Excema

[Minstrel]

Sorry I know there was a threaed the other day but i can't find it.

I have a question. My son has been prescribed Cetraben cream and bath emolliant and although the doc sayd use twice a day and bath twice a week, i'm not actually sure how much i should be using.

At the moment i put it on quite thick and leave it to soak in. Is this ok? And how much of the bath stuff do i put in?

[sarah707]

In the bath I use so much it's a slip hazard... but water dries ds's skin out horribly so he needs lots.

Up to half a tub a bath if he's bad - just order more and more and more.

Creaming after bath - pat dry (never rub) with a soft (not rough use a tumble dryer though not fabric softener!) towel and apply a thin layer as below.

Creaming generally - thin layer, smoothed in (not rubbed) in the direction of the hair growth - so down the legs and calf, round the lower arms, down the upper arms etc.

When itching during the day - thin layer and have a drink to hydrate from the inside out.

it's not the itch that causes the problem... it's the damage from the itch. So treat the itch and the skin won't get as damaged.

Oh and nearly forgot - if he's using bandages / wet wrapping it's a thicker layer.

And please remember, however awful it looks, it will heal eventually and it doesn't kill.

Are they doing allergy tests? If not push for them and consider keeping a food diary.

Hth

[Minstrel]

Thanks Sarah. Is there anything you don't know about?

He had it as a baby all over his chest around weaning age so I was told it would settle once fully weaned which it did.

Over the past year he has started to get dry patches and I was told to just use a good moisturiser.

Gradually its got worse and he has it in all the classic places, behind the knees, elbows.

GP is hoping its just time of year, central heating etc and suspects it will get better in the summer. Will re-evalute next summer and put him on something stronger if no improvement.

I did suggest food allergies as he is allergic to bananas but she said no need at this stage

[sonia ann]

ditto to everything that sarah has just said

[nannymcflea]

It is worse this time of year due to the heating,drying out the air. Try a humidifier to put moisture back into his bedroom overnight. Or a dish of water near the top of the radiator.

I make sure dd wears a long sleeve, slightly too small jammie top so she cannot pull it up to scratch, keep nails very short too.

Oh and make sure your hubby doesn't let your lo have half a chocolate cereal bar for pudding...she's lactose intolerent! I go out for one night of makaton training and her eczema is up over her face.....men!

hope your son is itch free soon.

[diddledumplings]

My LO did has has bouts of excema since she was born to the point where it looked like a burn where her nappy had rubbed the skin away.

I was using emolients in baths and got steriod creams prescibed when it got bad.

I ran out of emolient one day so used a boots body butter that I used when I was pregnant (supposed to reduce risk of stretchmarks) as anythings better than nothing and it did clear up her dry skin.

She started to flare up again with dry patches and itchiness this winter so I used the body butter again and the dry patches have cleared up.

[It's a small world]

My ds has doublebase and hydromol . He also has hydrocortisone. Like Sarah he has the wraps ( tops and bottoms made from like bandage material) has these on wet every other day . he's pretty bad at the moment and itches that much cuts, bleeds then picks the scabs now scarring himself. He has not heating in his bedroom and can only be bathed every couple of days and we can't put anything in his bath as he appears to react to everything- oilatum, wheatgerm ( or whatever it's called) we've tried porridge oats, herbal remidies - everything . Like Sarah says it's the damage from the itch that's worse. We wash all he clothes with Fairy as reacts to everything else - always tumble dry as been told hus ezcema - atopic ezcema -is caused by the outside- grass and things that generally float around in the air. Has reaction to other things too like sand!!!! I'm taking him back to specialists as seemsto be getting worse and creams not helping. It's sooo sad to see him scratch constantly. But he's still. Happy child and now he's older understands it more. Just remember your not alone- don't think I've helped much and sorry to have gone on!!!!

[sonia ann]

http://www.eczema.org/

I found these people invaluable when my son was small. He is 23yrs now and still suffers badly from it but has learned to live with it and is laid back and happy.