My son has eczema so badly that he scratches around his ankles until they open and bleed. Doctors have prescribed some lotion to moisturize. A few times he has had to get antibiotics to clear it up due to oozing. He says the meds they prescribe for itching don't work. He's 10, so i tell him what dermatologist told him, "You're old enough to just NOT do it." I'm at my wit's end. I'm sick of him having to go on antibiotics. I cannot be with him every minute of every day to keep him from scratching. Does anyone else have this problem? Help! The doctors are beginning to look at me as if I'm a bad mom because he keeps opening up these old sores.

Sorry, no experience with it here, but, can you give him Benadryl for the itching?

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Yes, Benadryl will help with the itching. It can either make your child sleepy or make them bounce off the walls. The eczema can be from bad genes, food allergies, laundry detergent, soaps, environmental allergies, etc. Try using a free and clear laundry detergent and double rinsing it. Also a very mild soap (no fragrance) like Cetaphil, or Dove bars should help. We were advised to bath daily, right after lube up with a thick lotion (anyone we want including Aquaphor, Eucerin, vaseline, or even plain Crisco). I hope this helps. My ds had been covered in eczema since birth and this is what is dermatologist has us do. Since we figured out his food allergies his eczema is about 80% better. It's just on his limbs, his face is now nearly perfect.

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I've never lied to you. I've always told you some version the of truth.

Swimming in a chlorinated pool on a regular basis will clear it up.
Works well for my son. Friend's DD has it 10X worse than my DS and it helps tremendously. Friend's doctor also recommends using the tanning bed.

I have eczema. I'm having a flareup right now.

Mine is usually worse during the summer and is really bad on my arms right now (I think it is because I sleep on my stomach with my arms under the pillow and they get really hot there)... Am going to try to sleep on my back and see if it helps. If nothing else, maybe it will help with my wrinkles!!! LOL. Your son probably doesn't have THAT problem yet!



What I have found works well is to clean the area really well with hydrogen peroxide using a sterile gauze pad several times a day -- sometimes the scratching leads to infection and especially if he has opened up the blisters.

I lube it up with A&D or pure lanolin *before* bathing. Keeping it dry is important and the A&D diaper ointment works really at blocking the water.

Scratching and hot water both feel good initially but also are both really only a short 'fix' and then it gets worse.

Also, keep his fingernails short so that he can't scratch as well and/or introduce dirt to the area. I cut mine REALLY short when I'm having a flareup.

Keep the effected uncovered... no socks or anything. The pure air is best. It needs good ventilation and also to be kept as cool as possible without sweating or getting it wet. I wear sleeves for outings (yes, even in the summer) because it is quite ugly to look at but once I get home, I put a short sleeve shirt right back on.

Hydrocortizone (not sure how to spell that?) is also another topical cream that might help him a little bit with the itching.

I've heard that 'Boudreaux's Butt Paste' (sold everywhere) works well on eczema as well. I haven't tried it but know that zinc is one of it's active ingredients.




Hope something that I have posted will help? I'll let you know if I think of anything else. Mine usually still lasts a few weeks before it goes away even with treating it.

My youngest had bad eczema when he was younger. We found out he was allergic to dairy. As long as he has no more than 8oz. of dairy a day his eczema is gone. Maybe it's from allergies. Have him tested for them. It can't hurt, but it might help.
Judy

My son also has it and he is really flared up right now. Pool water is not good for my son's, actually it amkes it worse. I try not to bathe him every day and when he does take a bath or shower, not too hot and quickly in and out. We have good luck with Aveeno soaps, they even make one for itchy skin. He uses Elidel(prescription) and it works pretty well. As far as telling him he is old enough not to itch, I say the doctor must have never had a bad itch. Itching is a form of pain and the scratching is an attempt at pain relief. Benadryl does halp my son to sleep at night. Does your son also have asthma? Have you had allergy testing done? These 3 conditions often come together and avoiding known allergens can really help keep it under control. Good luck!

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Terri...mom to drama queen and the monkey-boy

Blessed are the parents who make their peace with spilled milk
and mud, for of such is the kingdom of childhood.

I cant go into allergies online. Folks are tired of hearing me babble on it

DW has eczema.. and food allergies. Even avoiding the foods, eczema flares.

DD#2 has both also, but we're limiting her diet, and eczema flares.

Sometimes eczema is JUST eczema. Sometimes it isnt.

DW uses moisturel (OTC) and cortisone creams (NOT OTC).

DD#2 uses whatever we have in stock: Usually cortisones, but non-steroids as well (we were in a pre-fda approval study for Elidel, and we have that AND protopic)

We have the wet wrap boots.. we have it all. Whatever it takes, sometimes.

Could it be foods? Perhaps? Maybe a food diary could help, if you think its food related (writing down the foods he eats when hes reacting...) Generally, if he's 10, you'd KNOW by know if its food related, but if you THINK so, I'd hit top 8 stuff, starting with: peanuts/nuts, milk, egg, shellfish, fish, wheat and soy...

More info? PM me.

