I took my dd to the doctor today & she thought that dd may have ecxema. I have noticed dry spots before, but not as they were today. Does anyone have any suggestions. Also I used sunscreen on her for the first time Monday & she broke out on Tuesday she had about 7 dry patches.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 06:47 am:

Oh boy, does that sound familiar! Both my kids have eczema and are sensitive to perfumes & dyes, etc. in lotions, soap, detergents,... One sun block in particular made both of them break out in hives. I *think* it was a Banana Boat brand. They both do fine with Coppertone KIDS - SPF 40, 6 Hr. waterproof. Since switching to perfume and dye free soaps and detergents they've been doing MUCH better. We use Eucerin and/or Cetaphil often. During winter months we do baths every other night. Frequent bathing can irritate eczema and dry out the skin.

By Fionadeassis on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 09:58 am:

Yup-went through the hell of excema with Eliah. He had it TERRIBLY on his face when he was a year old.

He always has little dry patches still on his body. In the winter he gets red itchy weepy spots in the creases of his elbows and knees.

We had to be careful of which detergent we used in the laundry-also we stopped using bounce sheets and that helped a lot.

We bathe Eliah as infrequently as we can(luckily he is not a very messy dirty kid). Baths are really drying.....

good luck!

By Debbie on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 10:41 am:

My oldest ds has eczema. Like Trina, we do baths every other night in the winter and I am real careful about using dye free detergents. I also use about 1/2 the recommended amount. We use Lubriderm lotion morning and night and it has helped a lot. Ds did have an outbreak of red blotches this winter. I think it was because of our move up north and the colder weather. When ds has an outbreak, I use a new nonsteroid cream that his doctor prescribed. As far as sunscreen, I use Coppertone Waterbabies spf 45. We have had good luck with this.

By Coopaveryben on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 09:29 pm:

My youngest had exzema and I got baby Exzema cream (I found it at the drug store), it was a 4oz tube and cost about 10.00 but well worth it. It helped, it didn't completely clear it up but it sure did help. Thank goodness he has outgrown it.

I also had to be careful not to use fabric softner or harsh detergents.

By Monicamomof3 on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 10:54 pm:

I would suggest that you get to the root of the allergy. I started with keeping a diet diary of the foods my dd ate. After a couple weeks I noticed it was yellow cheese. I would eliminate eggs, soy and cheese. These are known as high allergen foods. Then, add them back slowly- one at a time. Later, I noticed that red jello caused her to break out as well. So, stay away from the foods she is allergic to. Now, it is completely under control year round! (unless she gets really nervous.) Good Luck!!!

By Emily7 on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 11:30 pm:

I am wondering if it maybe the sun. BIL was allergic to it when he was younger. I will have to askMIL if it looks the same, hopefully she will remember!

By Missy3 on Thursday, May 6, 2004 - 10:27 am:

As I was told Exzema was a sign of an allergy. Try and remember what you gave to your child. OR start a diary. Emily7--as ong as there is a history of allergies in your family no matter to what, your children could have ANYTHING to be allergic to. I am allergic to eggs, my DD is allergic(DEATHLY) to tree nuts and peanuts.

Eucerin is a great cream as well as Moisturel ($$$).

By Emdee on Thursday, May 6, 2004 - 01:48 pm:

Okay, after reading the posts I have some questions: My dd (1 year old) has excema supposedly (per dermatologist), although it isn't what I thought it was supposed to be. Her hands got it first--red rash all over and skin cracking and bleeding. Lately her legs, arms, etc have had these red bumps all over and dr said it was excema, but he didn't say anything about allergies. Any hints? I have perscription Ellidel cream and try Eucerin, but the Eucerin doesn't seem to do much. Thanks!

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, May 6, 2004 - 02:56 pm:

Emdee, from what I understand, eczema can be caused by allergies but not always. More info here:
Eczema: FAQ

By Amecmom on Thursday, May 6, 2004 - 03:38 pm:

They don't know what causes eczema. It can be an allergy, it can be a nervous reaction, t can be anything! I think mine is triggered by the cold weather. It could be that your daughter's is triggered by the heat? Did the derm. write a perscription for her? Some eczema does not respond well to over-the-counter stuff.
Ame

By Missy3 on Thursday, May 6, 2004 - 07:10 pm:

Ohh the poor thing. check out that sight and let us know. you can always get a second professional opinion...

By Christylee on Thursday, May 6, 2004 - 10:24 pm:

My nephew has eczema really bad and is just like you described Emdee. They said his probably stemmed from the fact that he was born early and his lungs weren't fully developed at birth AND he had water in his lungs when he was born. They said he'll eventually outgrow it but it is horrible, you just know they have to be so uncomfortable.

I bought some lotion made from Johnson's and Johnson's recently and she says it works really well, I'll find out the name of it from my sister.

