Ezcema Help

Please can someone suggest something for poor little Josh who ripped his skin to shreads last night, we have a suspician tesco have changed their non-bio washing powder compound because it is/was the only one that Josh could have. He is seeing his GP on Monday I have spent the last hour holding his hands to prevent him from scratching more. Its breaking my heart to see him in such pain (it does hurt) we are doing all the normal thing, cool baths lots of base cream but I am out of ideas to help him and it is heartbreaking to watch him.

Bex

[KateMoss]

Oh, Bex, poor Josh!

Distraction therapy.... have you got a play station or some computery game with a very adictive game - or anything to keep his hands occupied?

Half a tub of emolient and loose cotton clothes / PJs. ( would suggest babygrows But I suspect he is too big for them)

Have you got any tubigauze?? Apply loads of emolient, pop wet tubigause on followed by layer of dry tubigauze.

Large fan directed on him. Antihistamines?

Has been a warm day so prob not helped.

Hope this helps

kate

xXx

[Hidden]

We used to wet wrap him as a baby and a young child but he has not had flare up for some time. Thank you for the advice He is playing on his computer now and is having a cool bath in a minute then I will cream him up for the night. We don't have any of the old wet wrap stuff which is a shame tommorrow I will go to boots and get some bandages for a DIY wet wrap we have loads of base cream. Does anyone else feel guilty that they know it is their side of the genes that causes the asthma and ezcema.

Thanks folks

Bex

[Hidden]

Bex I can only offer similar advice to Kate but I really really sympathise with Josh as I can scratch myself raw with my chronic urticaria. The only things that work for me when my skin is really bad is a long cool soak in lots of Oilatum bath stuff followed by turning myself into a snowman with Diprobase (which has been in the fridge) using the 'apply it so thick you can write your name in it' rule. I pop cool cotton pjs on and dose myself up for the night with Piriton and cetirizine and then keep my hands busy with Nintendo DS or my Rubiks Cube.

Do you think exam stress might have contributed to this flare up? If it turns out to be the washing powder have you tried Eco-Wash balls? A friend of mine swears by them as she has severe eczema too. I hope the DIY wet wrapping does the trick and your GP comes up with something on Monday.

Lucy

[Hidden]

Thanks folks, josh has had a bath and I have put cream on the bad bits and persuaded him to wear PJ's insstead of just boxers. It is looking less angry and he is playing on his computer until he gets tired and then he is going to downlaod something from bbc iplayer and watch that until he drops off. He has cirtirazine, could he also take piriton? All of my kids bar Nicko have had ezcema and we are having a hard time explaining to him just how compelling the urge to itch is, Mads has been defending Josh and Mike whose ezcema was really bad as a child is home next weekend so with luck he will be able to get the message across.

Thank you folks I was at my wits end and getting quite upset at the state of him.

Bex

[Hidden]

Yes Bex he can take Piriton too. I take both Cetirizine and 2-3 doses of Piriton every day and have both on prescription, it might help him sleep a bit better and relieve the itching? Another thought is if you have a fan you can put on in his room to keep him cool. If he is ok with Oilatum products then I find the shower gel quite soothing and it helps to get a bit more moisture into the skin too. There are two different ones a perfumed and unperfumed one. I'd avoid the soap though because it has artificial colours in... how odd for a product designed for people with sensitive / itchy skin conditions!

Sending you and Josh hugs, I'm usually on the itching end of things but it must be very distressing and frustraing for a Mum to have to watch.

Lucy

[Hidden]

Just to let you know thanks to the tips here Josh slept well last night and his skin much less angry. Thank you all so much I really was my wits end!

Hugs

Bex

[Hidden]

Aww I'm glad to hear that Bex, I've been thinking about him today in the heat. I've come out in a bit of sun induced urticaria, I really need to get better at putting the sun cream on!

Lucy

[Hidden]

Josh saw the GP today and we got some stronger steriod cream for flare ups. His skin is still not looking too good but the cream is helping and Josh is happier and is not ripping himself to shreads I am awaiting a reply from Tesco re their washing powder as he has had body wide ezcema this time which makes me suspect washing powder.

Once again thank you all for getting Josh and I though a diffficult weekend

[Hidden]

As an A&E doc…

Nothing they are amazing. They do an amazing job in often exceptionally difficult circumstances. They have to pick up people out of the most gruesome circumstances, deal with the Saturday night drunks, put little old ladies back to bed and assess & treat very poorly patients plus a zillion other things. I have a nice cosy hospital department to treat patients in, they have a baked bean can on wheels! I have a huge amount of respect for paramedics plus they are invariably a good laugh too.

With regards to paramedics/docs wearing perfume. I appreciate Wheezers point, but I wear perfume all the time and have no intention of stopping. I do not bathe in it and it can only be smelt when I lean over people when patients often say ‘you smell nice dear’ (usually little old ladies!) I have never been told by anybody that it has caused them a problem and I think that in a profession where you get very close to people it’s important to smell nice!

STX

[Hidden]

OOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS

Red face...

I may have posted that in the wrong section!

So sorry..

at work on nights...bit tired!

Bex, I hope Josh's eczema Is better!

STX

[Hidden]

hi bex i hope your son is feeling better and not so scratchy my daughter has had eczema from a baby and we have the same problem wet wrapping really helps and she has tubifast garments prescribed from the doctor they are expensive so they try not to give them but its worth trying ,they are leggings tops and socks that you can wet after putting on creams then a dry set over the top or just put them on over creams it just helps them not get to the skin and it means you can put lots of cream on and it helps it to stay on the skin rather than wipe off one thing i will say is if its very sticky wet the clothes before taking them off ie let him wear them in the bath as if the skin sticks to the garments it can be very distressing for the child when you take it off. i also dont know how much cream you put on but you should be using one tub or bottle a week sounds excessive but the skin itches when it dries out so the more creams you pile on and more frequent the less likely the itch i know it means you are forever putting it on and its time consuming but it works any more advice or questions feel free to message me .