positive for food allergies, it does get worse if he drinks regular milk a lot. We try to buy organic when we can. I told the allergist this and he said that is completely possible that there is something in regular milk (whatever they feed the cows or the hormones/abx/something) DS could be reacting to. Too bad the Health insurance won't cover organic milk products!

[treelover]

SAmama....what probiotic are you using now? my 5month old is struggling with severe eczema on her face and nothing (i mean NOTHING) is working. I've been on a total elimination diet for 2 months now and only eating 5 foods that i prepare myself. i give her Solaray lifestart probiotic which claims it's dairy free and only has maltodextrin for the base....i think that's a corn byproduct. sometimes i think her face looks worse with the various oils and creams i've tried....even looks worse with evening primrose oil.

sorry to hijack the thread! i didn't mean to go on and on here.

[SAmama]

We got some from Custom Probiotics, www.customprobiotics.com. It seems pricey, but the CFU is much higher than normal health food store ones. You would want to get only b.infantis for your babe, but while you are at it get one for yourself and also add probiotic foods to your diet. We used Babylife from Solaray as well and the maltodextrine gave dd a sandpaper rash all over her body. So did many lotions. So dh makes a lotion with water, oil, aloe gel and beeswax. He is still playing with the proportions, but it is better than just plain oil, which is what we used after we gave up on Eucerin and Cetaphil and the likes.
Also, have you tried taking digestive enzymes with your meals? I am not doing it consistently yet, but trying to get in the habit of taking it myself and giving some to dd when she actually eats solids, and I really think it helps. I also think the total elimination diet set me and dd back rather than helped. So now I eliminate the main allergens and are going to start on a rotation diet. From what I have heard from many mamas this is a much better way to go.

[CrunchyMomto3]

We do use probiotics and fish oil with all the children. She is the only one with skin issues. I've been super consistent the past few days, always keeping her patches moist, and it really seems to be helping.

I think maybe it was partly my fault in that I wasn't keeping the oil on long enough...I was just applying it in the PM before bed. Now I'm keeping it on 24/7 and it's really making a difference!!

Is this something that they evenutally grow out of??

[serenetabbie]

Some people do outgrow it. My DH, for example, outgrew many of his allergies. I, OTOH, grew into excema and more allergies!

[SHRI]

Hi

Hi,
You should try homeopathy,so that the eczema is not suppressed.Homeopathic medicines will not only treat eczema but also improve the resistance of your baby.You can visit www.prohomeopathy.com,
www.hhomeopathy.com for online consultation.

Originally Posted by CrunchyMomto3

My 21 month old dd has a pretty nasty patch of eczema of her right cheek. It appeared out of nowhere right after Thanksgiving. I thought it was a reaction to ketchup, but after not clearing up for 3 weeks, I took her to the dermatologist who did a skin scraping and said it was not fungal and was "likely" eczema and gave us an Rx for 2.5% hydrocortosone. Before I tried that I did try Emu Oil and Lanolin. Both of those helped the eczema to clear up, so I didn't need to use the Rx and her skin was 100% okay by February.

Fast forward to April. The eczema is back; this time on both cheeks and temples. I tried the Emu Oil and Lanolin first...did nothing. So I used the Rx...that didn't work either. So now here we are into May and it seems to be itching her as I find her slapping at her face where the eczema is.

Her doctor doesn't seem to think that it's caused by her lovey (which is a gross cabbage patch doll) or her bedding, nor did she test positive for food/dairy allergies. I'm stumped.

Anyone have any thoughts or natural remedies that I haven't tried yet??

Thanks

[earthhugmama]

Originally Posted by SAmama

So dh makes a lotion with water, oil, aloe gel and beeswax. He is still playing with the proportions, but it is better than just plain oil, which is what we used after we gave up on Eucerin and Cetaphil and the likes.

SAmama: Thanks for the tips. Can I ask what your recipe is for the lotion? And how you make it? This sounds like something that I would like to make and use on DD1.

TIA.

[SAmama]

We just moved and the book where the recipe has not been found yet. DH is not home right now, but I will ask him when he gets back. He made some lotion again this week with some green tea and some chamomile tea in it. Dd has actually gotten worse again, but I think seasonal allergies are a big part of it. Her nose has been stuffy since we moved here as well as her eczema flaring. The lotion really is helping though. So, I will post that as soon as I have it.

[momma,mia]

There is a skin line by Arbonne. I think you can google it and find it. I was given some of the baby care and have used it on my 7 week old who has very sensitive skin. It is all natural and has worked really well for us so far.

I use the baby oil on her face several times a day. I was told to apply it as often as every diaper change. I think the oil is about$14 for 5+ ounces.

It would be worth a shot!

[Benji'sMom]

We use Aveno daily moisturizing lotions because that's what doctors recommend a lot of the time. (Any all natural type lotions actually DS break out in eczema - go figure - so all natural oils is just not an option for us.) But putting the Aveno on every morning really helps to control it.

[BusyMommy]

We managed to completely eliminate ds' eczema by seeing a specialist who looked for the cause rather than the symptoms as our allergist did. We tried all the creams in the world to help the symptoms but it wasn't until we saw a nutritionalist that we got rid of it.

GOOD LUCK--it's so tough!