Anyone Know About Eczema?

[Wizzard of Oz]

Just wondering if someone has (or knows someone who has) eczema?

I've just started googling, but thought someone might have dealt with it and be able to give me a head start in helping out a friend who seems to have it (and has dealt with a couple of rude and not particularly helpful doctors) and is getting stressed because the affected area has gotten larger.

I think she has used steroid cream, which worked initially, but the symptoms came back after stopping that.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated. Cheers.

[junkofdavid2]

I used to have it, and also used steroid cream and had the same experience... worked initially but came back.

I know the anti-atkins folks are gonna hate me for this, but my eczema finally disappeared by itself pretty quickly when I adapted a low-carb lifestyle.

Edit: Due to typo.

Edited March 14, 2008 by junkofdavid2

[Wizzard of Oz]

I used to have it, and also used steroid cream and had the same experience... worked initially but came back.

I know the anti-atkins folks are gonna hate me for this, but my eczema finally disappeared by itself pretty quickly when I adapted a low-carb lifestyle.

Edit: Due to typo.

In what way do you think a low carb diet helps?

[Jingthing]

junk, thought of getting tested for celiac disease? I don't think carbs have anything to do with eczema.

[junkofdavid2]

I used to have it, and also used steroid cream and had the same experience... worked initially but came back.

I know the anti-atkins folks are gonna hate me for this, but my eczema finally disappeared by itself pretty quickly when I adapted a low-carb lifestyle.

Edit: Due to typo.

In what way do you think a low carb diet helps?

I have absolutely no idea... I was just stating fact regarding my actual experience.

Edited March 14, 2008 by junkofdavid2

[Jockstar]

I used to have cyrisis(sp) and the wife got me a cream in Bangkok called Betnovate-N. I had had this since i was about 7 years old. So i kind of got used to it. But the wife insisted on trying this cream. Within a couple of months it was gone. Totally gone. We have since advised some friends about it and they are also happy with the reults. Give it a go.

[LaoPo]

Just wondering if someone has (or knows someone who has) eczema?

I've just started googling, but thought someone might have dealt with it and be able to give me a head start in helping out a friend who seems to have it (and has dealt with a couple of rude and not particularly helpful doctors) and is getting stressed because the affected area has gotten larger.

I think she has used steroid cream, which worked initially, but the symptoms came back after stopping that.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated. Cheers.

This is an article from last Thursday:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7291783.stm

Try to find a specialized Chinese doctor; it depends where your friend is/lives.

Some of them, not all, are the best to treat eczema with traditional herbs.

Good luck !

LaoPo

[painai2]

I get it on my face every so often. I use Elidel, a cream available by prescription, though any pharmacy in Thailand will sell it to you. Apply it twice a day for about a week, until it clears up.

[cathyy]

Eczema can be an allergic reaction. So if a person had an allergy to something like wheat causing the eczema, a low-carb diet would definitely help clear it up!

Here's a quote from DrGreene.com:

Many different things can be the irritating agent or trigger. Here is a list of common triggers to watch for:

Rubbing the skin

Moisture, such as saliva or milk

Overheating

Common housedust

Wool or other scratchy fabric

Dog or cat dander

Cigarette smoke

Clothes washed in irritating detergent

Body soap

Water

I had eczema horribly in childhood, on the backs of my knees. I would literally scratch until I bled. Good luck with this!

[john69]

I had excema as a child and was told not to eat pork, chocolate and milk. But there are many different kinds of excema and there seems to be no cure-all. Try to apply medicinal creams but if it persists you may consider cutting certain foods for a month to see if it helps. Also consider your environment - did you get a cat, did you get different bedding, did you buy new plans/flowers to decorate the house, etc.

Eczema can be an allergic reaction. So if a person had an allergy to something like wheat causing the eczema, a low-carb diet would definitely help clear it up!

