Baby Eczema

[Sean Ma]

My son had eczema too when he was 2 months old. We were prescribed elomet which is a stronger steroid than hydrocortisone, which we still use when necessary now (3.5 years). Turns out he was allergic to soy. The moment we cut that from his diet, he's fine. There's a new non-steroidal cream called Tacrolimus (new) which needs to be prescribed. We haven't tried it though, our doctor said it works quite well.

 

[mummybee]

i am also a mum of a (severe) eczema baby. I have been prescribed elomet as well and i use it for bad days, which turns out to be once a week. I am most uncomfortable using it at all, as even my paed told me this is a "big gun" and i should reseve for use of the body but never the face. for those above who are using elomet too, how much do you use and what coverage do you go for? my babys eczema cover almost all of her arms, legs and torso. does this mean i have to put elomet all over her body?? also what type of cortisone cream and what strength do you use? as i said, elomet is for body, and i use 1% sigmacort or 0.5% dermaid for her face.

i have tried everything - cotton clothing, prevent overheating, use all brands of moisturisers, no soap/detergent etc to control eczema flareup. i am even on an elimination diet since christams last year cutting off several foods. still, nothing seems to work and i am at my wit's end to control scratching.

thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Sean Ma]

Hi MummyBee,

Sorry to hear that about your little one. When my son was a baby, his eczema was only on his face, so we were told to use elomet on his face too. The poor boy would scream everytime we put it on, but because we were able to identity the allergy source (in our case, soy) , we only used it regularly for a short time. Sorry, I can't really remember how long, I guess it must have been on and off for a few months.

What I do recall was that even I could feel a tingling sensation on my finger tips after applying it on him, so you could imagine how his face felt. As for how much I used, when he was still a baby, I just touched the mouth of the tube with my finger tip (without squeezing the ointment out ) and dab it on his skin.

As he got older and ate our adult food, the rash moved to his body, so I had to mix elomet with his body cream (we used Stellaotopia) as it was all over the bottom and legs. Our doctor said that using just water for bathing, would strip the oil from his skin and make it even drier (& itchier) so we used the same brand bathing cream / bathing oil (in winter) instead of soap. Our paed also said that if the eczema was too severe, we could try out the new non-steroidal cream which works just as well. Your doctor should be able to tell you about it.

I hope it gets better for your little one. Don't worry, it does improve with age. My son is 4 years old now and he hasn't had to use his "itchy cream" at all for the past few months. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

 

[elephantine]

mummy bee, sorry to hear about your baby. my little one also has eczema, though milder. It's the type that gets worse in a dry climate (not sure if this is the type that affects your baby), so we found that a humidifier helps. We got ours from Fortress and used it a lot in Nov-Jan, when the air in HK was very dry. If you decide to use one, you will need to clean it with a water/white vinegar mix once a week though, as humidifiers should be cleaned thoroughly and regularly - a bit of a pain but well worth it in our case. I too didn't like using the strong creams but have had to on occasion to stop it getting to the super-irritated and bleeding stage. The rest of the time, I use Mothercare baby lotion (white bottle with pink label) which was highly recommended to me by another parent whose little girl had eczema - this lotion was surprisingly good at keeping my baby's rash manageable. Since it's a non-medicated lotion, I slathered lots of it on my baby several times daily for a couple of weeks and although it didn't eliminate the rash, made a huge improvement. Now I use it just twice a day. I tried plenty of other non-medicated lotions that worked for other babies and not mine though, so I guess it's just a matter of finding something that works your baby. I know how frustrating the trial and error process is - wishing you and your baby lots of luck.

 

[hunhun]

Hi there,

I talked to a professor who specialise in dermatology in the US half some time ago and I rememerbed that she jokingly say just like fake Shenzhen branded handbags which has A grade and B grades, in medicine you have A grade and B grade too. Elidel, she mentioned is B grade and if you can afford it, you should get Protopic.
And she also mentioned that lots of people use these medicine on a need basis which is not right, these cream has to be put on everyday including good days continuosely until a whole tube finishes. And she also mentioned that lots of people put too much on each time. One is suppose to use a small grain size and mix it with good moisturising cream like E45 cream and spread it all over the affected area. I remembered she said that if you put small amount of medicine on continuosly until the tube finishes, ezcema will most likely be gone using x grammes of medicine, but if you puts lots on, or you put it on a need basis, you will end up using xxxxgramms of medicine over x number of months or years. She also said NEVER put baby oil on skins that has ezcema as baby oils have perfume. I am no doctor myself, I just want to share what I learnt from her. Anyway, my 3 year old son's ezcema is completely gone by sticking to her advise (which is difficult coz I really didn't want to put any chemical on him, let alone strong ones like the above). Before that my son had visited lots of doctors and specialists, and had tried natural methods as well, but the ezcema kept coming and going. Now it seems to be gone, and I am sooooooo pleased...fingers crossed.

My son also uses Cetaphil for bathing, and I splat lots of E45 on him after his baths. He took antihistamine syrup (while he was on Protopic). Althouh his skin is now clear, I am still careful with his diet. In his case, not to much soya sauce nor ketchup (which has lots of MSG apparently), no nuts, not too much chocolate....I am not sure if these are the stimulants, it''s just my gut feeling that they are. Well, just in case!

