grandson's eczema - any suggestions?

My daughter suffered very badly with eczema and now in her 30's it can still flare up. As a baby toddler we found she got relief from bathing in very fine porridge oats. We put plain porridge oats in each leg of a pair of tights and let the lukewarm (never hot) water from the taps run through it. Sounds crazy but it took away the soreness and gave her relief. We sometimes would keep her amused for about an hour in the porridge bath. David Bellamy was on a chat show and said he did this for his children who suffered, was how we first heard about it. Don't buy expensive products just use inexpensive simple oatmeal. Lots of info on Google.

My daughter uses AmLacrin Relief Restoring Lotion on her children. She says it stings a bit at the beginning.

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My son had it very badly in the hot summer of 1976 when he was about the same age as your grandson. We used emulsifying ointment for the bath and piriton syrup to help him sleep. We kept him bandaged at night and he had antibiotics when the itchy places became infected. He had it for several years but it had gone by the time he went to school . He did develop mild asthma but it has always been well controlled with an inhaler.

Definitely bathe in oats that helped my 19 year old who had it bad as a baby/ toddler she was taken to hospital bleeding bright red and very very miserable She was also lactose intolerant and has never drank cows milk since Periton helps but if I remember rightly I think she was also intolerant of the oil content of the creams they were giving her but they eventually found one that suited She has a lovely skin now but still has to be careful there is only one sun cream she can use (an expensive one too?) and had problems using a face mask with friends as a young teen

My youngest suffered with eczema as a baby and still get flair-ups even now, 30 years later.
GP prescribed all manner of lotions and Aqueous creams for bathing.
We had to totally change all soaps, detergents and cleaning products used in the home too.
There is no mention by the OP that the daughter has tried changing the laundry products. - that would be any first. course of action. - apologies if it has been already suggested.

I would have suggested batheing the affected places in cold calomile tea, but it sounds as if the oat cure works even better.

Cutting out milk didn't help, but are there any indications that your grandson could be allergic to anything else?

Unfortunately, you can be allergic to practically anything, so your daughter might well need to keep a diary of what her son eats and drinks every day for a month and see if there seems to be any correlation between his intake and the flare-ups.

If she is not already using non-perfumed washing powder, soap, shampoo and unperfumed cleaning agents, then I would suggest she considers getting rid of anything and everything perfumed, as perfectly legal perfumes (and other additives) are often the cause of skin conditions.

And it may not be sufficient just to wash her son and his clothes in unperfumed products. I can literally not be in the same room as people who have used the products I am allergic to.

House dust (and house dust mite) are another frequent cause of itching, and however clean your daughter's house is, no house is, or ever can be, completely free of dust - and a little goes a long way if you are allergic to it.

I hope you find both something that alleviates the itching and the cause of it, as relieving the itch is basically only treating a highly annoying symptom and not the issue itself.

So very sorry. I used to have to bandage my daughter for her to sleep too, cotton pjs/bedding washed without washing powder, always hoovered her mattress and bedroom very thoroughly for mites/dust etc.

She has it on her arms/legs/the palms of her hands, and we eventually saw a dermatologist who was stumped. Her palms always became blistered, and the blisters wept.

The dermatologist recommended a fungus cream as a last resort and she was in absolute agony after applying it for the first time. If this is recommended to anyone I would do a very tiny spot test first.

As our largest immune system I am surprised there isn't more research being done. My daughter is 26 now and uses all types of creams but so many do burn/sting.

She prefers Body Shop shea butter on her body and hands, and when she has an extreme localised flare 1% hydrocortisone normally works immediately but as a steroid has to be used very carefully.

My two year grandson is also an eczema sufferer and has periods where he is itchy. His skin becomes red, angry looking and bleeds. He does have a range of allergies (that have been tested in hospital and he is under an allergy consultant). Cows' milk is one of his allergies and so is soy and egg along with a range of others. His food has to be free of those allergens so the Plant based products we find are an excellent substitute for the usual dairy. His eczema flares up if he has contact with a known allergen. Is it maybe worth pushing for a referral to an allergy clinic if your grandson's symptoms appear worse after eating certain foods? Clothes, bedding and towels are washed using non bio detergent for sensitive skin and as a previous poster has mentioned, not all creams (even those claiming to be for eczema or sensitive skin) are suitable for my grandson, especially bathing products and sunscreens, so it has been trial and error to find the most suitable. We find that the antihistamine that the GP prescribed helps him to stop scratching and helps to calm flare ups. I do hope you get sorted as it is awful.

hydromol ointment..
also Child's Farm products, shampoo, moisturisers for babies.. from Boots and other outlets and online of course.
I use unscented childs farm moisturiser on my lower legs every day upon getting out of shower

My daughter uses Dermol 500 lotion for both my grandson's and puts a couple of squirts into the bath water. She finds the change of seasons makes it flare and if they get to hot.