Here's a quote from DrGreene.com:

Many different things can be the irritating agent or trigger. Here is a list of common triggers to watch for:

Rubbing the skin

Moisture, such as saliva or milk

Overheating

Common housedust

Wool or other scratchy fabric

Dog or cat dander

Cigarette smoke

Clothes washed in irritating detergent

Body soap

Water

I had eczema horribly in childhood, on the backs of my knees. I would literally scratch until I bled. Good luck with this!

[Ijustwannateach]

Environment is a big factor. Consider moving if you can't isolate the cause another way. I had a patch of eczema on my foot while I lived in Japan that didn't completely heal until I left there for good!

[FBN]

This is an allergic skin condition.

Once established, it will react to ANY irritant. Perfumed lotions and soaps are bad.

Creams are bad.

Use ointments (fatty/oily), NOT creams (dehydrating). Betnovate etc are all good alternatives but, as anywhere in medicine, use the one with the desired effect but with the lowest profile of side effects. Most steroid applications will cause an undesired effect on skin thickness and resilience. Momethasone (generic name) has less and there are some newer alternatives which may even be better.

[Trevor]

Eczema is just one of the many manifestations of the body trying to rid itself of internal toxins, mostly from ingestion of cooked and junk foods.

You need the raw primal or paleo diet to detox. www.primaldiet.com www.wewant2live.com Lots of raw fish, meat, eggs, coconuts.

Forget about the creams, drugs and other band-aids. The right cleansing comes from the inside out.

Of course, if you've fallen for the medical mafia's germ theory, forget it ... and learn to live with the eczema!

[junkofdavid2]

Eczema is just one of the many manifestations of the body trying to rid itself of internal toxins, mostly from ingestion of cooked and junk foods.

You need the raw primal or paleo diet to detox. www.primaldiet.com www.wewant2live.com Lots of raw fish, meat, eggs, coconuts.

Forget about the creams, drugs and other band-aids. The right cleansing comes from the inside out.

Of course, if you've fallen for the medical mafia's germ theory, forget it ... and learn to live with the eczema!

Great way to get rid of eczema!

Now as for the salmonella and e-coli...

[cathyy]

Eczema is just one of the many manifestations of the body trying to rid itself of internal toxins, mostly from ingestion of cooked and junk foods.

You need the raw primal or paleo diet to detox. www.primaldiet.com www.wewant2live.com Lots of raw fish, meat, eggs, coconuts.

Forget about the creams, drugs and other band-aids. The right cleansing comes from the inside out.

Of course, if you've fallen for the medical mafia's germ theory, forget it ... and learn to live with the eczema!

Ok, Trevor, then explain how my eczema disappeared completely once the irritant was removed, with no change whatever in my average American diet? It seems that my mother's habit of hemming all my skirts to mid-knee was the irritant. They barely grazed the back of my knees as I walked. When I begged her to either shorten or lengthen them she complied, and my eczema vanished. What convinced her I wasn't just making a play for the newly fashionable miniskirt was that I didn't care whether she chose to make them longer or shorter.

I support you in your right to eat however you choose. I even agree that the average Western diet is less than optimal. However, to offer your single-minded dietary cure-all for all the ills anybody post here is irresponsible. At the bare minimum, have you ever even experienced eczema? I'm afraid some gullible soul might actually follow some of your advice. Raw fish and meat...can you say "parasitic infestation?"

[EricZ]

Eczema comes and goes. Its not curable. You treet the symptoms on your skin. For more severe cases there is perscription pills.My daughter has it. The Dr told us to use Eucerin lotion. Works for her.

[quiksilva]

I have had eczema off and on since birth.

Diet has never featured in any conversation on the topic with a doctor I have had, ever, anywhere in the world.

There are many reasons as to why it might flair up, but for me stress and/or illness seems to be the most common reason.

There is no cure, but for treatment I also suggest betnovate; it truly works wonders, for me.

However, to keep the attacks at bay learn to manage stress.

