Friday, August 1, 2008

Eczema

When Caden was about 6 months old, he had a small (like the size of a finger nail) dry spot on his back. I was never really concerned. Then, at about 7 months, it disappeared from his back, and reappeared, as the same size and shape, on his leg. It was a few months with only that 1 small spot on his leg. Around 11 months, he began to get more and more spots. And much larger than the first one. They were dry, and red and looked painful. I was pretty consistant with putting lotion on him. I put baby oil in every bath.
At his 1 year appointment, I asked his doctor. "Yup", she said, "it's eczema". She prescribed hydro cortizone cream for him. For 2 weeks, I applied the cream, twice a day, like it said. Really no change in the appearance of his legs, and by now its spread to the crease where his hand and arm meet, and under his arms, and occasionally his tummy and back. I then also read the pamphlet that came with the cream. Its really not good stuff. Risk of all kinds of bad things, ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN. So why would she prescribe this for me? I mean, I'm not one to be anti drugs and only natural and all that, and I realize all prescriptions carry a risk. But isn't there some other way? So I decided to try, for awhile, my Mary Kay extra emollient night cream. (I sell Mary Kay so I had it on hand). It seemed to be working okay. The redness went down.
About 1 1/2 weeks ago I made a decision to change a few more things with Caden. I bought scent/dye free detergent. Aveeno sensitive bodywash/shampoo and Aveeno milk baths. (those things are expensive) So far we've done 2 milk baths, and I only today washed all his clothes, blankets, bedding and towels in the new detergent. We'll see how this works.
If anyone has any other ideas of things that I can do to get rid of this blasted eczema, please share.
Oh and I should mention, Caden has not been affected by it AT ALL!! Thankfully. He really doesn't notice it. I've never once seen him scratch or itch his legs. So I suppose that is one good thing. I know it could be alot worse.
(I will try to remember to post a pic next week when I'm at work. I can't do it at home cause of stupid dial up)

10 comments:

Jo-Refoh said...

Tyrese developed alot of exema when he was a newborn. it was all over the right side of his face. the Dr. refused to give me anything for it. I used the aveena lotion on his, I tried zincofax, vasaline, you name it, I tried it. It went away, and now i notice he has a small spot on his upper cheek that pops out when he's in the sun alot. Now the Dr. gave me the cortzone stuff. I never use it. I'v heard alot of bad stuff about that stuff. People say that it can come back in bigger patches from that stuff. I don't know what to do. I think I also used the MK emolient cream. I had a small sampler tube. I used to sell MK too.

Amanda said...

I'm a big fan of Norwex laundery detergent. It's awesome.

Also, I'd consider taking him to an herbalist or the naturopathic doctor to get to the root of the problem, rather than treating the symptom, you know?

Heather said...

I agree with Amanda.. Norwex detergent is awesome and not just because I sell it :) It really does work.. I have just gone through some weird skin stuff and have found fragrance free stuff to be the best. I'm having a party this coming week if you want to come and hear about some other chemical free cleaning and body stuff. Let me know and I can give you details. Hope it clears up soon! (sorry did not mean this comment to be a plug!)

Stacey said...

I agree with Amanda and Heather. I have had eczema all my life, and a few things that really irritated it are scented anything (detergent, lotions, soaps) fabric softener (you really don't need it... buy some norwex dryer balls from Heather :), and now I just found out through my Naturopathic doctor that I have numerous food allergies.

The most common food to cause eczema trouble is cow's milk. Did you switch him to cow's milk around the time of his eczema getting worse? That could be it. You can always try goat's milk. They occasionally have it at Superstore. I'm sure you could get Co-op to order it in if you want it too.

The Naturopathic Doctor that comes to Winkler (Dr. Jasper) is really nice, and I'm sure she could help you figure something out. It is a bit expensive, but after so many years of suffering, I was willing to pay. That, and if you have Blue Cross, they cover 80%.

I did go back to my family Doctor and ask her if they was ANYTHING else she could do for me, and the only thing she could do was give me cortisone cream, which I am so sick of and refuse to put on my skin again.

If you ever have any other questions about anything eczema related, just ask!

Jamy said...

Thanks for all the comments/ideas girls.
Amanda, I'm not sure I wanna take him to a naturopath yet. I've heard from alot of people that kids often outgrow eczema. I'll try these other things for awhile and see how that works. But i'll keep that in mind.
Heather, I'll come to you when I'm out of my Tide detergent. Thanks.
Stacey. Caden started on cow's milk when he was about 6 months. I doubt thats it cause it doesn't really match up. But good thought :-)

Heather said...

Don't use lotions. Use creams. I got this advice from a pediatric dermatologist for Selah. She's had eczema from birth. I use either Vaseline Creamy or Glaxalbase cream. I use it all over her body every day. I have other creams (cortisone) for when it gets bad, but if I use the other stuff all the time, I don't have to use the cortisone very often. Also, when you use the cortisone creams, you have to use enough. If you use it sparingly like it says, you have to use it every day. The dermatologist said use enough, and you won't have to use it as often. I've tried this and it works. I wouldn't even use Aveeno soap. It's almost as bad as the rest. I use JASON natural kids shampoo for Selah. And don't soap the whole body. Only the diaper area. I don't even do that always. Often I just wipe with a cloth in the bath tub. Definitely don't use bubble bath. Hmmm, what else?? Don't dress him too warmly, especially at night. Do cool baths, like barely lukewarm. The heat aggravates eczema. I can't think of anything else right now. Hope this helps!

Heather said...

One other thing the dermatologist said, in babies/kids, it doesn't really work to try eliminating foods that cause it. I can't remember all the details. I would say if he still has eczema when he is older, than I would try the food elimination thing, like Stacey is doing. But when they are little, they still need all the vitamins, etc from certain foods, so eliminating them would probably only cause different problems.

Heather said...

Ok, at least one more thing :) Detergent is important too. What kind of washing machine do you have? I would start by using a little less detergent, and put vinegar in the rinse. Vinegar will help rinse out all of the detergent, and so even if you can't switch your detergent yet, this should help. I don't know if you use fabric softener, but don't! I haven't used fabric softener for at least 2 years. You can get dryer balls that help, but even without those, it's fine.

Jamy said...

Hey Heather. Thanks for all the advice. Mostly, I don't do those things. No bubble bath, hes not over dressed at night, usually just a shirt, I don't use fabric softener, I hang all my clothes outside in summer.
I have already switched the detergent and I think i'm noticing a little difference in the redness of his legs. But I may try the vinegar if it doesn't continue to get better.
I'll definitely get some cream, although i dont really use lotion either. I use my Mary Kay cream.
I wasn't gonna eliminate any foods. He's eaten pretty much all table food since 5 months, so I doubt thats it.
I may try to use more of the cortisone. I was using it very sparingly, twice a day, just like it said. I'll try lots once and see what that does.
Again, thanks for all the advice girls

Heather said...

With Selah I usually only have to put the cortisone cream on once, and it's good for a couple days, or more. Using the creams every day after bath time definitely helps. You can get the Vaseline Creamy at Walmart. It's in a big tub.