Eczema

How can I prevent eczema in my child?

Eczema
Eczema is the common name for atopic dermatitis, which is an allergic skin condition that is characterized by dry, itching skin. The itching that accompanies eczema often leads to scratching. The scratching them produces weeping, infected skin. The weeping and crusted skin is what doctors refer to as eczema. Sufficent scratching will produce a thickened, rough skin that is a characteristic of chronic eczema.

The underlying probelm with eczema is the inability of the skin to retain adequate amounts of water and the skin of the infected child is very dry and itchy. If there is weeping or crusting, the skin has been infected with bacteria and a visit to the doctor should be made. Some children may have brief manifestations with eczema, while other children will suffer with the conditon into their adult life.

Eczema runs in families with asthma and allergic rhinitis. A variety of conditions, such as infection, sweating, food allergy and stress can aggravatethe eczema. Infants rarely show signs of the conditon at birth and the first signs are often red, chapped cheeks. Infants do tend to rub the itchy areas and cause secondary infections. Frequent handwashing can make the skin dry and aggravate the problem further.

You can avoid certain factors that make your child's eczema worse. Avoid wool, which tends to aggravate itching. Because excessively warm clothing can make your child sweat, do not overdress your child. Because itching can be worse at night, light nightwear is important. Keep your child's fingernails cut short so that he does not scratch as much. Frequent bathing makes the problem worse. Avoid using soap, fragranced lotions and bubble baths because they can further irritate the skin and make your child's itching worse. Use Lubriderm, Keri or Eucerin cream for dry skin.

If you suspect that your child has eczema, you should call the child's doctor and schedule an appointment. The doctor will examine your child's skin and determine whether the problem is eczema. If home treatment has not improved the problem, steroid creams and lotions may be prescribed. If crusted or weeping lesions are present, bacterial infection is likely and an oral antibiotic will be prescribed. Your doctor may also advise using an oral antihistamine to reduce the itching sensation.

Comments: Eczema

Comments 1 to 20 of about 20.
1

jeffcontrera512 - 528 days ago.
Hi im Jeff, 22 years of age and im suffering from Eczema disease on my hands and arms. It goes for a while but it comes back infected and inflamed. I always looked around me and saw other people's hands and arms in perfect condition. I can remember whwn I was bullied so much in Secondary School because of my Exema and I was treated like dirt. From my own experience I learned that there is no quick fix for eczema. To reverse eczema you must address the causes of the disease. The causes of eczema can be our genetic state, our nutritional history, and/or the toxic burden we are faced with from our foods and our living and working environments. I was looking on the internet for some natural remedy to relieve Eczema and I found some http://tiny.cc/22eov here. I only tried it for 6 days and I saw a huge improvement on my eczema. This morning I woke up with none of the normal red blotchy dry skin on my hands that I used to wakes up with every morning.

tiffJD - 632 days ago.
my daughter's severe eczema cleared up after her dermatologist prescribed Locoid cream. We used it all over twice a day for four weeks, until she was totally clear. Now we only use it on the rough patches when she has a flaire up. Also, we only bathe her in Vani Soap and use Cetaphil Cleanser for her face. However, we can use Johnson & Johnson shampoo and other products on her hair. we only use Vaseline petroleum jelly as 'lotion' and slather her up twice a day. This regimine has worked for us and I am so thankful. She drinks soy formula (was breastfed for 7 months) and I try not to give her any dairy (although things maid with dairy like cake, bread etc., don't seem to bother her). My daughter first broke out at 3 months and was covered with oozing sores from the eczema and it caused all her hair to fall out. She's 11 months old now and her skin is clear and her hair is growing back in.

lovingmybabyboy - 666 days ago.
My son was diagnosed with Eczema last week and he was broke out all over his body from head to toe. I took all of the Johnson & Johnson's body wash, shampoos, lotions, and everything back to the store and exchanged it for Baby Aveeno and his skins has cleared up already..It's only been 3 days since ive been using the entire Baby Aveeno line and im so thankful for it....They even have the Hydrocortizone cream made by Aveeno for babies...it's pricey but so worth it..i would recommend giving it a try before getting pricey prescriptions..

