Eczema

Eczema, is genetic. Most will outgrow as the child grows up. My gal's worst outbreak is when she is 3 mths old.

Nothing to blame on what we ate during pregnancy, i got very pissed off whenever ppl said that to me. Hubby & I have sensitive skin so this might be the cause for my gal's condition.

We tried all sorts of cream & stuff. But most effective is TCM and bathing her in herbal water. TCM perspective, its a form of 热毒 so must keep the body cool. I let my gal drink liang teh occassionally. Whenever she drinks that, it will bring on an eczema attack but once its gone, the eczema condition will improve.

My godma gave me some herbs (plucked from dunno where) and let her to bath. It works and another alternative is bathing in bitter gourd vines. But cant use it too often coz it will be too cooling for the body.

Clothing wise, stay to 100% cotton and pls pls dun use too strong a cleaner at work like Dettol or stuff. It is BAD for the skin and even worse on eczema.
happy.gif


Also, try to avoid pls that will trigger an eczema attack.
happy.gif


But what works on some might not work on others.. So gotta be careful.
 


Hi, i am new to this group. My son is 8 months old now. His eczema started at 1 month plus, and continue till now. We were given steroid cream by PD and skin specialist. We try not to use them. At times, we caved in cos it gets really bad.

I am looking for natural remedy to heal his eczema. Anyone tries fresh aloe vera and applies on baby skin? I heard that aloe vera is good for eczema.
 
Hi Kim,

My elder daughter also has eczema since she was a baby, tho' it is mild attack for her case. PD prescribed Hydrocot for her but advised that we use only when it is bad. PD also recommend that I use Topicream as moisturiser. I should say this is a very good mosituriser - mild and not sticky. I also use it for myself when going overseas to temperate countries.

For bath foam, we use Esentem which she has been using she was a baby.

Let your son wear 100% cotton material clothes and nothing else. For diapers, use those that can keep him dry. We use Huggies Dry Comfort, Mamy Poko and Pampers (so far the only brands my daughter has no pblm after using).

My daughter is coming to 3 yo and the situation is getting better (as what PD advised, she will eventually outgrow this problem).
 
Hi Snowball, thanks for your advice. I had Topicream from my gynae previously during pregnancy. Can it be used on baby with eczema since it contains some fragrance?

Is Esentum more moisturizing? Currently we use Cetaphil to bathe him.

We tried several types of lotions & moisturizers - Cetaphil lotion & cream, Devermaveen, Aquerous, Physiogel normal and AI cream, Sorbelene cream with 10% glyecerin and California baby Calendula cream. It seems that nothing can help to prevent flare up. So far, Sorbelene cream does seem to work slightly better than the rest. When we first used it few months back, it clears up the eczema flare on his face, and those on the skin greases areas. But after a while, eczema just came back.

As much as we hate to use the steroid cream, the moisturizers just do not protect him enough. He has flare up almost every now and then.

I read that breastfed babies will have fewer episodes of flareup, but not true in his case. I am still breastfeeding him, but his eczema is getting worse since 3 months old. He also has hives. However, the PD and myself cannot determine what he is allergic too, since his face is always red due to eczema. So, the PD asked me to use steroid to control his eczema.

I suspect he has multiple food allergy cos he gets flare up on the face quickly after meals sometimes, although i have tried my best not to let food stained on his face. Do you have this problem with your daughter?

We tried to apply fresh aloe vera on him these few days, it seems to make the eczema worse. We had no choice but to use steroid cream again. I feel like I am poisoning my son slowly.
 
hi Kim, is your son on total breastfeed?

I'm breastfeeding my daughter and realise that when I have cheese, she has flares.

Common allergies could be dairy, eggs, seafood, citrus, etc.

Your food take is very important. If you really want to know, keep a food diary and skin condition, then you might be able to pinpoint which food might be the cause.

My daughter has multiple food allergies and I can understand what you are going through.

The other way is for you to do a blood or skin prick test to find out. But keeping a record of what you eat and he eats will help you to identify some food that might be the cause of the problem.

I find one effective way to control eczema is letting the child drink apple boiled in carrots when young and when much older, drink carrot and apple juice.

Hope this helps.

You can email PM me privately if you have more questions. I've been on the long road through eczema and am happy to share any information or offer a word of encouragement.

Press on, once you find out the problem, your son will get better. I know you are doing all you can.
 
