elocon for eczema

Hi All,

After 2 years of trying everything that is natural, i cannot stand it anymore. Seeing DD not able to sleep and scratching her hands till they bleed every night has taken its toll.

Ive seen skin specialists, avoided all the steroid creams, flew to melbourne to see a chinese naturopath but now i have succumbed to using steroid creams.

Has anyone used Elocon before and how did it go? Is it too strong for my DD who is turning 2?

It said it is 0.1% of active ingredients of something but i remmeber advantan only had like 0.01% of active ingredients.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

i'm pretty sure thats the one i used on my DD2 when she was only a few weeks old. on her face too. it works pretty quickly so you dont have to use it continuously (and that is where the danger is).

my DD1 had to use a different one on her chest and with that one i was able to combine it with moisturiser which meant didnt have to use as much steroid to get it all over her chest. give it a go, its not that bad. (well i havent found them to be)

Thanks Hollo,

Do you remember if it is the 0.1% one or there is a lighter one? coz my doc said to not use it on DD's face.

Wondering if you prescribed me a stronger version =(

i'll go have a look for it. :-)

nah cant find it. it was ayear ago so i may have chucked it out. i am sure they prescribed the correct one for you. if they told you not to put it on the face then dont do it though. i was told that with DD1 when she had the other steroid brand. the reason that steroids arent that good is because they thin the skin with repetitive use. so if you just give it a go (for as long as GP said, or less time if it clears up quicker) then it will be all good.

Hey,
I use elocon on myself, I'm pretty sure it either comes in a tube of cream or an ointment. i think the cream is stronger, I use this very sparingly when my eczema gets really bad. i once used it on my face and it gave me this red rash which didn't go away for one year, even after taking antibiotics prescribed by the dermatologist.
That said, the elocon works almost instantly on those little patches of really bad eczema. it's very good, but just don't make it a daily thing. Always keep DD's skin well moisturised, also 10 minutes in sun everyday without suncream prevents inflammation (quoted by a skin surgeon that my brother worked with) and use organic shampoo, soap and conditioner, they at least reduce dryness and reactions. Non organic moisturisers that aren't too harsh are probably the Palmer's range.. the Olive Oil moisturiser ina big green bottle.. But dermaveen is great on itchy but not quite eczema yet areas. I also find Nivea (Normal, not "soft" etc) is a great barrier cream, really traps the moisture in on those really dry areas.

I think you did awesomely well to last almost two years without giving in! I have a box of natural products but I gave in at about a year I think. Initially i only had to use the elocon for two times, really sparingly and it cleared up DD's eczema.
Now, she still gets itchy patches but I can use the natural products/Moo Goo mosituriser to keep it from getting too bad. I have only had to use the elocon about four times in a year and a half.
Also, Dermaid is a softer 'hard' option I think because you can get it without prescription (I'm only assuming here) so maybe you could try that first.

Good luck.

Hi Everyone,

I know you have tried everything natural but we tried a product called Salcura, they are a UK company but sell their products through a company called Sensi Skincare in Australia. They are natural products and i have found them very good for my sons eczema and husbands psoriasis. The two products we have used are 'Zeoderm' and 'Intensive Spray' but they do a whole range of products. I think you can get free samples from their website. Check out their website. Hope it helps.

Nina

Hi I posted this in another 'adult ecxema' thread a little while back but it is still relevant to your situation. Hope it helps

