Childrens Eczema
Discussion
TwistingMyMelon said:
Whilst the NHS has been very good to my family its biggest weakness has been towards eczema, whenever I have seen a Dr for myself and daughter regarding any bad skin condition it has been just a case of given steroid cream. When I went back and told them the cream was making it worse I was given stronger steroid cream.
Only cure for myself and my daughters eczema has been to watch what we eat , in my daughters case avoid all dairy and uncooked egg and some not too much tomato. In my case it is avoid alcohol , especially beer (which I loved!) . If we didnt avoid foodstuffs we would have chronic awful skin, which the only answer we got from the 5x GPs we saw would be to put cream on it, which at best eased the effects
That is probably because its not a disease with an end treatment like other conditions, its an ongoing deficiency in the skin type.Only cure for myself and my daughters eczema has been to watch what we eat , in my daughters case avoid all dairy and uncooked egg and some not too much tomato. In my case it is avoid alcohol , especially beer (which I loved!) . If we didnt avoid foodstuffs we would have chronic awful skin, which the only answer we got from the 5x GPs we saw would be to put cream on it, which at best eased the effects
In other words eczema is simply a dry skin condition. Most peoples skin produce oily moisture all the time. Eczema people don't, or only very poorly. Modern medicine doesn't have a cure for this. The only 'cure' is to add moisture. The only cure is to put large quantities of a moisturiser on ALL the time just like the normal skin is doing. There is no cure.
Steroids are only used in eczema when things have gone horribly wrong. If you skin stays too dry for long enough it gets irritated. Its starts to get red and itchy and swollen. If this happens you have failed with the moisturiser. That redness you see is actually another process where the body has sent inflammatory cell to look to see what the irritation is. They cause more trouble than they sort out which is why steroids help because they suppress the immune system and tell the inflammatory cells to go back to base and stop causing problems.
So steroids help dry red itchy inflamed skin, but they aren't a cure only moisturising is the cure.
Lastly there is one more cause of dry red itchy skin that isn't poorly moisturised eczema and its infection. Some bug has come along and infected the damaged skin. This is complicated because in this case putting steroids on makes it much worse because you have effectly told those same inflammatory cells which should be fighting the infection to go back to base and the infection is allowed to expand untroubled by your bodies immune system.
Sometimes even putting moisturiser on skin with is infected will make it much worse. These eczema patients need antibiotics to clear the infection first, and then go back to moisturisers and occasion al steroid for the inflamed but 'not infected' skin.
It can be a nightmare deciding for some how to go on, and I hope the above explains why parents often consider the advice given by doctors contradictory at best and downright wrong at worst.
AMLK said:
My daughter and I use Epiderm cream as a moisturiser. It was developed at great Ormond street for kids that react to the normal creams. Our pharmacist gave us a free tub to try, then our gp prescribed it. Worth a try I would say.
+1My wife's a nurse and rates it. Our kids have have very mild eczema and Epiderm sorts it.
julian64 said:
That is probably because its not a disease with an end treatment like other conditions, its an ongoing deficiency in the skin type.
In other words eczema is simply a dry skin condition. Most peoples skin produce oily moisture all the time. Eczema people don't, or only very poorly. Modern medicine doesn't have a cure for this. The only 'cure' is to add moisture. The only cure is to put large quantities of a moisturiser on ALL the time just like the normal skin is doing. There is no cure.
Steroids are only used in eczema when things have gone horribly wrong. If you skin stays too dry for long enough it gets irritated. Its starts to get red and itchy and swollen. If this happens you have failed with the moisturiser. That redness you see is actually another process where the body has sent inflammatory cell to look to see what the irritation is. They cause more trouble than they sort out which is why steroids help because they suppress the immune system and tell the inflammatory cells to go back to base and stop causing problems.
So steroids help dry red itchy inflamed skin, but they aren't a cure only moisturising is the cure.
Lastly there is one more cause of dry red itchy skin that isn't poorly moisturised eczema and its infection. Some bug has come along and infected the damaged skin. This is complicated because in this case putting steroids on makes it much worse because you have effectly told those same inflammatory cells which should be fighting the infection to go back to base and the infection is allowed to expand untroubled by your bodies immune system.
Sometimes even putting moisturiser on skin with is infected will make it much worse. These eczema patients need antibiotics to clear the infection first, and then go back to moisturisers and occasion al steroid for the inflamed but 'not infected' skin.