[appleman]

Timely topic. I am currently in the throes of one of my once every 6 month outbreaks. I think that the beginning of the hot season has brought it on this time. I started getting these about 5 years ago. Nothing cures it and I have to just let it run its course. That takes about 1 month, during which time I have contemplated shooting myself, or amputation, the itching and pain got so bad. But I have learned to deal with it. I use anti itch lotion (something with benedryl in it) and a moisturizing lotion. Try not to scratch (impossible) and I think that you might want to keep out of the sun too. Just about the time it gets unbearable it goes away.

No one knows the cause of eczema (there are probably many different causes) and there is no cure (so far) no matter what some of the people here have said. But you can treat the symptoms. I believe that I might try some herbal remedies next time.

Another way I deal with it is by using psychology. I am 62 and I feel that, even though it can be really bad, it does eventually go away, and if eczema is the worst thing I have, then I am doing fine.

Lots of luck and stay away from guns and hack saws for a while.

[Jockstar]

There is no cure, but for treatment I also suggest betnovate;

I used to have cyrisis(sp) and the wife got me a cream in Bangkok called Betnovate-N. I had had this since i was about 7 years old. So i kind of got used to it. But the wife insisted on trying this cream. Within a couple of months it was gone. Totally gone. We have since advised some friends about it and they are also happy with the reults. Give it a go

Try it.It does work. BTW (psoriasis ) is what i meant. Not my spelling.

[DickDastardly]

Betnovate is good and I can recommend Dermovate if you need something stronger. Use sparingly as both cause thinning of the skin. Make sure you buy them in ointment form, not cream.

[junkofdavid2]

Eczema is just one of the many manifestations of the body trying to rid itself of internal toxins, mostly from ingestion of cooked and junk foods.

You need the raw primal or paleo diet to detox. www.primaldiet.com www.wewant2live.com Lots of raw fish, meat, eggs, coconuts.

Forget about the creams, drugs and other band-aids. The right cleansing comes from the inside out.

Of course, if you've fallen for the medical mafia's germ theory, forget it ... and learn to live with the eczema!

Ok, Trevor, then explain how my eczema disappeared completely once the irritant was removed, with no change whatever in my average American diet? It seems that my mother's habit of hemming all my skirts to mid-knee was the irritant. They barely grazed the back of my knees as I walked. When I begged her to either shorten or lengthen them she complied, and my eczema vanished. What convinced her I wasn't just making a play for the newly fashionable miniskirt was that I didn't care whether she chose to make them longer or shorter.

I support you in your right to eat however you choose. I even agree that the average Western diet is less than optimal. However, to offer your single-minded dietary cure-all for all the ills anybody post here is irresponsible. At the bare minimum, have you ever even experienced eczema? I'm afraid some gullible soul might actually follow some of your advice. Raw fish and meat...can you say "parasitic infestation?"

Agree it's good to point that out for the benefit of the forum.

However, if your objective was to convince Trevor, forget it. Just leave him be as he's most probably just going through a phase in his life. When activists (of any "cause") are mesmerized by a certain concept and eventually "fall in love" with it, it's natural for them to get sorta blinded and irresponsibly (though without ill intent) see only the "good" part (if at all it does have some good to it).

I admit that as a health buff myself, I also went through that juvenile "natural is good" phase, but later became (slightly) more logical (albeit not perfect) in analyzing these "updated" health opinions.

To date, I still am somewhat "anti-establishment" in a way and do believe that there are indeed lots of doctors out there who are either over-prescribing medication/surgery due to corruption or even plain ignorance in cases where very natural and basic remedies (such as exercising or drinking water!) are more than enough; and I have experienced some of these establishment-doctors first-hand.

As for Trevor, just leave him be and hopefully he'll eventually outgrow it.

[SebD]

Hi Wiz,

Suffered all my life (mainly on my face ) until I found a cure (for me - not sure if anything can be a panocea for everyone).

In those pre-internet days, I had to travel to London for a consultation as they wouldn't do it over the 'phone, but I think you can do it on-line, these days:

http://www.thealternativecentre.co.uk/id18.html

I got NO links with these people at all, except they "cured" my problem.