By Kernkate on Friday, May 7, 2004 - 08:56 am:

My DS who is 9 had eczema very bad when he was younger, and I also had problems with sunscreen, the only one that I could use on him were the sunscreens from Avon.
Oatmeal baths always seems to ease it for Brett.
As he did get older he did seem to outgrow it.
I used the Eucerin and had very good results with that but it did take a day or two to notice it working.
Brett also has allergies to alot of things, but the eczema has gone away in the past 4 years.
Best of luck.

By Tklinreston on Friday, May 7, 2004 - 11:09 am:

This is going to be long! My ds who is four is now into his 3rd week of an ezcema outbreak. The day he started, he was outside playing and sweating alot because it was a much warmer day than it had been for weeks and he sweats alot in general. He also has hayfever. Poor guy was soo itchy, especially at nights, I literally laid in bed with him all night trying to prevent him from scatching... He's scabby all over. A few suggestions....

1. As mentioned above, bath as infrequently as possible. I wash my ds' hair over the sink when he isn't bathing. He loves it! The Aveeno oatmeal bath is good when you do bathe. Keep the water lukewarm and soak him in it for at least 15-20 minutes so the water goes deep into his skin cells. Hot water will dry out his skin. Don't use perfumed soap... non perfume & dye Ivory works well.. and no scubbing. After the bath blot dry, and apply lotion immediately... eucerin or cetaphil works well.

2. Dress her in 100% cotton clothing, breathable and light, so that she doesn't sweat. Sweating can cause outbreaks and that's why you see eczema intensified in the folds of the elbows and behind the knees. If you're dd is playing actively and you know she'll sweat, my doctor, advised me to put Maalox on the skin and let it dry. It creates a barrier in the skin.

3. Apply non-itchy cream, such as prescription Elidel. For my ds it didn't help much and he is on a prescription cream with some steroid in it. I will apply it only twice a day, very thinly, on the infected areas for one week and will apply once a day for one more week. My doctor assures me that such limited use will not have any adverse affects but to avoid the face due to possible discoloration. I give him Benadryl before bed so that he can sleep better.

I hope this helps alittle.

Oh, by the way, can anyone suggest the name of a good laundry detergent I can use???

By Trina~moderator on Friday, May 7, 2004 - 11:28 am:

Joyce, anything that is perfume and dye free should be OK. Wisk and I *think* ALL both sell a perfume and dye free detergent.

Downy has a "Free" version as well. It's in a white bottle.

By Emily7 on Friday, May 7, 2004 - 11:58 am:

Thank you guys for all the information! Its hard to tell what is causing it, I am making a jounal of everything I eat & comes in contact with.

By Missy3 on Friday, May 7, 2004 - 12:28 pm:

emily let us know, as i am curious

By Amecmom on Friday, May 7, 2004 - 01:30 pm:

All Free & Clear is good and so is Dreft.

By Tink on Friday, May 7, 2004 - 09:18 pm:

I have suffered from exzema my entire life. I haven't outgrown it and I have no other allergies including hayfever. I don't react to soap or heat or cold or anything I eat. It's just there all the time. Mine is also on my hands and feet and it the blisters that crack and ooze. The only thing that helps is the Rx creams and an oatmeal bath. I'm not being discouraging, just letting you know that there may not be a cause. I recently had my first outbreak on another part of my body (legs) and saw my dermatologist who prescribed a new cream. He told me that it is fairly common for the exzema to stop responding to a cream after a period of time. Arm & Hammer also does a laundry soap that is perfume and dye free.

By Machick on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 06:16 pm:

My 10 month old daughter has excema really bad since she was about 1 month old. It has been really challenging. I was breastfeeding at first and went on a strict diet to see if she was allergic to anything I was eating. Then around 6 months I changed her to hypoallergenic formula. I was so frustrated. Nothing was helping and I hated giving her steroid cream! I have been to two dermatologists and this is what I do to help with the outbreaks:
1. Moisturize often! Vaseline seems to work the best.
2. Dress her in 100% cotton and cover arms and legs so she can not scratch.
3. Wash all her clothes and yours in All Clear detergent and double rinse new clothes. Our family members also wash their clothes in All Clear and wear cotton shirs as well. She would break out on her face when people would hold her.
4. Bath with aveeno. I also have another moisturizer for her water, which came from the doctors office (expensive). I use Aquanil cleanser to clean her face, hair and body. You can buy it from the pharmacist without a prescription. Aquanil also makes a lotion with 1% hydrocortisone.
5. I use VASALINE or aveeno lotion within 3 minutes of her bath so it aborbs in her skin.
6. At first she used dermatop (sparingly) then after 2 weeks we started using protopic.

I am having a hard time finding a sunscreen that will not break her out. Any suggestions?

By Renee on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 07:46 am:

My 7 year old has had bad eczema since she was a couple years old. We've learned to use All Free and Downy Free to wash her clothes. I use ivory soap and I switch around for shampoos to find something that is free of everything.

She is not allergic to anything.. well anything that they tested her for so we attribute it to just having sensitive skin. We try to give baths as far apart as possible and do not put stuff on her skin. Unfortunately, she doesnt follow this and is always writing on herself with marker which flares it up.

We use precription creams. Locoid is very good as is the new one of protopic.