At wits end with Eczema!!

[WorkingMummy]

Saffron is right. What if with the right strength/ type LO would be clear in two weeks, and not suffer? Sure you might "get through it" - it may well disappear on its own - but that may take years. Your LOs life quality in the meantime...

[Jessie]

When my son had extreme eczema, steroids were the only thing that shifted it. Now aged 8 he rarely even gets minor flare ups.

[Ole]

My son had very bad eczema and the doctors pussyfooted about, and then my dermatologist friend told me to do the following and I have never looked back.

1. Initial blast with strong hydrocortisone cream to get in under control

2. Banish all bath products and only use cetraben or oilatum bath emollient in the bath

3. slather him from top to toe in cretraben, up to 6 times a day initially for several months, reducing the number of times as it gets under control (talking here about reducing it to 3 times a day about a year later)

4. Use hydrocostisone cream to blast fare ups when they occur

5. Maintenance cetraben twice daily.

The days I am lazy and don't smear the cetraben on it comes back (and after 3 years of having to smear him in the stuff twice or more daily believe me I am ready for a 'day off').

Atypical eczema runs in families and unfortunately it is a case of growing out of it or learning to manage it, as far as I know.

[BB100]

I haven't read the other posts but there is a natural remedy that I have tried and recommended to others and it has worked every time. Buy pure Evening Primrose capsules (it has to be the capsules and good quality ones). Break it open and rub it on the skin. It was so effective on one of my children that you could see a line of eczema where I had missed rubbing it in. It takes a few weeks or so to work but perhaps you could try it on a little patch to see if it works for you or not.

[cazbee]

I would highly recommend the Southwark Community Dermatology clinic. Ask for a referral from your GP and then follow, follow, follow it up if you haven't heard anything within a fortnight. The Dermatology Nurse Practitioner at the Aylesbury Clinic, Zoe Foster-Goss was absolutely brilliant with my son. She diagnosed my son's condition in 30 seconds that 3 GPs over a period of nearly 12 months had failed to identify, even one that was supposedly the resident expert on skin conditions! I felt so relieved to finally speak to someone who really knew her stuff. She gave me excellent advice, was happy to talk through my concerns and prescribed a regime that worked and by the follow up visit his skin was looking and feeling miles better. I could have hugged her.