The downside of using their products (for me and for SOME others - but not all, apparently) is that for the first few days, the condition actually got worse.

Once it had settled down, though, I followed their instructions and gradually weaned myself off the herbal solution I was using.

I controlled my condition with their formula and found I didn't even need it after a year or so.

I still don't (many, many, years on).

So, for me, it was a cure and not just a treatment.

Have a look around their products and feel free to PM me or otherwise ask my opinion on any aspect of the treatment procedures I followed.

Regards.

SebD

[Trevor]

There is a reference to eczema here. From www.mercola.com (have to register, for free). I have never had any problems whatsoever from parasites or bacteria through eating raw meat, fish and eggs. It's a fallacy nurtured by conventional, and flawed, germ-theory. The 'pathogens' just pass through a healthy body, and actually stimulate the immune system to greater strengths. And better to nourish our bodies properly so cells never turn cancerous in the first place.

The Dangers of Over-Cooking Your Food

By Nancy Appleton, Ph.D.

Here are some statistics to put into perspective the dangers of overcooking and undercooking.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 340 Cases of E. coli infection in 1997 which makes the incidents rate of 2.1 per 100,000 people.

Also reported that scientists have estimated that the average cancer risk because of heterocyclic amine exposure ranges from 1 per 10,000 for the average person to more than 1 to 50 for those ingesting large amounts of well-done muscle meats, especially flamed-grilled chicken.

Recently a report by Leif Busk, head of the Research and Development Department of the Swedish National Food Administration showed that overcooking of some baked and fried starchy foods causes acrylamide to be formed in these cooked foods. Acrylamide is cancer causing in animals.

With this new information in mind, it is wise to look at this whole subject of over-cooked food. Over-cooked food might take on a different meaning than it has previously.

Not only is acrylamide formed in some starchy food but also meat cooked at high temperatures has as many as 20 compounds known as heterocyclic amines, or HCAs for short. HCAs are known as cancer causing. Many people feel that it is important to cook food well in order to avoid bacterial infection. These same people do not realize that cooking meat, poultry, or fish at high temperatures for long periods of time can also be dangerous to your health.

There are other epidemiologic studies that suggest that there is a relationship between methods of cooking and various cancers and heart disease.1 In one study the researchers found that those who ate their beef medium-well or well-done had more than three times the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef rare or medium-rare. Additional studies have shown that an increased risk of developing pancreatic, colorectal, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes of well-done, fried, or barbequed meats. http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/3_25.htm

Evidence To Show That The More Food Is Cooked, The More Difficult It Is To Digest And Metabolize

This is true of any food. The higher the temperature that food is cooked, the longer it stays in the gut and the more difficult it becomes for our digestive mechanisms to digest it. This makes it more difficult for the food to absorb and function at a cellular level where it needs to work. When the food can not function in the cells, the cells can become deficient and/or toxic which leads to deficiency and toxicity of the whole body making the body less able to function optimally.

There are many ways to cook food, some with less harmful results. Steaming, boiling, and stewing expose food to heat not exceeding 100 degrees C. On the other hand, baking and roasting expose food to temperatures up to 200 degrees.

Microwaving also exposes food up to 200 degrees C. but there are also many other problems with microwaving food. The highest temperatures that foods are exposed to are broiling and barbecuing which can be 400 degrees C. Frying with a pan or wok normally uses high surface temperatures.2

As early as 1930 research was done in Switzerland showing what processed and cooked food did to the leukocytes, the white blood cells in humans. Prior to this research it was noted that upon eating there would be an immediate increase of the white blood cells which was called "digestive leukocytosis." Digestive leukocytosis means that there is a rise in the number of white blood cells after eating. At the time this was considered a normal physiological response to eating.