I've had eczema since birth and managed to get it under control about 18 months ago (thank God) It was a huge challenge! For me the trigger was some foods and other chemicals in cleaning products etc. I went totally natural with cleaning/hair products etc and I got tested for food allergies from a lady who uses an Avatar machine... There are heaps of people who do tests like that, basically it's a machine where you hold the handles in your hands and the computer tells you what foods you are allergic to. In the short term just use sorbolene cream , smother it on (and I do mean 'smother') the area and wet a bandage than wring it out, cover the area in the wet bandage and then put a dry bandage over the top of it, wear during the night and in the morning apply more cream. You can also go to the pharmacy and get come QV bath oil to soak in 1st which really helps and you can start by using dermadrate shampoo and conditioner so that they are gentle on body skin... Oh and you can use the dermadrate shampoo as a body soap instead of regular soap. I have the strongest Elocon you can get and use the ointment not the cream as it's better for eczema. I will only use that if I am having a really bad flare up, I put that on 1st (sparingly) than smother the moisturiser! You can even use Aveeno as it has a bit of menthol in it I think which can be cooling some times, my fav is Renew from Melaluca, apart from doing the wet bandages (you can use cotton gloves from the pharmacy or socks if it's on hands and feet) I smothered myself with the moisturiser whenever I felt dry (to start with it was like 15 times a day)! Increase the amount of fatty acids / Omega 3 etc in the diet also. And I cut out all the bad foods that were making it flare up for about 3-4 months, now I can eat them pretty regularly without a problem and if it flares up I will cut them all out for a week and I'm ok again.

hmm I wonder what triggers mine ... I rarely think about what triggers it until I have it and then all I can think about is clearing it up. Mine is only on my left hand - mainly my pinky, ring and middle fingers. I hold out and hold out before putting some on it, but when I do I think, why did I take that long to do that?

I will check out that website, for some samples.

My dr just told me to go to Crazy Clarks (or similar) and get some papillion cream and use that when I don't have a flare up. Seems to be working!

Best of luck

I've used Elocon ointment on DD2 since she was 4 months old. I use very little at a time and do wet wraps as well. I was also told by the dermotologist to not put it on the face. It works really quickly and I only use it if she has bad areas that aren't responding to anything else.

Thanks all!

I havent started on the treatment yet as DD has had very high fever so do not want to strai her body further. Will let you know once i have tried it

thanks heaps!

elocon ointment was teh only thing that worked on DS1's eczema

Hey lovely.

I know exactly what you are going through. My oldest has eczema bad :(

We have to use Novasone ointment, which is very strong. I have to make sure I cut his nails every couple of days.

Can I give you some tips? Hope you don't mind.

One of the main triggers for his eczema is chemicals. Here we only use certain things on Jaidans skin.
He uses natures organics shampoo (from Woolies) as it has no nasties and I only wash once a week. No bubble bath or soaps at all!
I use eco store washing powder as it is the best for his skin. Trinature is better but I can only get that online.
Cotton clothes and no synthetics.
Moisturise constantly. I probably put it on him up to 5 times a day. We had tried EVERYTHING at the chemist, i've spent hundreds of dollars on him. By chance I brought some palmers extra virgin olive oil cream (the people who made coco butter for your tummy) and OMGosh it has made a HUGE difference!

Food can be a big one, dairy and wheat, yeast are bad for a lot of kids with eczema.

Best thing you can do is treat it until it's cleared then moisturise as much as possible, anytime you think of it. If you can try cutting some things out of her diet to see if it makes a difference, and switch to safer soaps etc you will probably find it makes a difference. Try rice milk instead of dairy (soy is bad too most of the time if you react to dairy), try cutting out wheat for a couple of weeks and see if it helps. It can be a long and trying path but once you know what is triggering it, you will be happier and so will she :)

Thanks Missy,

Currently DD only uses 100% cotton and i use eco store to wash all our clothes as well. She only uses water and QV Bath oil and only uses QV Cream for moisturising. I will try the extra virgin cream (no harm trying!)

I too have bought every type of natural creams (she uses moogoo msm on her bum but it doesnt seem to work on her body)

I dont know how to stop that because I know milk can be a major trigger.

I wash her linen regularly to avoid dust mite as well and we dont have any carpet in the house.

I really really should try cutting out the milk. I have tried giving her rice milk as well but all she does is not drink it and then cries for milk =(

Thank you very much for the advice.

as someone who has eczema, I notice the difference when I drink milk. I get it on my hands, and if I drink milk it gets really bad :(

Sometimes it's hard, but we have to do the hard things to help.

WRT the milk thing - I find that I can have A2 milk and not get a reaction - but my eczema isn't very bad at all. Thought it might be worth mentioning though! :)