It can be a nightmare deciding for some how to go on, and I hope the above explains why parents often consider the advice given by doctors contradictory at best and downright wrong at worst.
^^ Great post. (Apart from defending the doctors as many gps need more training in this area).In other words eczema is simply a dry skin condition. Most peoples skin produce oily moisture all the time. Eczema people don't, or only very poorly. Modern medicine doesn't have a cure for this. The only 'cure' is to add moisture. The only cure is to put large quantities of a moisturiser on ALL the time just like the normal skin is doing. There is no cure.
Steroids are only used in eczema when things have gone horribly wrong. If you skin stays too dry for long enough it gets irritated. Its starts to get red and itchy and swollen. If this happens you have failed with the moisturiser. That redness you see is actually another process where the body has sent inflammatory cell to look to see what the irritation is. They cause more trouble than they sort out which is why steroids help because they suppress the immune system and tell the inflammatory cells to go back to base and stop causing problems.
So steroids help dry red itchy inflamed skin, but they aren't a cure only moisturising is the cure.
Lastly there is one more cause of dry red itchy skin that isn't poorly moisturised eczema and its infection. Some bug has come along and infected the damaged skin. This is complicated because in this case putting steroids on makes it much worse because you have effectly told those same inflammatory cells which should be fighting the infection to go back to base and the infection is allowed to expand untroubled by your bodies immune system.
Sometimes even putting moisturiser on skin with is infected will make it much worse. These eczema patients need antibiotics to clear the infection first, and then go back to moisturisers and occasion al steroid for the inflamed but 'not infected' skin.
It can be a nightmare deciding for some how to go on, and I hope the above explains why parents often consider the advice given by doctors contradictory at best and downright wrong at worst.
AMLK said:
My daughter and I use Epiderm cream as a moisturiser. It was developed at great Ormond street for kids that react to the normal creams. Our pharmacist gave us a free tub to try, then our gp prescribed it. Worth a try I would say.
I assume you mean EpaDerm? Since EpiDerm seems to be a topical steroid cream.Flibble said:
AMLK said:
My daughter and I use Epiderm cream as a moisturiser. It was developed at great Ormond street for kids that react to the normal creams. Our pharmacist gave us a free tub to try, then our gp prescribed it. Worth a try I would say.
I assume you mean EpaDerm? Since EpiDerm seems to be a topical steroid cream.Also try Cetraben and Dermol 500, the latter is anti-microbial to boot. As recommended by my wife.
This really is a minefield for treatment.
Moisturisers with antimicrobial effect are not great and there is a degree of debate about who and how they should be used.
The problem is that we are all covered in bacteria which are normal for us and help us. The skin is no different. This layer of bacteria are probably the majority of the reason we don't get colonised by bad/infection causing bacteria. They form an impenetrable shield. Our immune system only has to act when some 'bad' bacteria penetrate this shield.
Moisturisers with antibacterial ability affect this protective shield and therefore probably make the bad infections more likely by self selecting the more resistant or aggressive bacteria.
So the decision to use and for how long moisturisers with antibacterial has to be an individual decision for a particular patient. It can't be a recommendation to all.
Moisturisers with antimicrobial effect are not great and there is a degree of debate about who and how they should be used.
The problem is that we are all covered in bacteria which are normal for us and help us. The skin is no different. This layer of bacteria are probably the majority of the reason we don't get colonised by bad/infection causing bacteria. They form an impenetrable shield. Our immune system only has to act when some 'bad' bacteria penetrate this shield.
Moisturisers with antibacterial ability affect this protective shield and therefore probably make the bad infections more likely by self selecting the more resistant or aggressive bacteria.
So the decision to use and for how long moisturisers with antibacterial has to be an individual decision for a particular patient. It can't be a recommendation to all.
It's been interesting to read all contributions and take on board different perspectives. The explanation a few posts above really made sense and helped me to understand.
We're currently just moisturising with the Mrs astral cream with reasonable success.
Thanks for all the input, will update.
We're currently just moisturising with the Mrs astral cream with reasonable success.
Thanks for all the input, will update.
My son had terrible eczema from 2 weeks to about 5 when we sorted out what it was. Biggest problem was dairy but everything was allergy related. Sometimes now he comes out in hives caused by........water, i.e. when he has showered. Terrible to see babies and toddlers suffer with it.
I get some on my hands but that is entirely stress related so not the same.
I get some on my hands but that is entirely stress related so not the same.
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