Hello All

I am hoping that someone could give me some recommendations for helping my 5 year old nephew with eczema. It has only just recently flared up but my SIL wants to start using more natural and organic products on him to see if that will help. As he’s at school he needs to have a bath every evening so something that won’t dry his skin out but won’t give him a reaction would be helpful.

Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much X

I know this may have already been thought of but a lot of people who have eczema find it’s eased with giving up cow’s milk? Perhaps goat’s milk might help if this hasn’t already been done?

I just wonder why he has to have a bath every night?  Reducing the number of the baths will reduce the drying out of the skin.  Also running the water through a sock with oats in makes the water more moisturising. I know there are people here who have much more experience of eczema than I have, and will be able to offer more advice.

My ds1 has had chronic eczema all his life. He has a daily bath with dermol / oilatum emollients. Then steroid creams and more moisturisers. Bathing stops his eczema getting infected, the emollients in the bathwater are a vital part of the hydration process.

As far as natural products are concerned - they don’t particularly help imo. It is best to avoid as many products as possible - definitely no soap, no bubble bath - not even “natural” ones.  Plenty of moisturiser - we use cetraben and epaderm, both available on prescription. Oats can be soothing, but my son actually had an allergic flare up when we tried oats in the bath. We used aveeno cream for along time, which is oaty but he began to complain that it was making him more itchy.

Also consider your washing powder; definitely avoid fabric softener. We use surcare which is fragrance free non bio.

As for diet I am not convinced. We have never seen any diet related change in ds’s skin. I think a milk intolerance would have manifested itself before the age of 5.

Just briefly… I’m about to order some wonderful sounding balm from Bria. It’s called restore, replenish, re… (I forget). The testimonials sound pretty good. Worth a google?

First my advice would be as some have said on here before - check packaging and shopping to see if there have been any changes in what you are using. After Babes was born we all got eczema/rashes and one of the causes was that I had inadvertently bought a bio washing powder instead of the usual eco friendly non bio and I hadn’t noticed. Second I would contact the eczema society and talk it through with them .http://www.eczema.org/
Thirdly, I would be wary of getting into a cycle with emolients and baths. I understand how it alleviates some symptoms and if it is the only thing that helps then so be it but can’t help thinking that it is the whole household that is worth looking at. Would second steering clear of a bath every day. Unless they are really dirty they don’t need it just tops and bottoms with different cloths and water.

Fourthy, I can recommend the Earthbound chickweed and calendula cream it certainly helped us. It is not cheap but if solves the problem worth it.
http://www.earthbound.co.uk/chickweed-and-calendula-cream-120ml.html
hope there is something of use in all the advice here.
Best
w.w.

I have some excema on my hands and have recently got some cream from forever living products- aloe and propolis cream, and it has been fantastic, a little going a long way too. Probably not all that eco friendly, although I don’t know, but v good.

Has your SIL tried lavender oil in the bath?  I use 5 drops in my 3yo’s bath and hers has cleared up nicely.  I’m also using jojoba oil as an after bath moisturiser instead of the sticky steriod creams, it’s available in Holland and Barratts.  Hope it clears up soon.

Thank you everyone I will show her all your recommendations. XXX

My boy has eczema and I use oats and chickweed in the bath.  Oats just go straight in and chickweed I wrap in muslin tied with string before I throw it in.

Much love x x x

Appreciate this was posted a while back but had very similar problems with my children.  With regards to milk, I noticed a real improvement once we switched to soya milk. I was reluctant, as two years on, thought I’d have noticed it was milk but genuinely feel that helped. Products from Neals Yard were a life saver. I also wanted to avoid emollients and steroid creams so was willing to try anything! I literally stopped using any other things, only NY baby oil (just few drops in bath) and NY baby wash (small amount) and a few weeks later, my son was so much better. Anything with tomato also seemed to trigger it too, even tomato based sauces eg baked beans.

Hope your nephew feels better soon!