Eczema in children; tips & suggestions for parents
March 1st, 2010 | Posted in Personal | 1 Comment »I recently blogged about Dylan and his problems with eczema, especially in the cold, dry winter months, and I wanted to do a follow up article going a little deeper into the methods we use to keep it in check. I’ve noticed a recent influx of traffic to that one particular blog post, and I want to help out these people that end up here looking for information about the skin condition.
However, I’m going to go ahead and make one thing clear…I am NOT a doctor of any kind, so do not use the suggestions in this article in place of real medical advice from your doctor. These are merely my experiences and suggestions about dealing with eczema. Specifically, in a child.
First thing’s first… I strongly recommend taking your child to the doctor before making assumptions about what’s going on with their skin. I had no idea what eczema was before my son was diagnosed, therefore I thought it was just dry skin and that it would go away. You need to be sure of their skin condition before writing it off as something unimportant or something that will disappear over time. Many skin conditions can appear to be similar (psoriasis and eczema are close in appearance) but may be treated in completely different ways.
2. Come to grips with the fact that your child may have (and struggle) with this for the rest of his or her life. It’s tempting sometimes to believe that once the rash clears up, it’s gone for good, so you can stop medicating. In some cases, this is true, as childhood eczema is fairly common and many children do outgrow it. But in others, as soon as you stop treating it, it comes back with a vengeance and getting it under control again is miserable for all parties involved. Better to err on the side caution and keep doing what works.
3. Your child’s doctor will more than likely prescribe an ointment to help clear up the rash, and possibly an oral medication to help ease the itching that comes with it. However, it’s important to find out what triggers the outbreaks (maybe an allergy or stress) and make lifestyle changes so that medication won’t be relied upon entirely. Loose fitting, 100% cotton clothing is best as it allows the skin to breathe, and avoid any detergents and harsh soaps that can possibly cause an allergic reaction and/or dry out their skin even worse.
4. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. I can’t stress this enough. Especially in the winter months, when skin is more prone to dry out anyway, moisturizing with lotion may be something you end up doing multiple times a day. I’ve found that fragrance free lotions work best, since some perfumes and ‘extra’ ingredients in some lotions can exacerbate the condition. Another tip, our doctor advised us to stay away from Vaseline (petroleum jelly). Contrary to what some believe, the thickness and ‘goopyness’ of petroleum jelly actually trap the affected area from getting any air, and it really doesn’t do anything to provide the moisture that it so desperately needs.
5. If your child has been scratching an area, it will more than likely be difficult to get them to stop. Even if they scratch to the point that it bleeds, weeps, and becomes raw, the itching sensation can become nearly insatiable despite all of that. It’s important to get them to stop scratching somehow to prevent their sores from getting infected, and there are a couple of ways I’ve found that can be effective: 1.) use cold compresses. I run a washcloth under lukewarm or cool water and have him hold it on the area until it stops itching. If that doesn’t work, I’ve found that Dermoplast first-aid spray is also great for this purpose. It’s an anti-itch/pain relieving spray that can be bought almost anywhere.
6. Once the eczema is under control (either by medication, lifestyle changes, home treatments, or a combination), daily maintenance will be required to keep it in check. Along with moisturizing every day, I fully recommend having your child take oatmeal baths at least 2 or 3 times a week depending on the severity with which it occurs. You can buy what they call ‘colloidal’ oatmeal packets at most drug stores, which is really just oatmeal ground into a fine powder, or you can make your own at home using regular breakfast oatmeal. I actually discovered this method a few weeks ago when I searched online for at-home eczema treatments (my son was going through quite a bad flare-up at the time). I read many stories of adult eczema sufferers that praised oatmeal baths, so we gave it a try and it turned out being one of the most effective treatments. If you’re wondering how to make your own oatmeal bath, all you need is a food processor or blender. Add 1 cup of oatmeal (any oatmeal is fine except flavored) and grind it until it becomes a very very fine powder. Add the oatmeal to your child’s lukewarm bathwater and stir it all around. That’s it! The water should turn a milky white color, and they should soak in this bath for a minimum of 15 minutes (30 is better!). After the bath, pat them down with a towel (do not rub!) and moisturize their skin with lotion. I’ve found that by doing this, our son’s flare-ups are becoming fewer and more far between.
I hope this article proves to be helpful to sufferers of eczema and/or the parents of sufferers who may be too little to understand what’s happening to them and don’t know what to do about it. It’s an ongoing struggle for us, but with these few things in mind it makes it a little more bearable.