nena-loe - 687 days ago.
my son is 8 years old and suffers from seriouse eczeema probs...it is def food related...ever since he whent to the derm. we were told to stop all dairy..all nuts..(seeds

nena-loe - 687 days ago.
my son is 8 years old and suffers from seriouse eczeema probs...it is def food related...ever since he whent to the derm. we were told to stop all dairy..all nuts..(seeds ok) ne thing with raw eggs..like mayo,egg nog.ect., any thing with caffine (his major downfall for rashes) like soda and chocolate, any seafood, regular low mercury fish was actually advised to help tho, and after years of wondering why it got so much better but not quite under controle we found out that soy products was a no-no in some children too...after switching him to rice milk he was like 90 % better better...he got dry patches everyonce in a while but nowhere near the way it used to be! there are other things too that def make a huge difference....we switched him to exclusivly dove soap (even now if he uses ne thing else he will start up) but there are things u cannot controle like temps outside and perfumes ppl wear or dyes in food/clothing...so we had him on benydrel at night cuz thats usually when he got worse but then switched him to clariten when he got older. also keep ur baby cool cus they say on here its due to dry skin which is true but also excessive moisture (like sweating) will speed up the rash too... thats why alot of times they get it in the creases/folds of their skin,elbows and knees. also if its due to dry patches not sweaty patches...i found the best thing to do do not allow to be in tub for more then 15 mins...use cool/luke warm water...and use Eucerine cream after...or auquaphore (made by eucerine) because there is no perfumes/dyes to irritate and its the only thing i found that dosent sting when put on the open skin...its thick though but the worst thing u can do is cover the spots with bandages after so i suggest buying sheets u dont mind getting messed up and save the good ones for better days. i have heard and im not saying how reliable this is... that sea salt supprisingly is good for eczeema too...particularly from the dead sea...well it tends to get pricy but u know what? since moving to florida a few months back and hitting the beach here...thats when my sons skin turned around completley...i dont know if its a fluke or what but if i knew that back then i woulda brought regular sea salts for his baths...instead of putting it off cuz i didnt have the money for the dead sea stuff! good luck to everyone! i really hope all ur lo's get better. (oh one more thing...try buying the laundry soap thats dye/fragrance free and skip using fabric softner and dryer sheets for a lil while on things and see how that works....i found out the detergent i used was ok but when i stopped the softner/sheets it helped alot with itching)

ac225 - 774 days ago.
It sounds like you have a very difficult issue on your hands. As many have alluded to already there seems to be an abundance of methods to tackle eczema with some more fruitful than others. You may have heard of a few natural methods which are starting to become increasingly popular of late, one of which was tried by a family member. We were all really pleased to see very favourable results over a long term and so it’s something I thought I would mention in the hope that you may find it beneficial. After a lot of internet trawling I came across one site that appears to be a very safe source of reliable information as it provides a comparison and review of natural eczema treatments (www.doctorzreview.co.uk). I really hope this is somewhat useful! Best of luck!

tiffJD - 889 days ago.
My 3 month old daughter is suffering from severe eczema and nothing I do has given her any relief. She is miserable from the itching and has rubbed her skin raw in places. She's breastfed exclusively so her pediatrician told me to pump for a week and give her Alimentum formula, but my daughter refuses to drink the formula (I don't blame her, it is really stinky!) We have an appointment with a dermatologist today, so hopefully we can get some help. For those of you whose babies are suffering with eczema, have you found it to be triggered by a food allergy? If so, what did you do to combat that. I want to treat her symptoms so she can get some relief, but I also want to get to the source of the problem.

laceyj - 959 days ago.
i daughters eczema is quite bad shes curretty badaged,and has a about 5 diffrent creams a day its hard work but if it improves itl be worth it x

omnipotent1 - 1062 days ago.
All of those suggestions are great suggestions, but when I use virgin olive oil on my daughter's severe case of eczema it works. Go to http://natural-homecuresandremedies.blogspot.com/ for details.

