Doctors for Treating Ezcema - Helen Chan

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arkcocoon

Registered User
My son suffers from really bad ezcema and a colleague recommended that we take him to see doctor helen chan (in central building, peddar street, central), who apparently specializes in skin allergies. Has anyone been to this doctor? How did you find her? Thanks very much for sharing. a
 
Sorry I have nothing to share on Helen Chan but just wanted to share my experience...

My daughter also has eczema and was told by 2 doctors that there's not much we can do about it. Was told to switch to soy milk (but didn't really help) and to moisturize the affected skin as often as possible to prevent from drying which causes it to itch. Tried several lotions until I finally found a lotion that contains oatmeal that really work wonders with my baby's rashes... unfortunately it's not being sold in HK, so have to bother friends to get them overseas... if you want to know the brand I can PM you (not to sure if I can post it in the forums).

I was also told by doctors that eczema usually gets better as baby's get older.
 
Helen Chan

We visited Dr.Helen Chan when my son had severe atopic excema. My son had the excema when he was 6month old. Now he is 3 years old and he has a beautiful skin.
Our story
The excema appeared when he was around 6 month old. I asked the peditrician what to do and he recommended a cream called ELIDEL. We used it but no success. I went to a dermatologist and he gave us a cream that contained cortison. This helped for the moment but the day we stopped it, the skin even became worse.
I read a lot in the Internet and studied a lot of articles;mixed with my common sense I came to the conclusion that NO cream will help my son unless I change his diet.
At that moment I had an appointment with Dr. Helen Chan.
She saw Fabian and she said that his excema was really serious and after making an allergy test, she was not confident in helping him as he reacted on all tested items.
She started a "treatment"
Bathing once a week-she gave us an oil( black in colour and awful smell)
She mixed two creams. One cream for "open"excema and one cream for "closed"excma. Those creams were excellent!
She recommened Soy Milk as the allergy test showed a strong reaction to cows products.
We tried Soy milk and it DID NOT work at all, even worse.
The last chance was NEOCATE, a very expensive formula. We tried and it also DID NOT work. I was helpless and I thought NOBODY can help Fabian.
At that moment we also introduced solids and I started with carrots. After introducing carrots the skin was a the most serious stage. I stopped carrots and I introduced very slowly solids to my son. I tried Pepti Junior formula and the skin became more stable.
I found out that atopic excema will be getting worse when feeding starch products, such as potatos, carrots, corn, etc,
Citrus fruits-that means too much vitamin C will also cause problems.
Prepare the food by yourself, otherwise you will never know the exact ingredients.

Based on my experience, do not trust the result of an allergy test made with a baby/toddler as a this stage they are weak and they will show a reaction in any way.

It's a perfect advise bathing the baby once a week only!

I believe that most excemas can be healed by using the correct diet.

If you need more information, please send a message

Margit
 
I took my son to Dr. Helen Chan when he was a year old. He is 3 years old now and has been eczema free for 2 years. He had severe atopic eczema in the beginning and like the rest, we've tried several kinds of creams to no success. At that point, i also did my own research and was interested in the link between food allergy and eczema. So a friend recommended us to Dr. Helen Chan and we did the allergy test.

With the same treatment indicated above (bath oil, creams) and avoiding the food he is allergic to, we saw a dramatic change in his skin immediately. And like i said, he has not had any recurrence of eczema. We also avoid lotions, colognes and regular bathing soap to avoid irritation.

We do the allergy test every 6 months because as babies grow, their immune system strengthens and reaction to food varies. I've seen my baby allergic to 25 out of the 50 items on the list when he was a year old and in our last test (a month ago), he is now just allergic to 8 of them.

Hope this helps
 
Thank You...

... so much everyone. Very much appreciate your sharing.

My husband could not wait any longer and so not having waited for your responses we took our son to dr helen chan yesterday.

I was so heartbroken though because my son did not stop crying for 45 minutes after they pricked those holes on his back. We really were not prepared for it - we were shown to the space right outside the doctor's office and before we knew it, my son's clothes were taken off, he was clamped down by the nurses and they started the pricking. My son could not stop crying whilst i held him up (as instructed by the nurses to ensure that the marks don't get rubbed off). Neither the doctor or the nurses offered any help or comfort during that 45 minutes. every time we asked how much longer its going to take we get the same answer - "just in a short while". that short while turned out to be 45 minutes by the end of which my son was utterly exhausted from crying and i started crying too.

I hope the treatment does work because I really cannot imagine subjecting my baby to the same test again.

I was most disappointed with the way the doctor and the nurse handled my baby.

a
 
I'm so sorry to hear about your son's eczema. I had severe eczema all my life and tried every lotion and potion around. I have written about my experience on another thread, search the forums for eczema and you should find it. I hope Helen Chan works for you, if not, please try 'Integrated Medicine Institute' in Central. The website is www.imi.com.hk.

Good luck
 
Felicia, I'm afraid I did not get your PM. How can I send you a PM? thanks

I just realized that the creams that dr helen chen prescribed for my baby are hydrocortizone and neomycin - neither of which should be administered for a prolonged period... I'm so worried about the side effects... I hope my baby gets well soon. a
 
Arkcocoon- unfortunately, the bedside manner of Dr. Helen Chan and her staff are really not ideal. We went through the same experience as you and I also cried the first time. Imagine, my son was a year old then! I can totally emphatize with you. Having said that, passage of time does not change the way my son reacts to the test, I just try to explain to him that it will help him heal and relieve him of all the itchiness.

Wondering why the creams given to you had hydrocortizone and neomycin. Those given to us were just natural oils.

Hang in there.
 
Margit,

sounds like my daughter is like your son. She has severe food allergies and ONLY by changing her diet did we see a difference in her skin. Hmmm, interesting to read your starch -reaction statement....my daughter is allergic to potatos, sweet potatos, and a whole host of other things. now I am wondering if she is allergic to the whole group of starchy foods???? You seems very experienced in this area, and you seems new too in this forum? I would love to hear your experiences with your son and any tips that you would give to other mummies with eczema kids. In particular, would you mind sharing the list of foods that your son is NOT allergic to, so that I can try them on my duaghter too? I try new foods for my daughter every week but it is soooo disheartening that she seems to react to more foods than she can eat!! You can PM me if you wish, or email me at [email protected]. Thanks in advance... I live near Clearwater Bay, and would love to meet you if you have time. I can travel anywhere though.
 
Arkcocoon, I am sorry to read of your bad experience with the doctor. I remembered I cried too when my daughter had a blood test at 1 year old, it was so traumatic for me not her!! Your doctor should have prepared you beforehand what to expect before the skin prick test. My daughter got her test done in Australia and her allergist was extremely good, warning us how the test entailed and that the test looked worse than it really was - the pricks are like mosquito bites on her skin, so we were all prepared when our daughter cried. He also let us hold onto our daughter (ie she sat on my lap, arms around me, back facing doctor) when the test was being carried out, and i find this calmed her a lot. Maybe you should request, no demand, thatw hen it is time for the next skin prick test.
 
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