It was not know why the cells would increase after eating and this increase usually meant that the person had been exposed to a harmful substance such as toxic chemicals, a trauma or infection. http://www.halalvitamins.com/cooking.htm

Then at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry, Dr. Paul Kouchakoff found that eating unaltered, raw food or food heated at low temperatures did not cause a reaction in the blood. Kouchakoff also found that if the food was processed or heated beyond a certain temperature it caused a rise in the number of white blood cells. He found that foods that had been refined, homogenized, pasteurized, or preserved causes the greatest increase in white blood cells.

Examples of these harmful foods are:

Pasteurized milk,

Chocolate,

Margarine,

Sugar,

Candy,

White flour and

Regular salt.

There are two more interesting facts about this study:

1. If the food was chewed very thoroughly, the harm to the white blood cells would lessen.

2. If a person ate as much of the same raw food as he/she ate cooked the pathological reaction in the blood would be minimal.3

Researchers from the University of California at Davis examined how volunteers digested bread that had been cooked to varying degrees: first very mildly, second normally, and third over-cooked. The slightly cooked bread went through the stomach quite rapidly and caused no problems in digestion. But the longer the bread was cooked, the longer it stayed in the stomach.

In fact, the dark over-cooked bread caused an immune response in the bloodstream. An immune response can be triggered by undigested food that gets into the bloodstream and must be treated as a foreign invader by the immune system.

Francis Pottenger found that every food has a heat labile point. The heat labile point is the temperature point at which food changes its chemical configuration. All foods are made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen in different chemical configurations with minerals added.

We have come from early man eating foods in certain chemical configurations. We have the digestive enzymes to digest foods with those chemical configurations. When food is heated past the heat-labile point, its chemical configuration changes.

Pasteurization, deep-frying, and barbecuing are all forms of cooking where food is heated past the heat labile point. The body does not understand these new chemical configurations and does not have the enzymes to digest the food easily.4

When the food does not digest properly, it can sit in the gut, unable to be assimilated completely and it starts to become toxic. The carbohydrates start to ferment, the proteins begin to putrefy and the fats become rancid. These toxins irritate the lining of the gastrointestinal tract mucosa.

This can poison the gut bacteria causing the ecology of the gut to become upset. Three hundred to four hundred of the bacteria species can become upset causing overgrowth of candida and other pathogens. The irritation also makes the cells on the lining of the gastrointestinal tract to enlarge.5

When the cells become larger, the putrefied, undigested or partially digested food slips into the blood stream, called the leaky gut syndrome or gut permeability.6

When they get into the blood stream they are called free radicals with such formidable names as cadaverines, endols, putricine, and phenol.

Since it is the liver's job to detoxify toxins, the liver becomes overloaded and less able to do its job. In the bloodstream, this undigested or partially digested food (in the form of macromolecules) is in too large a particle to get into the cell to function This undigested or partially digested food moves through the blood stream causing havoc in the body.

This is a form of food allergy. The macromolecules can go to the head and cause the classic symptoms of allergy such as runny eyes, scratchy throat, itchy ears, sinusitis, and sneezing. They can go to the brain and cause headaches, anger, fatigue, schizophrenia, and perspiration.

This putrefied food can go to the joints or tissues and cause arthritis, or to the nerves and cause multiple sclerosis. These macromolecules can also go to the skin and cause acne, edema, psoriasis or rashes. It can lodge anywhere in the soft tissues in the body and cause problems, straining whatever a person's weak link may be.

Finally the immune system comes to the defense of the body, and makes these undigested particles back into substances that the body can use or escorts them out of the body. The immune system is asked to do the job that our digestive system did not do.

The immune system was not designed to do this on a daily basis, every time we eat over-cook foods or over-processed foods. Over a period of time the immune system becomes exhausted and the door is opened to infectious and degenerative diseases.

From this research and the principle of the heat labile point, it seems that the best way to cook food is the least way.

The more food that you can eat raw, the better.