Jason

I had eczema as a child and outgrew it around the teenage years. When I was about 25 it started flaring up again but on my hands where I had never had it. My youngest daughter has it now and it gets really bad in the summer. Hers is on the back of her legs. The doctor gave her something called betamethasone dipropionate cream. It clears it up and stops the itching.
I found aloe vera, straight from the plant that's been cut open helped mine when it was really bad. It helps with the itching. Mine would also crack open and bleed from all the digging I would do and my daughters has a tiny bit but we've neither one ever had to have antibiotics for it. Apparently whatever the dr. is giving him isn't stopping the itching. Let me just tell you....the itching is beyond words!! I've never ever had an itch like this before. It's so easy to say just don't scratch it but if you've never had eczema, you really cannot understand. I tell my daughter to tap it with the ends of her fingers or smack it gently, lol...it kind of relieves the itch.
And one thing that really gave my dd relief, OTC, was Aveeno oatmeal baths. It's gentle and helped the itch and removed a lot of the redness. Just make sure he rinses himself off well before he gets out of the tub to remove any of the oatmeal.
I hope he finds some relief......I feel for him.

My granddaughter has it. She has a prescriptions for it one she uses when it gets really bad. The other she is suppose to use on a daily bases. My dasughter found that Aquaphor has been effective in clearing up faster than the meds. She also uses the aloe vera plant breaks it off and puts right on it.

"Old enough to not do it"? I'm 50 years old. I don't know what I get but I get itching on the tops of my feet and ankles and the tops of my hands. No rash. But I get these itch spells and NOTHING helps until I end up scratching it raw. Poor kid. You can't just not do it that easily. I have tried and tried. I gon't get it that often so I don't worry about it but I can't imagine how I would handle it if it was constant. My son had eczema but has outgrown it (16) but he was always blotchy when he was an infant and toddler. I nursed him but that didn't help. Skin things are pretty hard to figure out. Good luck. Don't make him feel bad for not being able to help it. Unless you've been there it's hard to understand that it's almost impossible to not scratch!!!!

My friends son had it so very bad that she was able to get social security for her son (which was kind of a scam if you ask me but...) This poor kid had it from head to toe and was a total mess, I have never seen a case so bad. For him eliminating dairy helped a lot as did the sun.

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#3 Gone To Race In A Better Place...

our youngest daughter has eczema... she uses a steroid cream when it flares up.

the fact that she swims on a semi-regular basis in a chlorinated pool seems to help tone it down.

for itching, she does NOT take bendryl... I give her Alavert or Claritin

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SPJRNTGADL!

My son has eczema and thanksfully he hasn't had a flareup in about a year. I have bad eczema as well that my skin was comming off and i had bad bad infections on my hands that i needed antibiotics by iv, steriod shots and many other things. I found a cream over the counter called Rex-eme and i put that stuff on and i couldn't believe the results i had overnight the eczema started clearing up immediately and my skin was actually coming back. Now for my son i did use that along with bactriban for the infection and some prescription steriod cream the doctor gave him. What i have had to do is wrap the sores up in bandages so he couldn't scratch at them.

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SAHM of Bailey 12, Tyler 10 , Emily Ann 6, and Ryan Matthew 4 yrs old.

Wow, guys, thank you all. This info has been very helpful. Where do you find the "Rex-eme"? I live on the West Coast. We have a Rite-Aid, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart. Thank you, and if anyone else has info, please continue to share.

Be sure to treat the secondary infection that your son is experiencing. I don't think that can be stressed enough. Good luck.

My flareups are driving me crazy... hot to the touch and so red.

my middle son has it for a few years now it is gone we have bee very faithful and when he takes a bath or shower he uses only dove soap bar and that seems to keep it at bay or he maybe now he is older he has grown out of it.

I had never heard of it either, so I googled it, and about 10 pages of links came up...including Ebay.

But, here is the corporation website (I think):

RexEme Cream SECURE SSL 128 BIT ENCRYPTED ORDERING SITE FREE SHIPPING SAMPLES and DISCOUNT OFFERS by Team BSI Services Distributors - RexEme Cream Discounts - SECURE SSL 128 BIT ENCRYPTED ORDERING - FREE SAMPLES - SHIPPING and DISCOUNT OFFERS - Team

thanks to whomever mentioned this, we might try it, as I am not very pleased that my 16 year old is taking any kind of steroids!!! (even if it is a cream ... it's still absorbed into her skin!)

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SPJRNTGADL!

I went to the doctor.

He gave me a prescription strength steroid cream called Lidex. Initially, it really reacted with the effected area and inflamed it even more but by the next morning, the redness had all but disappeared and by 24 hours, the area was scabbing over. I've been using it for 3 days now and it looks like it is almost gone. Aah.


Maybe this will help someone.

I found the rex-eme origionally at wallgreens in florida. When i came back to mass i found it at my local drug store down the skin cream isle. I am sure you could get it online i will double check.

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SAHM of Bailey 12, Tyler 10 , Emily Ann 6, and Ryan Matthew 4 yrs old.

My daugther uses a prescription cream called Elidel. Works wonderfully.

Elidel and Protopic (AFAIK) are the 2 non-steroid creams.

Hydrocortisones are the steroids, as well as this new one I hadnt heard of (see above)

Anything OTC (IMO) is useless. Get high test stuff, RX'es...

Jason