Hi Kim,

Topicream is recommended by the PD for daily use. I am also using it for my younger daughter who has rather dry skin. So far so good for both my daughters. The same applies for Esentem which both my daughters have been using since very younger (a few weeks old) till now.

My elder daughter gets puffy eyes (like goldfish) on and off. We suspect she is allergic to certain kinds of food but cannot pinpoint to specific kind of food as she has been eating almost similar good everyday. We are still monitoring as her condition is considered mild - the puffiness goes off after 2 - 3 days without rashes and she do not have any discomfort. We do, observe that the frequency is getting lesser, and I hope it will go off eventually. For myself, only recently I realised that I am allergic to food with too much assam. I also developed puffy - goldfish eyes after eating a very nice meesiam which is very rich in assam (without coconut milk). So I guess my daughter could have inherited from me on her allergy.
 
Hi Kim

My son has serious eczema due to some medications he was taking. We were prescribed Steriod Cream too - it helps alot but do take care not to apply too much because it will cause thinning of skin. Don't worry about it being poisonous or too toxic for your child. A thin layer does not have serious side effects - only long term uses. Take note only to apply on active eczema areas; to me they are the reddish puffy areas.

Another way which I find extremely useful is to moisturise my son regularly. The derm we saw also prescrible us with Aqueous cream which you can get from any pharmacy. I religously apply 4 times a day all over his body. After 3 weeks, his condition become much better and we are not dependent on the steriod cream anymore.

Keeping their skin moistuise also reduces scaling and itch - will help to make them feel better.

Can be quite distressing especially when I saw my son's face and body red and puffy. Just keep on moisturising .. it really helps.
 
Dzaemin - Yes, I total breastfed my son till 6 month old, then introduced solids. Still breastfeeding him. the PD did ask me to watch what i eat and avoid those food commonly known as highly allergic. However, the skin speciliast at National skin centre told us that there was no scientific proof that diet affects eczema. We are confused. I still take milk and cheese, so as to meet the daily calcium requirement for lacttation. One thing i avoid is peanut, as I suspect my son is allergic to it. One morning, stupid me, licked his spoon while eating peanut butter, and fed him using the licked spoon, then he started scratchig and rubbing his face. His face got red and the eyes were like puffy and swollen.

Another food he may be allergic to, as we recently reliase, is Pumpkin, which happens to be his favourite. Broccoli could be another one. To be honest, I feel so lousy as I, as the mother, cannot ascertain exactly what he is allergic too.

We have an appointment with prof Ngiam at NSC in mid oct. I will request for either skin prick test or blood test to find out. Which test do you think is better? I am worried that the prick test may make him very uncomfortable.

Snowball - My son get puffy red eyes and hives around his body today. The additional thing we gave him today is Carrot!!! He did eat carrot before, didnot notice anything unusual in the past (maybe because he was having flare up then). I really pray that Carrot is not the cause.

This evening seems to be quite hazy, but I still brought him out to nearby Shop & Save to buy fruits. When I reached the store (just 5 mins walk), I realised that his face & neck got more red. It got worse when we got home and by the time he went to bed, he was scratching and rubbing his face, and could not get to sleep. I turned on the light, and realised that his face was really red and feel hot when touching it. His lips areas were red and a bit swollen too. Was contemplating to bring him to A & E, but decided to try to let him suckle a while more. Finally he felt asleep. I hope he won't wake up in the middle of the night and continue scratching. My poor boy has always been wearing mittens to sleep from birth. If not, i cannot imagine how many scratch marks and bleeding spots he would have. The problem is that he knows how to take off the mittens now, so, it is constant tug-of-war - he takes it off, we put it on again, and this continues for many times before he falls asleep.

Selina - Taking about applying the steroid cream, i always have doubts when to stop. Sometimes, the redness has gone down, but still a bit pinkish and the surface was dry and rough. Should I continue applying? What if it is no longer red or pinkish, but just rough surface? The PD asked me to continue to apply on those rough surface which were already brownish in colour. According to her, the rough surface means that the eczema is still there.

I do moisture him very often - when he wakes up in the morning, after bath at noon, late afternoon, then after bath at night. Whenever i wash his hand or wipe his face, i will quickly moisturise the area. Since last week we start to apply 1 layer of California Baby Calendula cream, then apply Soberlene cream with 10% glycerin (more common in Australia, but can be bought from Unity). The skin condition was improving, but flare up again today. (i blame it on the haze).

