A bad rash on her face

Poor Baylinn. She has a terrible rash on her face. It started small, just a few tiny bumps near her eye. Now it has spread over her cheek and around her mouth and it's much redder. We've been to the ped twice, but she thinks it's eczema and recommended hydrocortisone cream. I used it yesterday and today and there is no improvement so far. We don't think it's a food allergy, but I've cut out dairy - except for her formula. It doesn't seem to bother her, I haven't seen her trying to scratch it or anything. But it looks terrible.

Any suggestions on what to try besides the cortisone, which I really don't like using!

 

I wouldn't suggest anything till you know for sure what it is. You should have her seen or call the consulting nurse.

 

I've had her to the pediatrician twice who is recommending hydrocortisone cream - which I don't want to use since it's a steroid.

I wondered if anyone has had success with something other than cortisone to treat eczema.

 

QUOTE(sunshinetwins @ Mar 19 2008, 01:15 PM) [snapback]677278[/snapback]
I've had her to the pediatrician twice who is recommending hydrocortisone cream - which I don't want to use since it's a steroid.

I wondered if anyone has had success with something other than cortisone to treat eczema.



Our DS has mild eczema. I cut out dairy (mostly) and stopped using formula to mix cereal about a week ago and I didn't see big improvement. I think he is just dry and sensitive. We don't let anyone touch him without a blanket that we know is washed in dreft and double rinsed - this made the biggest difference.

Any way Mustela has been WONDERFUL for him. He still is dry from time to time but the redness is all but gone on most days. We also had some success but not nearly as good with Alveeno - cream for eczema.

In regards to hydrocortisone cream at the 1% strength you can use if on the face for I think either a week or a month. The non-OTC ones are much higher %age and often not onthe face. Either way you don't want to use it for a long time (I think it's a month) because it can cause thinning of the skin and stretch marks - not sure why the face is different than teh body but everywhere I read it is limited use on the face.

Our doc said you would see quick improvement (we did after 2 days but it wasn't super bad) but as soon as we stopped on his neck it came back. That is when we switched to Mustela.

Oh - also keep 25-40% humidity - too high/low can up the itchy factor and luke warm quick baths. Mustela also makes a no-water cleaner I use after cereal and a special bath oil for flare ups - maybe that would be good?

 

Is the formula milk based ? You might want to switch even for three weeks just to make sure it isn't an allergy.

 

Thanks for the tips!

I used Mustela's shampoo (still do) for her cradle cap and it never came back so I just might try their eczema cream. I read about Bag Balm which I started using yesterday. I'm going to give it a few days to work before I try something else, but thanks!

Her formula is milk-based. She was on a lactose-free one for a long time but a few months ago we switched to a gentle formula. She was fine on it for a really long time, but I know an allergy can pop up at any time. I was thinking about switching her back. I don't want to try too many changes at once because then I won't know the cause or what's helping. I think I'll try a few different non-steroid creams first, then switch out her formula if that doesn't help.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

My 8 month old has had a bad rash for several months now and the ped prescribed hydrocortisone and an antibiotic cream because she said some areas were infected. We saw little results and about a month ago started washing all her laundry in dreft -after someone suggested it might be a reaction to our detergent or fabric softener- and applying aquaphor all the time. The rash is 100% better. Some days she is completely rash free and then it comes and goes again but has never been as bad as it was before we changed detergents. We rarely use the hydrocort anymore.

Sue

 

One of my sons had a HORRIBLE time with eczema! It was bad enough that the dr sent us to a dermatologist. She had one look at him and (get this) told me it would be something we'd have to learn to live with and that we should try to "love him past the rash!" No lie! I was soooooooo angry. I told her I had no problem loving him but that I was in agony for him since he couldn't sleep and was always scratching and seemed to be in misery.
Now I know people are going to think this is nuts, but after trying every lotion imaginable, we took him to a "Naturopath." He is a dr who uses herbal and homeopathic/ chiropractic/ remedies instead of medicine. I've heard and read that this is risky since it is not approved by the FDA but he had done wonders for our family and I trusted him. I was also at a loss for what to do.
Well, after examining him he prescribed a homeopathic to support Titus's immune system which was not properly dealing with allergens in air/ and in my breastmilk. I kid you not, by the first night of taking the "medicine" Titus's skin was less inflamed and red, by the 2cnd it had started to die down, and by the third it was almost all gone! I'm sure you've noticed with the eczema it will flare up and then look good for a day or so, etc. So I hesitated getting to happy in case it was going to come back. But no, it has not come back to this day!!!! He got the rashes at 4 months and is now 7 months. I'm sure I will get flack for this but I think if you can find a similar dr in your area you should give it a try!
I normally just read these posts but this time I HAD to share what worked for us!!!! Hope you are able to help your little one.... I know it's heart breaking to watch them suffer!

 

My girls are 2 years old. They were diagnosed with allergies to beef, wheat, eggs, dairy, squash and bananas at 18 months. They had a rash all over their body so I joined a group on cafemom for mom's with kids with eczema. The one thing I have learned is the eczema is due to an allergen and you need to figure out what that is to make it completely go away. For my girls, I found they were reacting to Johnson and Johnson body wash (they also make the target brand so they reacted to it too.) I now use California Baby Super Sensative and their rash cleared up within one bath. If your child has eczema, I would highly recommend a RAST test to check for the top allergens. Dairy allergies often show as eczema. Wheat and dairy are in a lot of soaps, shampoos and detergents but it is hard to tell because the ingredients sound so chemically.

 

Hope you can get it cleared up. The cream would probably take a few days or so to work, wouldn't it? I don't know. Sending hugs.

Dianna

 

[SIZE=10pt]I know how you feel, everything makes my little Jack break out. His usually flares up when I give him something new to eat. Usually because things have so many ingredients I have to just back off of new stuff for a while and just feed him "baby food". He has eczema and I totally hate using the hydrocortisone cream on him but sometimes that's the only thing that works and if it's on his face I usually put aquaphore over it. I usually try just the aquaphore about 5 times throughout the day first and a lot of times it clears up. Good luck[/SIZE]