Itchy eczema allergic toddler - not settling after 6 months. Ideas? (long)

[leckert]

Well the anti fungal part of the cream seems to be working wonders here - arms are looking near normal and clear after 4 applications AND he's not scratched his elbows even though there's been no bandage on them as well
Still waiting on new mattress to be delivered. Have rolled up mat but DH wants one to put down still mainly for the new addition soon - I'm telling him a blanket/quilt will be fine and we don't need a new mat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so sorry if I'm confusing you

[belfie]

that's great Leckert! Let us know how you go with the mattress.

Kmn - just had another thought. Our kindy teacher has a child herself who is anaphylactic, so thus far she's been really great with allergy issues, so I think the soap is probably fine. Plus his hands haven't gotten any worse since starting (and he tends to get eczema on his thumb-sucking thumb - only place he's had infected eczema actually), so I think if it was a problem, we would have noticed.

Incidentally I was just looking at the eczema association of aus website and they don't recommend wool for bedding. They also say "Use non-biological soap powders and detergents." I don't understand what they mean by that?? Does it make sense to anyone else?

[Kmn]

They mean that enzymes in soap powders can irritate some people, and also that sometimes plant-sourced ingredients can be more allergenic than chemical ones which can be purified so that they only contain the appropriate chemical.
We do OK with the omo sensitive stuff here - but we only put 1/4 of the recommended dose in each wash.

[Cherished]

That's great you have some answers Belfie, It's really all trial and error. Regarding your products, I had to get dh to change everything he uses to natural products as I was reacting to everything he used including shaving cream. Also with the moisturising, I found that to be really helpful especially when I smothered on the cream and put a wet dressing over it (this was incredibly relieving for the itch as well), however my chines herbal medicine therapist said that my eczema is a 'damp' condition (as in it weeps) so keeping it dry is better than moisturising. I've been testing this the theory over the last couple of months but the jury is still out.

[belfie]

oh that's interesting. Would you still moisturise when wet? I know we've always tried to do that - the old "seal the damp skin" theory which does seem to help him.

Now i'm confused. The eczema foundation says:

"The importance of house-dust mites has long been considered a factor for asthma sufferers, but for many years it was not appreciated that people with eczema could also be affected by the mites. However, more research has shown that for some people these little mites do trigger flare-ups of eczema.... Buy duvets and pillows that are made from man-made fibres rather than feathers."

So they definitely think the dustmites in the bedding plays a part.

But the asthma foundation says:

Feather bedding may be a better bedding option as it has substantially lower house dust mite allergen levels. Tightly woven (impermeable) covers should be used for mattresses, quilts and pillows but they must enclose the whole item for best effect.

And that's the bit they both agree on - that the covers should be used. So I'm thinking I'll invest in some. I also need to fix my washing machine which has only washed on cold for quite some time lol.

[belfie]

And just some more detail from the national asthma foundation:

What type of bedding is best?
For some time it was recommended that people who have asthma (or who are more likely to develop asthma) avoid feather bedding and choose synthetic materials (eg foam, polyester or dacron) as they withstand frequent washing. This is now not thought to be the case. ew studies have shown that not only does synthetic bedding have higher levels of house dust mites and their allergens than feather bedding, it may also increase the risk of infants developing wheeze.
This may be because the synthetic materials give off substances that irritate the airways and make them more susceptible to allergens. Again, this is an area where we have much to learn.
In the meantime, it seems sensible to use low allergen bedding for infants and children at high risk of allergy or asthma. Where possible, use encasings for mattresses, pillows and doonas, rather than plastic covers.
Low allergen bedding should be used. Feather bedding pillows and quilts have substantially lower mite allergen levels than synthetic bedding. The use of bulky items such as pillows and quilts (feather or synthetic) is not recommended for infants under 12 months because of the increased risk of SIDS.