How many times do you bath your son? I read some confliciting information about the frequency and lenght of bath - some said eczema babies should no bathe often, as the body moisture will be lost, but some said these babies should bathe twice a day. My PD said it is fine to bathe him twice, 5 to 10 minues.

What is your take on this?

K@ye - I think my son is the same as your girl, won't have chance to enjoy peanut butter. Do you still let her take peanut butter?
 
Kim, I let my gal try everything under the sun... Food that will cause her to flare up now, I will let her try again few mths later.

Things that will cause her to flare up previously will be outgrown as she grows up....But things/food that consistently caused her to flare up, i will avoid letter her take... Like egg whites.
happy.gif


For my gal, whenever she flares up.. I will quickly give her a shower & put her in the aircon room to cool her down...
 
On skin prick & blood tests for allergy, 3 PDs told me that they hv to be taken together so that the results will be more accurate.

Two of the PDs i consulted advised me not to let my gal take them unless absolutely necessary coz the tests are invasive.

But, after the peanut butter epsiode... I m bringing her back to KKH to do the tests later this month.
 
Which doc are you seeing in KKH? Is KKH a better choice than National Skin centre?

For the skin prick test, will the child feel the pain?
 
Hi Kim, no particular doc coz she was referred to KKH from the polyclinic...

In fact, KKH also dun advised for the tests due to the invasive nature. Kim, i dunno about the tests yet but my sis who has gone for the skin prick tests told me tt its uncomfortable.
 
my boy had eczema on his cheeks...my frend recommended cetaphil and physiogel
i tried physiogel and his eczema cleared within 4 days
 
Hi Sharon - we use Physiogel AI cream before, without steroid. It did not clear away his eczema. Guess his eczema is bit more stuborn.

Went to see Prof Ngiam at National skin centre on monday. She discourage use of steroid on the face and gave us Protopic instead. However, as the eczema is across his entire body, she asked us to use elomet, then when better, use Desonide cream as step down. For the area very close to his eyes, we were told to use Physiogel AI cream if worried that Protopic will get into the eyes. According to Prof Ngiam, we only need to apply steroid cream once a day only.

She advised that we should use 2 types of moisturizers - 1st contains glyeric which helps bind the moisture into the skin, eg cetaphil, QV cream, 2nd contains lipids which regenerate the skin protective layers, such as physiogel.

Here is what we are doing now, mostly according to her advice:

1. Bathe once a day only, at night before he sleeps. We now switch from Cetaphil to QV bath oil.
2. applies steroid & the protopic on affected area after bath
3. After steroid, let it absorb into skin for a while, then apply QV cream on the body, and physiogel AI cream on the face & neck
4. Apply Physiogel normal cream on the body, after letting the QV cream absorbed into skin
5. When wake up in the morning, I use a wet tower to cover and wet his body & face, so that the skin is hydrated, before applying the moisturiser (same sequence as before bed). According to Prof Ngiam, the moisturisers will be absorbed much better when the skin is hydrated. Using the wet tower to cover and moist skin is her suggestion. I do this twice a day, excluding the before bed routine.
5. Prof Ngiam also asked us to apply Desonide cream on those usual affected areas once a week, even after the eczema clears. This is to help the skin to heal into deeper layers. Else, it flares up easily on the same spots again.

She said that it takes probably 2 months for the skin to heal better. We are going back to see her again in on 26 Oct. No allergic test was done, as Prof Ngiam wants to see the results first with the cream and the skin care routine she told us.

She also gave us some notes to read. Basically, no pets, no carpet, no stuff toys etc. So, my poor son cannot go play in those baby gym, since they are all carpeted.

His skin is much better now. I do hope that the eczema will stay away from now. However, he still has hive now and then. One thing I notice is that he starts to sleep for 5 to 6 hours in a stretch at night now, as compared to 2 or 3 hours previously when eczema was bad.
 
Mummies, Use Eumora.

It worked very well for my baby girl's skin problems, especially eczema.

Noticed that alot of parents are facing eczema nowadays?

Well I did some research on it and concluded on my own that it's due to us using soap on our baby's fragile skin, soap causes eczema because it's alkaline. If it can cause eczema on adults, what more the babies? Then also it's because of what mummies ate during pregnancy which contributed to the eczema problem. For all that we know, our babies might be having eczema when they were already in our womb.

