Allergies and eczema in HongKong

W

wanfamily

Registered User
2 days after we arrived in HK (last July), my then 2 year old came out with eczema all over her body. Since then we've been in constant battle with it.... special moisturisers, steroid cream (though I hate using it). The only thing that seems to clear it up is oral antihistamines. I seem to have come to a blank wall with the doctor, who says its just a common thing here and ummed and ahhed when I said I prefer to find out the cause than just mask the symptoms by pumping her full of drugs!
I'm thinking of getting her allergy tested as the effect of antihistamines seems to point to an allergy. Has anyone else had a similar experience or had a young child tested? Do they do intolerance testing (IgG antibodies) as well as IgE (classic allergy) testing? ( I am not severly allergic to anything, but got tested a few years ago and found out I produce IgE antibodies to 9 different kinds of food!) Any advice, recommended doctors appreciated!
 
Hi wanfamily,

We took our daughter to Dr Adrian Wu in Princes Building. He does a scratch test so far less traumatic than a blood test for infants. Turned out my daughter is allergic to egg and soy which was passing through my breastmilk. Now that I've stopped eating egg and soy, my daughter's ezcema, which was bad, has cleared up. Hope this helps.
 
I support what PutPut said and would strongly recommend getting allergy testing done.

As a child I also suffered badly with eczema and so was put through the full scale of allergy testing. It really is important to try and identify the cause of the eczema as opposed to just using steriod creams whenever the eczema flares up. The doctor was able to identify citric acid as my trigger (oranges especially!) and so I avoid these foods as much as possible. I have also found that using topical creams that are designed for sensitive skin the best for preventing flare ups.

It's interesting, the more 'acidic' my body becomes (eg. lots of fruit and sugars) the more I have problems with eczema, the more 'alkaline' (eg. lots of vegetables!) the better I am. It really is amazing how much a varied and balanced diet helps!

I really hope this helps. Eczema is never fun and I hope you find a solution that works for your little one.
 
You can go and see Dr Lynn Lim who practices NAET. She will test your child for allergies by just having hold some allergens and checking energy in her body. I didn't want to believe it but I have seen her worked with a little girl i used to work with who had severe allergies ( anaphylaxis). it quite amazing and if you go on the NAET website, you can read more about the method. The little girl moved to san Francisco and most of her eczema is gone...
 
Thanks so much... I'll definitely check out these contacts. A lot of people have just said to me 'it's a normal thing in Hk.' but I hate seeing her suffer. BTW using sun cream really stings her, even though I buy the gentlist stuff recommended for babies. Unfortuntately she is really fair skinned and needs the protection if we play outside. Anyone recommend any brands?
 
Considered water?

My son also has eczema and we tried cutting down on alot of things, still, the skin flares up until one day, we switched his water source from tap water to bottled water and it worked! I don't know what chemicals is in our tap water that his body had reacted to, but you may want to give this try as well. It worked very well for my son, who has stopped scratching his skin as they don't itch much anymore after the water switch.
 
DD has sensitive skin (to the point where her whole body broke out in eczema and she had a fever for three days after her four year old immunisations. Dr said this was her body reacting so strongly to the immunisations! It looked like measles) we have tried a lot of stuff and in the end settled on sorbalene (a non-perfumed moisturiser) for washing with and then steroid cream (.05 or.1%) when it gets really bad followed by an antihistamine for the scratching. I also have Elidel for her face which is specially designed for face eczema and works a treat. Nothing else has worked and playing with all the different potions was beginning to wear at me!

It comes and goes and I have found it has very little to do with what country we are in. I had her allergy tested in HK but only did one test and it came back negative (the tests were very $$$). I have been meaning to follow it up again but have not yet.
 
what are dr adrian wu's charges? my son just broke out in major rash/hives. his doc says it's difficult to pinpoint what triggered it, could be food, grass, beddings etc. Not sure if I'm completely convinced though.
 
I use banana Boat, the baby one, in a pink tube. it used to be the only one my little one didn't complain about. Even the expensive/allergen free brands were irritating her skin.
 
THANK YOU!!! for recommending Dr. Adrian Wu. At first I hesitated because he is so expensive and we are not covered for this on our insurance, but it turned out to be the best 2000 HKD I've ever spent! We didn't need an allergy test in the end. Instead of just sighing and saying 'mmm ezcema is so common in HK@, he took a really good look and noticed small signs of a bacterial infection. Apparrently, this bacteria (Staphyloccus aurus), can make the immune system go crazy and hence the 'allergy type reaction'. Anyway, a few days of antibiotics, 'wet wrapping' and a 'bleach bath' , my daughter's eczema has completely cleared up. For the first time in over a year, she has baby soft skin again. Just wish I'd done it sooner instead of believing all the 'HK and eczema - nothing we can do!'
 
my son is a patient of dr.thondup in repulse bay. we have an appt with dr. adrian wu tomorrow for a scratch test. my son has been breaking out all in hives since the weekend. nothing new has been introduced so really the hives could be from anything - latex, a certain food, milk etc...babies can not have any allergy to something then over time create a sensitivity to it. we are doing the scratch test because my son is 17 monthns old and the blood test is not that accurate for children under 2 years.
 
Hi wanfamily,
We went through exactly the same situation as you - from being desperate because we could not clear up my daughter's eczema (it was really really bad!) to wishing we had known Dr Wu before! His diagnostic and treatment was the same as for your daughter.
Now, whenever I see a little eczema patch coming up, I would simply do the wet wrapping and it disappears like it's magic!
How old is your daughter? Mine is 4. I have not done the bleach bath yet. I must say this 'scares' me a little bit. Have you tried it? How was it? Thanks for sharing.
 
HI Tulip,
My daughter is 3. We were a bit scared about doing the bleach bath as it sounds so drastic. In reality, it's just like a swimming pool - slightly stronger. We just made sure she didn't put her face in it and we rinsed her off thoroughly afterwards. She was completely fine in it. (Funny thing is the last doctor advised us against all bathing and swimming pools in particular!)
 
Hi ,, I am trying to track down a brand called mini organics in Hong Kong.. They have a 3 step plan for ezcema which is totally organic, and apparently it works very well.. they have details on their site, and I am thinking of ordering it from Australia if I cannot find it here.. but I am told it is sold here ...somewhere
 
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