Tips to Treat Eczema

My sons used to get spots on their legs, it was always worse when we spent a lot of time at the pool. I found rose salve worked wonders.

You need to see a pediatric dermatologist. My daughter has eczema, and persistent rashes that don't respond to the ointments almost always turned out to have a secondary cause. One time it was a yeast infection. This summer she's been fighting a localized staph infection all over her back, it's not contagious, but she has had to wash with an antiseptic soap and do a course of antibiotics. Take him to a specialist, even our very knowledgeable family doc couldn't diagnose these things.

You can't treat topically sometimes. Eczema (like many other skin conditions) starts internally and you have to deal with it that way. Auto-immune conditions have to be dealt with by strengthening the immune system. Be careful what you choose though - there are a lot of things that will waste your money so be careful of ads and also which companies had to change/delete their advertising (per the FDA) due to unsubstantiated claims. I've worked in food science for 10 years and have seen amazing control of eczema, other allergies (which are autoimmune responses), and much more. There are certainly some things you can avoid with your son, but it may not be enough if his condition is serious.

My daughter has eczema to the point where her skin oozes and bleeds.

We've tried a thousand things. Like others have said, we only use the best, fragrance-free, sensitive skin detergents, and her clothes are washed separately. (Make sure that you don't use "unscented", only "fragrance-free", as unscented products can contain a scent that masks the scents).

The only product that relieves the itching is from CeraVe. It's called itch relieving cream and it's got the National Eczema Foundation seal of approval on the label. I bought it over the counter at a large pharmacy.

We also installed a little Vitamin C water conditioner. We got it from Amazon, and it's just a little tube that screws on to the shower head (very simple). It's called a VitaMax shower conditioner. It has seemed to relieve the itching that happens after a shower.

Shower products that she uses are by Cetaphil. Eczema Calming body wash, etc.

Pure unrefined coconut oil is also a life saver around our house. Our daughter puts it on her skin before showering, and she rubs it on the eczema when it's bleeding or oozing or scaly.

I also recommend seeing a pediatric dermatologist.

And you might see an allergist, too. We recently learned that our daughter is severely allergic to thimerosal, which is a mercury preservative found in some vaccines, and used in some dental fillings. The symptoms of a thimerosal allergy include skin reactions and eczema type problems. Our daughter had to have a filling removed and replaced under very careful conditions, and she can never have a vaccine again unless it's guaranteed thimerosal-free. Thimerosal has been removed from many vaccines now, but it still can be used in some circumstances. Our daughter had blood allergy tests, skin prick tests, and a 5 day patch test.

How old is your son?

We do the usual stuff others below have mentioned: only "free and clear" detergents, no fabric softener, my washer has an extra rinse option and that helps also (residual detergent in clothes is a big issue, even when using free and clear detergents). For my child, these things will help prevent a flare-up, but when he's in the middle of an active flare, only a steroid cream helps him heal. And hydrocortisone, even prescription strength (the usually 1st thing a dermatologist prescribes), does not help. He uses a different, stronger one (Triamcinolone acetonide). It clears it up in no time, and then we stop using it and go back to our daily preventative measures. FYI - the pediatrician did not prescribe this. When he didn't respond to hydrocortisone, the ped referred us to a pediatric dermatologist - so that is who I recommend your son get an appointment with.

Keep in mind that eczema can also be caused by food allergies, so keep an eye out for that also.

i have my kids take a quality childrens fish oil suppliment it helps from the inside to stop whats causing the outbreaks. the skin clears and the kids love the gummy versions of the fish oils.

My child who has it worst has allergies. Until we got the allergies all sorted out nothing really helped for long. He takes an allergy pill a day, and it's done more than all the creams and ointments we've used over the years. It's very common that they are connected.

We changed to detergent that is dye/perfume free. Same with soap. Special shampoo. Shower daily, coat in cream (we use hydrous emollient).

We would use pretty intense ointment for 2 weeks, followed by the emollient. That would get it under control. Whenever it got bad, we had to repeat the two weeks of intense stuff.

Two of my other children have had eczema on hands mainly - one had it on chest and back as a baby. They do not have allergies. In their case, changing the products we used helped tremendously. My daughter gets it on her hands badly. Changing our pump soap (at sinks) helped in her case. Milder stuff.

Aveeno Eczema Therapy Moisturizing Cream works really well for my kids.

I use tea tree oil.

My dermatologist prescribes me Triamcinolone Acetonide ointment, which I use whenever the oozing blisters appear on my fingers. He told me it is essential for my skin to always be moisturized so I keep a bottle of unscented moisturizing cream at my desk for that purpose, since I work with paper, which dries my hands even more (I have Dyshidrotic eczema and it's only on my hands). He even suggested using petroleum jelly, like Vaseline, to keep my skin moist at all times.

I have noticed though that since starting to take fish oil and vitamin D3 supplements, my flare-ups have decreased. According to Google, studies have shown both of these things may reduce the symptoms. You may want to give those a try, as well as removing gluten from his diet, as some correlation has been found between gluten and eczema. Another thing that my PCP mentioned is that it can be related to allergies, like hay fever, or intense stress. I think my stress levels are the same, or worse than when my condition began, so I can only attribute my improvement to the supplements and change in diet.

1 cup of plain yogurt in his bath water is very soothing to the skin.
So is a little colloidal oatmeal in bath water, too.
There are lots of home remedies you can try.
Some swear by coconut oil.

Unfortunately what works for one person, often doesn't work for another. Here is what worked for our daughter:

Eucerin
Eliminating dairy
Always use sunscreen when outdoors, even on cloudy days (use a good brand, nothing cheap and sticky)
Showering immediately after pool use
Rinsing all clothing/bedding in vinegar each wash (I put it in the rinse cycle of every load to eliminate soap residue)

Good luck!