If you do cook your food the best way to cook food is lightly steam, stew, or use a slow crock cooker. Eat as few over-processed and over-cooked foods as possible. The body has a difficult time digesting fried, barbecued, pasteurized, dried, and other over-processed and over-cooked foods that you find in cake mixes, dried milk, dried eggs, pizza mixes, dairy products and other boxed and processed foods. Bon apetite au natural.

For More information on Dr. Appleton's books, The Curse of Louis Pasteur, Lick the Sugar Habit, Lick the Sugar Habit Sugar Counter, Heal Yourself with Natural Foods, and Healthy Bones, view her website: www.nancyappleton.com.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Raw foods are key to your health as most cooked foods will lose valuable nutrients due to their fragile nature. However, high temperatures will also potentially cause the formation of carcinogenic substances as this study shows.

This has also been shown for cooking meats over a grill in which heterocyclic amines are formed.

My nutrition plan emphasizes the need for consuming at least one-third of your foods raw.

This can even be translated to meats. I have recently started eating raw ostrich, which was raised primarily on alfalfa, several times a week and find it quite delightful.

I have been consuming raw eggs for several months now as well with major benefits to my cholesterol level.

[Trevor]

I used to have it, and also used steroid cream and had the same experience... worked initially but came back.

I know the anti-atkins folks are gonna hate me for this, but my eczema finally disappeared by itself pretty quickly when I adapted a low-carb lifestyle.

Edit: Due to typo.

Your eczema-trigger was probably high-carbohydrate, acrylamide-loaded baked and fried foods. Now you have reduced them to levels your body can just handle, the eczema has abated ... for now.

Despite your patronising comments on my going through a 'juvenile phase' with respect to RVAF (raw vegetable-animal food) eating, there are many well-educated and intelligent people who happen to agree with me. Try reading Weston Price and Pottenger's work from 70 years ago; it's not rocket science!

Edited March 28, 2008 by Trevor

[Trevor]

Eczema is just one of the many manifestations of the body trying to rid itself of internal toxins, mostly from ingestion of cooked and junk foods.

You need the raw primal or paleo diet to detox. www.primaldiet.com www.wewant2live.com Lots of raw fish, meat, eggs, coconuts.

Forget about the creams, drugs and other band-aids. The right cleansing comes from the inside out.

Of course, if you've fallen for the medical mafia's germ theory, forget it ... and learn to live with the eczema!

Ok, Trevor, then explain how my eczema disappeared completely once the irritant was removed, with no change whatever in my average American diet? It seems that my mother's habit of hemming all my skirts to mid-knee was the irritant. They barely grazed the back of my knees as I walked. When I begged her to either shorten or lengthen them she complied, and my eczema vanished. What convinced her I wasn't just making a play for the newly fashionable miniskirt was that I didn't care whether she chose to make them longer or shorter.

I support you in your right to eat however you choose. I even agree that the average Western diet is less than optimal. However, to offer your single-minded dietary cure-all for all the ills anybody post here is irresponsible. At the bare minimum, have you ever even experienced eczema? I'm afraid some gullible soul might actually follow some of your advice. Raw fish and meat...can you say "parasitic infestation?"

Cathy, you were lucky to identify the apparent trigger for your 'eczema', if indeed it was at the point of chafing the back of your knee. It may not have been eczema at all -- just a friction rash or a topical reaction to the material. In most people eczema is (apparently) idiopathic: no known cause. But, in reality, it is the build-up of undigested toxins from cooked foods within the body's largest organ (by area), the skin.

As for 'my' diet, which is merely the ancestral diet modern humans evolved with 200,000 years ago, it may well help some 'gullible souls' for whom pills and potions have achieved nothing. Just to rub it in, a doctor examining me recently commented that I have 'excellent-quality skin'. Love those dam_n parasites ... just making me stronger and healthier! Read Aajonus at www.wewant2live.com and you will find out how the foods that we are brainwashed to fear are actually good for us. Don't be too judgmental until you have REALLY tried it for yourself.