For my case I combat eczema with Eumora. Because Eumora is acidic, works very well for any skin types and it heals the problem from it's root.

So it not only cured the eczema for my baby girl, it solved my hand's contact eczema which i got after preganancy and lasted for a yr. It also helped my baby girl's mozzie bites. Since using Eumora, I've never need to use any moisturisers for my baby girl too because Eumora protects and moisturise better than any moisturisers i've ever used.

So mummies, if you are interested in the product, please feel free to contact me for more info. 82281715
 
Sharon, i breastfed exclusively for the 1st six month. When he was about 1 year old, we introduced fresh milk to him. He rejected formula milk. He now drink the packet milk, such as dutch lady, marigold etc. He has no particular favourite of milk brand.

But just as update since my last post on baby's eczema:

1. after the 1st visit at skin centre, his skin cleared up a few days later, but got more worse after that. The doc dismissed it as heat rash during our 2nd visit. We then saw our PD and she recommended us to see another skin specialist at Gleneagles. He diagnosed it as eczema.

We later found that QV bath oil and QV cream is not suitable for him. It makes his skin worse. We now use Cetaphil wash for bath, and California Calendula cream for moisturizing. I know that some mummies say that the calendula cream will clear away the eczema but in fact it does not. After so many visits to skin doc and failed attempts to stay away from steroid and try natural methods which led to more sufferings on baby, we now know that after applying steroid cream, you need to do step down management. Although the skin may look clear, the microscorpic still remains on the skin surface. We are advised to stop the steroid for 1 day, then resume the next day, then stop again.. and slowly lenghten the interval of the stop peroid. We usually do step down for about 1 to 2 weeks. It allows the skin to heal to deeper layer, and the flare up will not occur so frequently. Else, you will end up using more steroid cream whenever the flare up comes if you don't kill off the microscorpic. It works for us. He is no longer so red, except minor flare up on some areas. overall, we are much happier now, as compared to the time when everyday we were troubled and depressed over his suffering.

I hope this helps other mummies whose babies may be suffering from eczema.
 
Any mummies here using QV cream? I have 3 new tubs, wanna let go at $40 for 3 tubs. Retail price at pharmacy is about $20 per tub. Just wanna recoup back some money if can. Please pm me if interested. expiry Jan 2012
 
akhim, no problme. How's your girl now? Is she getting better?

Do you find that moisturizers can makes the kid feeling very hot? When i apply moisturizers as much as 5 times in a day, seems to makes his skin worse...
 
btw, i already sent my son to KKH for skin prick test and blood test. He was found to be allergic to peanut, egg and soy (mild) and dustmites. We still give him food with slight soya sauce, but not the whole beancurd and soya milk. He had oral allergy syndromes after eating kiwi recently. so, we ban it now.

Skin prick test is quite painful for the baby. When he did it, he was not 1 year old yet. He cried and cried. Then we did another round 2 for another set of food, he cried even before the lab technician started pricking his skin. Blood test was much worse. They just poked a needle into the vein on the back of the hand, and squeeze the blood out. I felt so heartpain seeing him cry.

Anyone else with kids who suffer from food allergy? how do you cope with it?
 
How do they do the skin prick test? Can they test for all allergy for one skin prick test.

Coz not sure whether my son is ecezma or allergy to something. My son has been to KKH's allergy & also the skin clinic, still not sure what his problem is. Now waiting for his blood test result. They just can't give me definite answer, just telling me maybe is ecezma plus heat rash.

The allergy clinic recommend tubifast garments for him to keep him cool (by wet wrap) so he will not scratch so much. And also physiogel cream for him to apply when diaper changing. QV bath oil and cetaphil cleanser for bath.

Now his skin show some improvement. He is not scratching so much. And not much rashes now.
 
Kim, how much is the blood test for Ezcema? Need to be referred or i can choose to walk in? My boy is also suffering from Eczema...
 
hi Marcie's Mom, I called the no fr the link u gave. Understand that before gg for the prick test, need to see the allergy doc from NUH. Is it ex to see them? can pm me?
 