:bighug

 

[hunhun]

Here is some informtion that may be of interest to some parents, taken out from Wikipedia:-

Corticosteroids

Dermatitis is often treated by doctors with prescribed Glucocorticoid (a corticosteroid steroid) ointments or creams. For mild-moderate eczema a weak steroid may be used (e.g. Hydrocortisone or Desonide), whilst more severe cases require a higher-potency steroid (e.g. Clobetasol propionate). They are highly effective in most cases, but must be used sparingly to avoid possible side effects, the most significant of which is that their prolonged use can cause the skin to thin and become fragile (atrophy). High strength steroids used over large areas may be significantly absorbed into the body causing bone demineralisation (osteoporosis). Finally by their immunosuppression action they can, if used alone, exacerbate some skin infections (fungal or viral).

Hence a steroid of an appropriate strength to promptly settle an episode of eczema should be sparingly applied. Once the desired response has been achieved, it should be discontinued and not used for long-term prevention.
[edit]

Immunomodulators

Topical immunomodulators like pimecrolimus (Elidel? and Douglan?) and tacrolimus (Protopic?) were developed after corticosteroid treatments, effectively suppressing the immune system in the affected area, and appear to yield better results in some populations. The US Food and Drug Administration has issued a public health advisory about the possible risk of lymph node or skin cancer from use of these products, but many professional medical organizations disagree with the FDA's findings:

* The postulation is that the immune system may help remove some pre-cancerous abnormal cells which is prevented by these drugs. However, any chronic inflammatory condition such as eczema, by the very nature of increased metabolism and cell replication, has a tiny associated risk of cancer (see Bowen's disease).
* Current practice by UK dermatologists [1] is not to consider this a significant real concern and they are increasingly recommending the use of these new drugs. The dramatic improvement on the condition can significantly improve the quality of life of sufferers (and families kept awake by the distress of affected children). The major debate, in the UK, has been about the cost of such newer treatments and, given only finite NHS resources, when they are most appropriate to use.[2]

 

[mummybee]

Ok, it is 5.30am in the morning, I have just fed my baby and now "mummy" time...

Lylah, Haereme - I too find Vaseline works best, but my baby seems to be developing a reaction to it after a month's use. Is this possible??? By reaction, I mean red spots over skin that has vaseline. The vaseline my paed. gave is called White Vaseline (soft paraffin) from Universal Pharmaceuticals and when I called up their pharmacists, I was told I have put too much on my baby, so much so that the skin couldn't "breathe". I did put heaps on - a v. thick layer till skin glistens - 2-3 times a day but isn't that what we are supposed to do? How much do you use?

HunHun - I bought Cetaphil 2 days ago and I LOVE how "wet" my baby's skin feels after just using it for a day. However, again, she seems to be reacting to it, with red spots appearing on the side of the body that has cetaphil (I put on her right tummy, right hand and right leg to test). This time I didn't slather heaps on - just a thin layer.

This brings me to the more important question: since she is reacting to both vaseline and cetaphil, I am thinking maybe she is not reacting to the ingredients in both per se, but that her skin is so unstable that she reacts to anything I put on her. What do you eczema experts think? Do your babies first react then get accustomed to your moisturisers? For the past 2 days, I put no moisturiser on her at all and her skin has become sandpaper-like and thickened in various places, especially her legs. Sigh...

Suz - you are the second person to recommend Dr. Lynn Lim to me. When you said NAET works, do you mean your baby is COMPLETELY CURED? The treatment sounds totally bizarre and has no scientific basis. I am slightly skeptical since my rationale is that she would be rather famous if she can cure a condition that is supposedly uncurable but manageable to the rest of the world. Having said that, I am thinking of trying her out once and see for myself. Can I ask how old your baby was when he/she started treatment? and how much did the inital consult cost? Will I see (some) results after the first consult? I have been to too many alternative doctors who said they were confident in treating my baby's eczema after at most 3 sessions but why don't I come "one more session" to make sure everything clears, bla, bla. And I am not looking for a cure really. I will be happy if her flareups are reduced or less intense.

SeanMa - Thanks for your advice. Now that my baby has started solids, her rashes has also moved from face to her body. Her legs are especially bad - rubbery, sandpaper patches. Elomet coming to the rescue again. I simply hate using that stuff, but works like a miracle though. I was told by my paed NOT to dilute it with any cream and to stop using it once the rashes clear. My paed allergist in Australia, on the other hand, said to continue use for a further week after the skin feels "normal". What do you, and other parents, do? HunHun, did diluting the steriod works equally well, as in the rashes clear as quickly, in your case?

Thanks!!

 

[hunhun]

HI Mummybee,

Did you get the Cetaphil Wash or Cetaphil Cream? The Cetaphil Wash needs to be rinse away (despite its instruction says it can be wiped away), as it is a soap alternative. My son tried Cetaphil cream before, amongst tonnes of other brands...but we found E45 the best and the only one that truely helps. It's a pain getting E45 though as it is only sold in England. Someone told me it is sold in Watson's. But I have asked many branches and they don't carry it. We stock in loads of them whenever we have a chance to get them in England. Maybe some online shops may ship them to HK? Another alternative is Dermaveen cream and wash, an Australian brand sold in the chemist counter in Mannings. We found it not as good as Cetaphil and E45, but it's our close seconds.

Hope this helps.

Hunhun

 

[hunhun]

Mummybee,

From my limited knowledge, Steroid cream like Elomet should not be diluted with moisturising creams.

It's the Immunomodulators (see the wikipedia clips which I posted yesterday) like Elidel, Protopic that should be diluted.

Hunhun

 

[mummybee]

hunhun, I got the cetaophil cream. it is now sitting on the shelf. She definitely reacts to it - yesterday I put a tiny amt on one arm again and lo and behold, skin became red shortly after! I am now restricting her moisturising routine to a minimum of bath oil from Graham's Natural Alternatives and find her skin actually imrpoves dramatically and supple without anything else. Maybe I have been putting too much stuff on her. Maybe the humidity has sth to do with it.