nooo. Hand sanitizer is a BAD idea. doc says stay well away from hand sanitizers, and even soap. Use only Cetaphil to clean and Aveeno only to moisturize.

Hand and mouth though, absolute no touchy

cetaphil also comes in a bar soap, try to find that if you're thinking of using it in showers.

dr. prendiville isn't the only pediatric dermatologist in Vancouver

hand sanitizers contain alcohol which further dry out skin, so yes, don't use that.

prednisone can and is prescribed for kids... if they're very young, sometimes dexamethasone is used too.

cetaphil lotion is great to use if you've got sensitive skin. Also a new one that's out that will help with hydration of the skin, spectro eczema care moisturizing lotion. Available at your local pharmacy.

Basically the same story for me. Eczema was really bad when i was younger but slowly went away with time

+1 for Aveeno...just started using it maybe a year ago and i love it
I also use spectro gel as soap when i shower.

Beta derm for any signs of flaring up

try skinmatters.ca, dr. charles cheng is very good as well.

Eczema: allergic reaction similar to auto-immune where skin is in chronic inflammation.

Conventional treatment: steroid cream, prednisone... etc.

Are the medicines treating any cause? NO, its masking your symptoms with anti-inflammatory and steroid cream.
What is the long term effect? Your skin gets thinner and thinner cuz you never even treat the cause. Steroid thins your skin til a point where slight irritation will make it crack and bleed.

What is the cause? 20% genetic, 80% food allergy related.
how you can treat this? Get a blood allergy test, and start eliminating the allergenic foods that are bothering you.

Top allergens: dairy (milk cheese, etc), Soy, Citrus, Eggs, Wheat,


Being able to realize if your dermatologist is really treating your cause or are they really just a bunch of rich kids trying to manage symptoms can be crucial to your healing.

Believe me, I had eczema, I have been through this shit before, and i have lost faith in all of the drugs.
In conclusion (what cured me) : find your allergy (blood test, not skin prick test) , start elimination.
Our medical system is run by politician and pharmaceutical company, therefore our doctors are sometimes blinded by whoever sponsors them. The only thing i will trust my doctor will be surgery and emergency ER situation where our medicine is the best at saving lives.

You can think i am overreacting, but i just want you know i was in the same boat as you and it will never change unless you find your allergy.

Forgot to add, I'm allergic to seafood and any types of shell-fish for that matter, except for fish. Every time I eat lobster, crab or the likes I get pretty itchy and I've grown not to really like those types of food as it doesn't really appeal to me. However I can still eat it and I'll just become itchy afterwards but now since I'm older I have enough self control to try to fight it unlike when I was young where I would just scratch scratch scratch. But even still, I prefer not to eat it cause the taste doesn't justify scratching at night etc lol

Heh my sister in law's the opposite. She loves crab and adopts the "eat first, scratch later" mentality.

That's what my parents though at first too - must be food allergies, or some allergy to the surroundings. Did a test, none came up positive. It was not until that last doctor visit that the doc actually did some analysis and came to the conclusion that my brother's skin dosen't know how to absorb moisture... ie: water just rolls off like it's a sheet of plastic, and cream just stays on the surface until it has either evaporated or washed off.

that`s really interesting...how did the doctor figure that out..?

This is an example of 20% genetic defect that i was referring to, at least you ruled out food allergy which is like majority of the case.

I wasn't there personally, all I posted here was simply a transcript of what my mom told me (She went with my bro to the doctor). My guess is that the doc looked at his medical records, and figured out that all the atopic creams he has prescribed dosen't work, and kind of figure it out by the process of elimination - either way, since my bro is now cleared to go make a visit to the specialized dermatologist, we are all happy :haha:

I had that hardcore in summer 2007 as a result of antibiotics I took in summer 2006. For not absorbing moisture, have him try Glaxal Base cream. It comes in a big white tub, label in greenish/blue and white, you can buy it at Superstore. After he takes a shower, very very lightly pat down with a towel then apply the cream (the more water there is, the better)..the water drying helps the skin absorb it more. Then he should just let it all air dry, it's quite a process, but it can be worth it.

