My kids have this - one gets quite nasty patches on his legs. He has Diprobase as an emollient and a hydrocortisone cream which we use very sparingly and only on the bad bits when they're really bad; the steroids aren't good to use for any length of time. My daughter only gets it on her arms and hands, and only in cold weather - she has a different emollient called Doublebase, which does seem to help her.
Top tip would be to pick a couple of days when you haven't anything much to do (!!) and then put on E45 (or whatever emollient you want to use) every hour, or every time you remember. If you do it intensively for a short period you might break the itching/scratching cycle - when mine were babies I used to do it at every nappy change, and that would knock things on the head after a few days. Of course now they don't have nappies it's not so easy to pin em down!
Porridge oats in water can be very soothing for the skin. Put some in a sock and allow it to diffuse (in the bath, or a bowl if it's just your hand) - it might help the itching.
A few drops of lavender and chamomile essential oils mixed in a carrier oil might help. The carrier oil will lubricate, the chamomile will soothe the itching and the lavender will help recovery of the skin.
Jen, you can buy Diprobase over the counter (or you could last time I tried, in an emergency when we couldn't get to the doc). We get it on prescription usually, obviously, as the kids get them free. And it comes in a big tub. But I think you can buy it in smallish tubes, so that might work out cheaper than the cost of a prescription for you (or does everyone in Wales get free prescriptions now? Or have I made that up??).
When I started cleaning the community centre, I got it on my hands . Never had it before. Must have been the cleaning stuff. A friend of mine who is very good with homoeopathic things,Said to mix a couple of drops of geranium oil in a tablespoon of aqueacous cream. Worked an absolute treat not had it since. Wendy
I had never had excema in my life untill about a year ago when it started ,would you believe, in and around my ears I really have sympathy for people who have it all over ,the itching is dreadful.I have not found anything yet which keeps the itch away for long (my gp even said that you can be sensitive to e45 cream and that can make it worse obviously) .Am off to raid the essentil oils for some gerainium oil ,have not tried that one Wendy,thanks
If you always do what you always do ,you will always get what you have always got!
My daughter had eczema really badly as a toddler. I was forever putting really harsh stuff from the doc all over her and it never really cleared it
I met a dermatologist through a friend of mine who recommended Hemp Body butter from Body Shop (it has to be the Hemp body butter, not hemp body Lotion or any of the other body butters they do). It is about £12 a pot but the best money I have ever spent. Within a few days of applying it morning and night her eczema had totally cleared up
It's been reported about in a lot of derm papers and it's a bit of a mystery why it works. I have used it ever since every time she gets a little patch and it has never failed to clear it up almost overnight
my new GP is a specialises in skin complaints and when I mentioned it to her she said it is fantastic stuff and natural too
Lucy x
Lucy x
Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut - Ernest Hemingway
I too have excema..get Mometasone Furoate 0.1% on prescription it quite a strong one but really knocks it on the head so I only need to use it occasionally.
My GP told me that not all creams suit all people as the excema is trigged by different things so you may need to chop and change a bit. Worth going back if one isn't working as your trigger may be different now.
I use a homemade body scrub made from sugar (the ones made from salt nip!!) and sweet almond oil (you can also use olive oil) I add chamomile, lavander and geranium essential oils but you can experiment to see what works for you.
I have also heard that doctors recomend L.U.S.H Dream Cream ... hope you get it contained soon cos it must be driving you mad
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Albert Einstein
My 7 yr old has had eczema from the age of 4 weeks - the itching drives him crackers at times. It'smuch better now and wrists, knees, hands and around his waistband seem to be the worst affected areas. We used Diprobase when he was younger ( on the advice of a GP ) until we realised that if the skin was a bit raw it stings like billio ! We now use Oilatum cream ( available on prescription ) which works much better than e45. His skin is also really dry which aggrevates his itching so we try to shower him rather than bathing as this dries the skin out even more. Seems to be improving. His skin is also much better on holiday - combination of salt water bathing and sunshine !! Will just have to decamp to Spain !!
Chocolate, Vanilla, Gloria, Dottie and Snowball. - gone but not forgotten .
Have just used Oilatum gel in the shower ( for my little lad ) and it does seem to have made a difference. His skin was noticably softer and not nearly so dry tonight.
Chocolate, Vanilla, Gloria, Dottie and Snowball. - gone but not forgotten .
I used to get one patch on one finger and have used the steriod cream (betavonate - excuse spelling) for years but it now no longer works and this month ive broken out in eczma over my hands but I read somewhere that aqueous cream is very good and ive got one of those big tubs from years ago (its probably past its sell by date - i dare not look) and ive just started to use that and its working for me the redness has gone and my hands almost look normal. I think mine has been caused by using those anti bac hand gels. I didnt know the steriod creams were so bad - I wont be getting a new tube thats for sure.
hi sorry a bit late in replying, mine is affected by dairy, coca cola but not pepsi and the worst culprit is cider!!! its only taken me 32 years of trial and error. i use aqueous cream as hand wash and shower gel as i react to most cosmetic washes. the worst is antibacterial hand wash and washing up liquid. I have tried lush dream cream and it didnt work for me, neither did body shop, but one thing i have learnt is everyone is different. i would certainly recommend the aqueous cream though.
My eldest daughter has eczema and has had it all her life. A friend of mine was a nutritionist and suggested that it was an allergic reaction. When she was 2 I took her off `all` dairy products and replaced them with soya and in less than 2 weeks , not only had the eczema gone but she was a completely different child. Having said that, it has recurred, over the years because you cant check at every turn what they are eating and some of the soya products which were sold all those years ago wer`nt as good as they are today. My youngest daughter developed it when she was about 16 and I have never in my life seen such large areas of open wound and raw skin. After a long struggle with the GP who didnt agree with the allergy theory, we got her allergy tested and she is allergic to wheat and dairy and as long as she stays clear of those things as far as possible, her skin is pretty good. Its pretty hard for them though. lorna
I`m not a teacher for nothing, you know!! If I was clever, I`d be dangerous.
I really have sympathy for people who have it all over ,the itching is dreadful.I have not found anything yet which keeps the itch away for long (my gp even said that you can be sensitive to e45 cream and that can make it worse obviously) 
.Am off to raid the essentil oils for some gerainium oil ,have not tried that one Wendy,thanks 
