Question about eczema

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pameladell30

Registered User
When your baby's eczema is weepy, do you still put moisturizer on it????
I've always wondered whether putting moisturizer when it's weepy actually helps or will it make it worse?

FYI:
We have brought him to a pediatrician before and even went to see a dermatologist, they both prescribed the same thing, cortisones plus creams. It's just getting worse, I'm so sad.
 
Have you tried changing his food?
We had the same thing in the Uk and it did seem to make him worse, cortisone creams, he was ALL weeping skin. We thought maybe he was allergic to milk, which ran in the family, but doctors said no and gave him all sorts of antibiotics etc, horrible stuff designed by idiots who never tried getting it IN a baby.

Then after months of tests my MIL visi8ted, took 1 look and said' he IS allergic to milk'- he was breastfeeding and I don't drink much milk so we were sceptical but tried it. Anything to stop having to practically tie him up and stop him waking covered in blood from scratching his face on his sheets. And it helped.

When we were in NZ I eventually stopped breastfeeding, as whatever I tried to cut out eating wasn't working, and put him on a special cow-milk- free formula (which we can't get in HK) and he is MUCH better. The annoying thing is, from 6 months on nearly every parent seeing his wee red patches (flare up now & then when he tries a new food that has milk in it we didn't notice) said' is he allergic to cow milk'. LOADS of babies have it.

Now he's 11 months we are using goats milk powder as we try to wean him, can get it in some supermarkets - its not formula but he eats/ drinks other stuff so is OK.

Also I found Bepanthen very good - the nappy rash cream? I put that on every few hours when he has a patch, with the cortisone 1x day as prescribed to keep infection down. Hes almost OK most of the time now...

good luck!
 
Hi pameladell30, don't know if you want to give this a try but I did it on my daughter once her skin goes red or weepy and it does work. You need to heat up some cooked rice and place it into a muslin cloth or maybe a face cloth if you find the rice too hot. You don't mention how old your child is but when the rice has cooled down but not too cool or cold, dab it on his/her skin.
I think the rice somehow absorbs the wetness or redness. Afterwards put some moisturiser on top. There is no side effects and no need to use cortisone creams. No harm trying if you are desperate. My mother in law does it for her own skin (of course she can bear the heat) and I've actually seen it goe down after a few trys.
Hope this helps.
 
Hi, my baby too has gone through the experience of having weepy wounds from eczema. I resisted applying too much hydrocortisone on him as its steroid, but it eventually got worse. My paed advised to put it on the weepy wound anyway to dry it up. I was relunctant initially but I figured the effect of not applying could be worse than if I do. So I applied it sparingly twice a day and the wound dried up after 2 applications. In hind side I thought I should have listened and apply the hydrocortisone much sooner than to have caused my baby to scratch himself so much his wounds was weepy all over his scalp. Do follow your instincts and do what's best. Just wanted to share my experience. Also, when the wound is weepy, try not to dry it with tissue and do allow the skin to dry itself. I don't moisturize the weepy wounds.

Fyi, I breastfeed and found my baby allergic to eggs. Everytime I had eggs the rash just came back.
 
Eczema and food allergy

Hello,

My 8 month old has been getting increasingly red with eczema and we suspect a food allergy as it started around when we introduced solids. Have only given him veggies (no eggs, milk, wheat, nuts or meat/ seafood). He is breastfed and also has goat milk. We were recomended a blood test but I hesitate...

- Do any of you have eczema babies allergic to veggies or rice?
- Have blood tests helped you with allergies that are not from the main types?

Thanks!

Myriam
 
My six and a half month old son has some eczema on and off and we just started him on veggies and congee last week. He also had some pear this week and so far I haven't seen any reaction that is out of the ordinary. He had some rash on his face a few days ago, but it wasn't anything different than what he had before and he had it after eating plain congee for a few days so I don't think it had to do with his food.

As for testing for allergies - my pediatrician has already recommended that we test our son after he is 9 months old. Not sure if we would do a blood test or a skin test - can't remember even if my pediatrician told me which one yet. She said that the accuracy of the results are a lot better after the baby has reached 9 months old, so that is why we are waiting until then.

I don't really see any harm in doing the test. Just curious, but why do you hesitate? Is it a pediatrician that recommended the blood test or a friend? If it was a friend and you are concerned, why don't you take your child to a pediatrician and see what they recommend?
 
Our family has a history of eczema. We moisturize both of our children with generic aqueous cream (available at any pharmacy) after every bath as a precaution, but the rashes can flare up from time to time for no apparent reason. We also have to keep their nails fairly short. One thing that I've found to be very effective is a traditional home-made preparation. Someone recommended that we take a bitter gourd (the smaller the gourd, the more bitter and effective), mash a section with a little water, bring to boil and let coil in a refrigerator. I usually just put it into the microwave for 15 seconds. Then, dab onto skin with a cotton pad onto rashes. We have friends with children who have eczema rashes all over their bodies, so they make buckets of this. I have no idea why, but the rashes will generally get better within 10 minutes are so when we treat this quickly. I haven't had to use steroids since, but it does mean we have to stock our refrigerator with a regular supply of bitter gourd!

My doctor friends aren't crazy about the allergy tests, because there are generally a lot of false positives. One can test positive for a particular allergen and have no adverse effect to its consumption. However, do go with your instincts - I believe parents are in the best position to determine what their children really need. Good luck everyone!
 
Was concerned about the allergy tests as the results are apparently not very useful and can be stressful to deal with, but we may go for it now as this is getting worst.

Thanks for the bitter gound advice!

Wildcatfin: why do you use goats milk power instead of goats milk formula? Do you get less of a reaction that way? Just wondering as I am afraid my little one could be reacting to the Holle goats milk formula he gets, but cow's milk would be worst and soy is not great...anyone given alternative formula? I have read about meat based formulas that are good for eczema but not seen any here.

thanks!

myriam
 
my boy is also suffering from eczema. When I was in HK last month, his condition worsen as compared to when we were in Canada. I think its the humidity and the pollution acting up. But of course he is also allergy to certian food, I had a food allergy test done while I was in HK and have just receive the result last week. We found out that he was actually to a whole bunch of diary products including milk, cheese, yogurt, wheat, etc

Now we have put him on a soya based formula and his condition have improved greatly.
 
I can echo what many on this thread have said: that eczema may be related to food allergies. My son (at the time 9 months) had bad eczema under his major joints and under his chin. He was breastfed but from month 8 on got quite irritable around feeding time. We tried formula at month 9 and he immediately turned red and we were on our way to the hospital when the allergy attack subsided. We went back to breast milk but noticed that even the slightest amount of milk product I consumed made its way to my milk and would upset him. Unfortunately there are trace amounts of milk in so many things out there and our son is SO allergic. It proved impossible to fully eliminate milk so we put him on a formula called Pepti Jr, a hypo-allergenic formula (basically they break the milk proteins down to amino acids and these don't set off the allergic reaction). This is available at Mannings throughout Hong Kong (only the ones with pharmacies, and not in the formula section, but at the pharmacy; the Prince's building has one, there is one across from the Mongkok MTR, but many other locations too). This did wonders for him: his mood improved, and within two days his eczema had really subsided. Anyway, just be aware that even the slightest bit of allergen you consume may make its way into your milk. A blood-based allergy test may help you identify which, if any, allergies your child has.
 
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