My dad also told me to put cream on and saran wrap the worst areas to keep the place moisturized..then go to sleep... it did wonders for my skin.. my eczema was usually the insides of my elbows and backs of knees. Calendula cream and Aloe vera CREAM (from the states) are good basic moisturizers throughout the day. In times of dire need, I've also gotten simple Zinc Oxide baby creams (usually used to treating diaper rash) and that's worked. It also sounds like he's built up somewhat of a tolerance for his creams/medications so maybe switching up the creams every 2 weeks can help. Sometimes I just had to put off using my cortisone cream cuz I noticed the more I used it the less it seemed to work, so I started switching it up and not putting on the same medicated cream everyday.
There might be days where he has to deal with the itchiness but you can get PEPPERMINT BODY LOTION for that from places like Planet Organic (Coq) or Nester's Market (Vancouver) and that's just infused with peppermint oil and it will help TREMENDOUSLY with itchy, reddened skin! It makes you feel all cold/tingly :)

Maybe you guys should try a naturopathic doctor? My ex and his bro were really allergic and they just took a different type of test where they just waved something over your finger and did a reading analysis or something.. (not the pricking test that I had to take) and it turns out they were allergic to all sorts of things, like white rice, wheat, dairy, etc.

Also remember, people's bodies change every 7 years. So possibly, the things he was allergic to back in the day isn't what he's (becoming) allergic to today.
I was allergic to seafood when I was a baby. When I was 15, I found out I'm not allergic to seafood anymore but now I'm allergic to cats. Which would have been a good thing to know since I was suffering for 3 years unknowingly cuz I acquired a cat between that time period. And now, I'm not as allergic to my cat...I'm allergic to chicken. My mom also can't use fabric softener in the wash, since my skin is so sensitive..so having that stuff touch my blankets/tshirts etc. will drive me nuts.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Fish oil), Acidophilus, Evening Primose Oil taken orally (can be bought at various health food stores) can also help. Not immediately, for remedies taken orally, it should take a while since it needs to build up in your system first, so if he does that, don't expect a clear result until a month or so later.

Anyway, hope some of that stuff helped. I hope little man gets better soon :)

thanks for the post Dgirl...

My bro made a visit to the specialist at Children's Hospital on Friday (with my parents of course), doctor suggests that he takes a bath in the tub with 1/4 cup of household bleach every 2nd day. She also prescribed him with 500mg of antibiotics to take 4 times a day, for 2 weeks.

I've been reading around that different seasons effect people differently, so what time of the year is it usually bad for you guys?

I've noticed that the beginning of summer absolutely destroys me, with all the pollen in the air mixed with the heat causing me to sweat just makes my skin a mess! Anything that causes me to sweat just completely irritates my skin and causes flare ups

Usually for me, I take a warm shower and right after I get out I moisturize! Also I've changed my bed sheets and pillow to an allergy proof kind which seem to be helping quite a bit especially in the morning! It might not be as comfortable as the other kind of sheets but at least i don't wake up itching!! Also as mentioned above you should switch your detergent and fabric softener to the fragrance free kind and I use the dove fragrance free dove soap!

So i was wondering if any of you guys have any tips for eczema on the face? Cause there's where i mostly have my problems ..

sorry to high jack your thread but i dont wanna waste space and make a new post about eczema..

i have a slight bit of eczema on my knuckles and only that spot. it is not red any more like the pics on google but has dried up and is brownish like scab color but not realy a scab there but feels rough a bit, you can barely see it on my knuckles but it is there.... what the hell should i do? this is the second time it showed up, maybe third i cannot remember.. help!!! does eczema turn brownish afterwards? fml.

I think your skin was just extremely dry and cracked from the cold. Some moisturizer should fix it right up. Theres no need to fml here, having your knuckles is much better than having it all over your body

get glaxal base moisturizing cream recommend by my doctor esp. for eczema. i got mine at safeway for 22 bucks in a 450g tub or u can hit up 835 w.10th building behind vancouver general hospital and go up the 3rd floor to see a skin specialist on that

so is this perscripted?.. does anyone know if eczema goes away cause mine sure isnt.... im using that HC 1% stuff and nothing.... i am also getting this on my face i think, theres this spot near my eye aout .75 inch diameter, its mostly red most of the time, hopefuly it wont turn dark like the stuff on my hand... it first started on my face after i took a sleepy alergie pill and then got a fever right after with red marks all over my face, went to docter and she persribed me some HC creme 1% which i picked up a long while ago for my hand.. most of the spots went away from face except 1 side of my face... a little bit of my face is scared i think. fml. my beautiful face/left hand :(

If you want to see a Dermatologist, you need to get a referral from your family doctor.

I had eczema before.

I was tired of using creams and listening to my doctor saying I had to live with it. Then I learned about "leaky gut theory" and I ate cleaner and stopped eating citrus and milk for a month.

That stopped it.

So I recommend that.

Cut carbs from the diet, almost completely. I bet it goes away then ;)

This is one thing I can agree with SP on.

Give it a try, may or may not work for you but most likely will.

Yep, I cut out on the refined sugar and it has been fucking off,

and been losing weight too

LOL