Edited March 28, 2008 by Trevor

[beginthebegin]

Hi all. This is a wonderful discussion about treating eczema. It's a bit old, though. Anyway, I would like to ask your suggestions/comments about eczema on kids? I have a 5-yr old who have eczema on his knees. I keep it moisturized and not give him tight clothes but still it causes terrible itchiness. I would like to ask for your help just before I go and check it with a doctor. Thanks.

[FBN]

Hi all. This is a wonderful discussion about treating eczema. It's a bit old, though. Anyway, I would like to ask your suggestions/comments about eczema on kids? I have a 5-yr old who have eczema on his knees. I keep it moisturized and not give him tight clothes but still it causes terrible itchiness. I would like to ask for your help just before I go and check it with a doctor. Thanks.

Is this skin condition confirmed as eczema? This usually occurs behind the knee in the skin fold and not in front. Psoriasis is more likely to present in the area over the knee cap in front.

Any other areas: Behind ears, front of elbows?

How long has he/she had this skin condition? Since birth or later and, if later, what may have precipitated it?

Change of environment, diet, soaps?

To find the cause or sensitizing agent would be most important to manage and control the condition. Unfortunately, a hot humid climate is just about worst and April is yet to come!

Suggest to get a reliable dermatologist to confirm the diagnosis. Do not buy any steroid preparations over the counter as there are several dangers with using these on kids. Steroid preparations intended for adults such as Dermovate or Betnovate may have local effects on the skin (causing thinning of the skin) or may lead to systemic absorption and side effects similar than those with oral treatment.

Newer preparations and especially those intended for pediatric use have a relatively low side effect profile but, as the treatment may need to continue for some time (intermittently for years perhaps), it is best to select the treatment with the least side effects.

There is no "miracle" cure out there but infants may "outgrow" the condition by becoming less sensitive to irritants as they grow older.

In the mean time try the "Sebamed" range of products (shampoo, shower gels and lotions) as they seem to be less irritant than other pedriatic preparations.

Don't use creams (water based) as it will dry out the skin even more but ointments as these are oil based and also provide a protective barrier.

Good Luck!

[offset]

Hi all. This is a wonderful discussion about treating eczema. It's a bit old, though. Anyway, I would like to ask your suggestions/comments about eczema on kids? I have a 5-yr old who have eczema on his knees. I keep it moisturized and not give him tight clothes but still it causes terrible itchiness. I would like to ask for your help just before I go and check it with a doctor. Thanks.

Is this skin condition confirmed as eczema? This usually occurs behind the knee in the skin fold and not in front. Psoriasis is more likely to present in the area over the knee cap in front.

Any other areas: Behind ears, front of elbows?

How long has he/she had this skin condition? Since birth or later and, if later, what may have precipitated it?

Change of environment, diet, soaps?

To find the cause or sensitizing agent would be most important to manage and control the condition. Unfortunately, a hot humid climate is just about worst and April is yet to come!

Suggest to get a reliable dermatologist to confirm the diagnosis. Do not buy any steroid preparations over the counter as there are several dangers with using these on kids. Steroid preparations intended for adults such as Dermovate or Betnovate may have local effects on the skin (causing thinning of the skin) or may lead to systemic absorption and side effects similar than those with oral treatment.

Newer preparations and especially those intended for pediatric use have a relatively low side effect profile but, as the treatment may need to continue for some time (intermittently for years perhaps), it is best to select the treatment with the least side effects.

There is no "miracle" cure out there but infants may "outgrow" the condition by becoming less sensitive to irritants as they grow older.

In the mean time try the "Sebamed" range of products (shampoo, shower gels and lotions) as they seem to be less irritant than other pedriatic preparations.

Don't use creams (water based) as it will dry out the skin even more but ointments as these are oil based and also provide a protective barrier.

Good Luck!

Can you get Sebamed in Thailand easy I am in Pattaya and would like to try it on my baby

[FBN]

I think the Boots chain of stores do stock it.

[offset]

I think the Boots chain of stores do stock it.

Thanks I will them again in a different store the one I tried yesterday had mainly their own brand