Cynlee47 - 1283 days ago.
My daughter has Eczema really bad, always red and she was constantly scratching her face and sometimes to a point where she would make herself bleed. We tried everything, switching what she ate, changing detergents, changing her bath soaps, using all kinds of creams and hydrocortizone. It would clear up for a day or two but it would come back and the product wouldn't work any more. I took her to the dermatologist and she prescribed her Protopic and it cleared it up almost overnight. It's been 6 days and she hasn't scratched her face once. The only downside for us is that the insurance company isn't approving it for us to get a prescription filled so I have to pay for it out of pocket and it's not cheap. But she's worth it. :o)

jluv - 1472 days ago.
The doctor just told me today that my son's face rash/dry skin is eczema. She recommended .5% hydrocortizone cream for a few days twice a day and then cetaphil. It's not a bad case she said so hopefully this treatment will work on him.

campimama - 1486 days ago.
I have found that Aquaphor cream works well for my son's patches. They still flare up, but it helps keep them under control. It worked with my daughter too, and hers eventually went away. Every once in a while she gets a small patch, but never like when she was a baby. You can find it in the lotion or baby aisle. It's also a healing ointment, which is nice!

jenim24 - 1487 days ago.
I have psorasis that is similar to Eczema. Apple Cider Vinegar (organic only) works wonders. I dab some on a cotton ball and coat my psoriasis with it. make sure the 'wound' is not open though as in not freshly scratched. For more natural remedies, there's a great site called earthclinic.com and you can click on ailments tab then choose Eczema.

petersonj - 1488 days ago.
AmyLane-I checked out the picture of your son and he has the exact same rash which has been diagnosed as ezcema(I'm definately not saying it's forsure eczema). My doctor also gave me cortizone cream and that's the only thing that will help it but it never clears it right up. I have tried switching all my detergents and about 15 different creams...most of them being all natural. Cortizone cream thins the skin and that scares me when it's on their face and especially when the rash is around their mouth...I can't imagine it's good to be digested. It really drives me crazy because eczema is extremely itchy and my sons face gets so bad that it actually starts to ooze. I'm going to try to get into a dermatologist and then if I'm not happy with the creams they give me I'm going to go to a naturopath. We've been dealing with this for 8 months now and it doesn't ever get better. Hopefully you have better luck then me!!

AmyLane - 1489 days ago.
Hey Ladies! I need some advice. My son (who was on 7 months on the 15th) has had a face rash for almost a month now I guess. I can not pinpoint any single cause. We brought him to the doctor, but he didn't give us an answer as to what it was he just said put cortisone cream (only the .5%) on it. Well that sort of worked, it cleared up a bit but not completely, and now today it seems worse then ever ;( I am wondering if it is food related, so tomorrow I am putting Linden back on rice cereal and reintroducing foods... blah. I posted a picture of my page, please check it out and let me know if you know what might be causing it! (this picture was taken at the beginning when the rash first started...)*** Also some people say its teething rash, well he does seem to be teething BUT he had cut SIX teeth before this rash appeared... Any input would be appreciated!!!! He does seem to have very sensitive skin, at the moment he has what looks like 'prickly heat' rash on his stomach and back... which he has had on and off since he was born basically :( I dont know what that is from either!!!!!.....)

mayrita - 1563 days ago.
I live in the US, where can I purchase spectro eczema care for kids?

mayrita - 1563 days ago.
Hi clarkie3: have you tried to wash your little one's clothes with Dreft? It's really gentle and recommended by peds for newborns+ clothing.

lakeishah - 1605 days ago.
Many people suffer from eczema I am business owner with Soul Purpose and we offer all natural products. Our Remede Therapeutic Salve works great! To listen to testimonies about the product go online to www.businessopportunitycall.info I would apply it 2-3 times a day for best results. Contact me for more information www.4mybodyandsoul.com

clarkie3 - 1605 days ago.
I am trying the Aveno cream for eczema, she only has mild on her arms, elbows & back. So far it is already looking better. Any advise on washing her clothes?? Should I use a separate detergent from the rest of the family and if so what kind? thanks

boyOboy - 1621 days ago.
water baths only and vaseline as lotion my dermatologist said