Hi, sorry just saw your message. Yes, you have to see a doctor first and my baby sees Dr Hugo Van Bever. You can see a picture of him here
http://eczemablues.com/2011/06/3-good-skincare-tips-from-prof-hugo-to-marcie/

The consultation cost is quite standard, you can call and ask but I roughly remember it to be about S$70. It can be cheaper if you are referred by the polyclinic. Skin prick test/blood test has to be done in hospitals that see children, I've tried asking PD and GP, both don't offer such tests.
 
my bb is suffering from pretty bad eczema recently. any recommendation for doc in hougang area to help? ive just shifted to this neighbourhood not very familiar and too troublesome to travel back to town especially with bb now
 
Any adult or kids have water blister eczema on feet and handd , toes soles fingers palms which is burning itchy and the water drips out from blister?
 
Edelina (hangover333) & babakba (babak)

Hi Mommies,

My girlfriend's 10 mths old son had really bad case of eczema. She uses these US health products; Green Tea Oil and Super Chlorophyll to her kid and within weeks the eczema was gone.

She purchased it from this person who brings in the products at facebook. Im currently giving my 20 mth old son the Super Chlorophyll and he loves it. Have been hearing good reviews with these US products.

You may wanna check it out from the page..

https://www.facebook.com/THE.WHITE.QUEEN.SG

Hope it helps!
happy.gif
 
Hi all,
Both my sons have eczema and my elder one had just had a chicken pox outbreak and just recovered but he is scratching all over his body
sad.gif
black spots start comIng out from his legs and hands and his face is always bleeding due to scratching
sad.gif
the spots are not chicken pix spots...anyone have similar experience w your kids... Can u share. Also can advise or recommend any doctor that I can bring him to see...thanks in advance. Pls pm me
happy.gif
 
Does eczema come back after a few months? Or will be cure for life? I am asking for a bb who is 22mths. As there is no family history of eczema. then how did this bb catch it?

How do i make carrot juice. Can i boil 2 carrots and one apple and then blend them or do i just blend them and strain out the juice from there?
 
aishah, you can use juicer to extract the juice. if you dont have a juicer, use blender but add water otherwise it's hard to blend. then strain.
 
aishah, carrot juice is good to detox. if it flares it doesnt necessary mean it's not good. it might be helping the body to get rid of the toxic. anyway, you try and see, hopefully u bb recovers soon
 
Apple and carrot juice helps with the eczema in a longer run. It unfortunately, doesn't help immediately. Having said that, I juice it daily for my children, one with moderately severe eczema and one without. Apple and carrot juice is also good for the body to stay strong and build immunity. You need to use a juicer, not a blender, I'm afraid. Try to get a juicer. The cheaper juicer will yield you lesser juice but you can always use the remainding pulp to make it carrot cake (not our hawker centre type but dessert type), carrot muffins, and even feuit leather. There is no waste since you juice daily and there will be a lot of pulp down the bin. Composting is also a good choice. Also, I'd recommend organic apples and carrots. I generally go with the organic ones but do settle for non-organic at times. Not cast in stone.
happy.gif
Hope that helps. Just remember, it isn't a quick fix solution. All best!
 
So what juicer are u using? any recommendation?
when is the best time to give the bb the juice? in the morning or after lunch? or anytime will do?
 
Has anyone tried home made barley drink before?
I think that the inflamentation could be due to heatiness of the body???
 
BTW, if you think baby is too young to go for the juice daily, you can also boil carrot and apple juice and use it like you'd drink water.

As for barley, it is known to induce phlegm. According to books about alternative therapies to asthma, patients are highly recommended to stay away from wheat products, including barley. They are known to be produce phlegm.
 
thanks yoou so much for sharing all the info. Dzaemin. :D

He does not like the fresh juice.. Am still tring to let him drink one slip a day so that he gets use tp it will drink more.

Now he is recovering. Physiogel really help. his skin is improving. The QV bath gel and shampoo is also helping him a lot.
 
Hi Mei,
Brought my son to skin specialist today and she ask us to stop all steroid creams given by my gp as they are all very strong and my son skin is perfectly alright... No fungus or anything... Just that he kept scratching...am glad that we went to see her as we have been applying the steroid cream f a month... Hope not much damage had been done
sad.gif
, doctor prescribe cetaphil skin wash and moisturizer...and dosowen -apply if necessary...
 

Hi Brink,

Good to know that you got to see a skin specialist and yes, I think creams prescribe by GP are usually stronger because they don't carry creams for children. My GP actually prescribe my girl a very high potency cream, good thing I know how to read and I only use like in a blue moon when the rash is very persistent.

No worries on the damage I think
happy.gif
Glad you've managed the eczema and kept it under control!

Cheers!
Mei, eczemablues.com
 

Back
Top