Has your gc had an allergy test?
Eczema may have other sources

Aveeno baby (US version) was a godsend for us

Poor little chap. One of my DGD gets it ? fairly mildly but even so it is so unpleasant for her.
The GP does nothing but prescribe steroid cream which has long-term effects as it can thin the skin.

Lots of good suggestions on here but one thing I did notice with DGD is that a flare up is less likely to occur in summer so I wonder if Vitamin D helps? Does your grandson have any vitamins, especially Vit D - cod liver oil is supposed to be beneficial.

Balmonds products are supposed to help alleviate eczema and are worth a try, at the very least will soothe and moisturise the skin. They were first developed by a mother whose daughter got severe eczema.

balmonds.co.uk/

Are Chinese medicinal shops still a thing? A long time ago but they looked at my son, made a cream and it was gone like magic.

We have found capure goat milk products have been the most effective in helping my grandchildrens eczema.

Susan56

We have found capure goat milk products have been the most effective in helping my grandchildrens eczema.

Yes.
She's also tried cutting out milk from his diet
And she could try goat's milk for him to drink, too.
Widely available now.

Check out the Gladskin website, they sell a gel and cream to help with eczema.

thanks so much for all your great responses - hard to reply to every suggestion but she has tried quite a number of things you suggest but there are numerous others I'll take back to her. Particularly intrigued by the porridge idea! My SIL is Scottish so he might like that! As someone mentioned, it's surprising more research hasn't been done given that I think it's 1 in 5 children have eczema and it can really be such a blight on their lives.
It's lovely to have such positive responses - I'm really grateful and it's what gransnet is all about!

keep a food diary
swap to non bio washing detergents and sensitive skin bath stuffs etcand see which you have the best outcomes from

My friend gave me some Brittania cream for mine and it worked really well.

I will second the idea of choosing washing powder soap etc. carefully . I have not used fabric condition for years because it caused mt daughter problems .

I've been struggling with a re-emergence of eczema for the last year.
After a lot of trial and error, this is what's helped me:

Aproderm Colloidal Oat cream, 500g: use in the bath and as an all-over moisturiser twice a day.

Aveeno Skin Relief moisturising body wash.
There's a baby version as well.

Plenty of fluids to drink to keep the skin hydrated.

Antihistamines taken at bedtime every day.
(Apparently cortisol levels rise overnight which makes the itching and scratching worse).

Paracetamol if required to dull the pain of the damaged skin.

Non-bio detergent for all laundry, eg towels and bedding, not just clothing.

No fabric softener.

No products containing liquid paraffin.

At its worst I only wore cotton clothing next to my skin, and wore it inside out so the seams didn't irritate.

I've got the cream and body wash on a subscription order from Amazon which saves some money.
I was also able to return to Amazon any products I tried which didn't suit me and have a refund, which was very helpful.

I hope your grandson gets some relief soon. When your skin is so sore even moving is painful so I'm not surprised he's miserable with it, poor little boy ☹️

Poor little boy. When my son was born in the late 60s he quickly developed what I thought was nappy rash but was actually eczema and he had it for years in different parts of his body. We were given Betnovate by the doctor and in those days we were not told it was a steroid cream and should be used sparingly. In any case I was a young and ignorant new mum and desperate to clear up this 'nappy rash'. The Betnovate seemed like magic because it worked so well but I wish now I had tried to find something different. The eczema did eventually clear up but I still feel guilty about my liberal use of steroid cream on his baby skin. Sorry I'm no help. Your post brought back some poignant memories!

My son has had eczema a since he was a few months old and has suffered all his life, he is fifty now. He has tried everything he can to lessen the angry outbreaks but nothing really helps.
As far as treatment is concerned we appear not to have progressed any further than when I worked on a dermatolgy ward in the 60s.
Steroid cream still seams to be the best treatment.

Do check out Child's Farm products as mentioned (link enclosed).