Eczema update

Lucy woke up with even MORE eczema this weekend (still on only my own diagnosis) so I called the pediatrician’s office and made an appointment in urgent care on a Saturday. The doctor we saw (whose last name was Doctor… as you can imagine, I loved this) confirmed that this is in fact eczema and not allergy.

How to treat it:
  • Luke warm baths. Not too warm because warm water dries out skin.  Pat skin dry - don't rub - since rubbing or itching motions cause it to flare up.
  • For really bad patches, like on Lucy’s back, use a 1% hydrocortisone cream immediately after her bath, but only when needed since this is a very low dose steroid.  I opted for Cortizone 10 since every other brand had a ton of inactive ingredients. This is just 1% hydrocortisone and petrolatum.
  • Immediately following the bath and hydrocortisone, lock in the moisture with some kind of hydrating ointment. In order from most effective to least: (1) hydrated patrolatum, which is super moisturizing cream, made for eczema. It’s over the counter, but you have to get it from the pharmacist. (2) Aquaphor. (3) Vaseline. But all will do the trick.
  • Grease her up with the hydrated petrolatum generously throughout the day as necessary.
  • Dress her in 100% cotton clothing, especially for sleep.
  • Use a cool mist humidifier to combat dry air from winter and heating.
You may be freaking since this regimen involves the use of a steroid, but we trust the advice of the doctor and think it's important to treat the eczema so Lucy can sleep.  The doctor referred to eczema as “the itch that rashes”, meaning that itching causes it to flare and spread. Easing the itch helps it to go away quickly, and since Lucy’s back is her problem spot, she wakes up constantly throughout the night from the irritation of lying on her back.

After 24 hours with a little bit of hydrocortisone and a LOT of hydrolatum, she is looking/feeling much better, so I think if we keep her greased up we should be OK. The little grease monkey is sleeping well right now; let’s hope it lasts through the night!

Comments

smilinggreenmom said…
Awww...poor little baby. I just found your blog and wanted to share a little bit of our story with you. Our son who is four now had severe Eczema since he was a baby. It was horrible and I know how you feel because he did not sleep through the night for the first three years of his life. It is so hard to not know how to make it better.

We took him to all kinds of docs, allergists, children's hospitals and everyone's answer was potent meds and creams. The allergist kept increasing his doses of steroids and he was getting so weak from it and not growing etc. This is when another doc told us he was steroid dependent and we need to get him off fast!

We knew we needed to find something safe and healthy for him that would treat the problem and not just cover up his symptoms. We successfully weaned him from the steroids and then heard about Bellyboost kids probiotics. They have been our miracle. He began looking so much better within even the first week of being on them. Here it is a year later and he looks like a totally diff child without hardly any Eczema anywhere.

I sure pray that this helps your Lucy. Probiotics are really being shown to be beneficial for this and I can tell you that Bellyboost is a good one AND it is cute and kid friendly and chewable.

I have a mom blog at smilinggreenmom.com where I post about natural living and allergies/Eczema and would love for you to come visit! BTW - another hint. Give her a bath with baking soda in it and olive oil. No irritants and works so good at moisturizing!!!

Hope this helps :)
Lynn
Nikki said…
oh my gosh Lynn! Glad to hear your son is doing better. Thank you so much for the advice and your story - more information is always so helpful!
FREEPORT said…
Hope Lucy Louise is doing well, we can't wait to see all of you soon.

Love
Pop Pop
amy said…
aw, little lucy bug!

glad you guys found a regimen that's working - i'll keep my fingers crossed!

(and for me and my superdryskin, winter in mass. was always WAY worse than other times of year - hang in there!)

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