As my son Billy approached his first birthday, a terrible rash started appearing on his legs, backs of knees, wrists and elbows. It seemed to get worse every time he played outside, so I assumed it was an allergy to grass however it persisted into the winter and seemed to get worse as the air got drier. At the suggestion of a friend who said it looked like eczema, we tried a myriad of lotions and creams, including cortisone when it got particularly bad, but nothing seemed to help for very long. At 3, I decided to take him to a dermatologist who confirmed that it was eczema, a chronic skin condition.
“He’ll probably have it for the rest of his life”, she said matter of factly, “but the best thing you can do is give him daily baths and grease him up well with a base cream.”
I questioned the daily baths, but she explained that warm, not hot baths, with no soap on the affected area will help hydrate the skin. Applying the cream helps seal the moisture in. While the idea of “greasing him up” had me in stitches, I followed her advice. We get into a bit of a power struggle, however, because my son doesn’t like base cream. He dislikes how it remains white on his skin and says that it stings when I put it on so I’ve continued experimenting with creams. It’s a challenge though; anyone with eczema knows the frustration of finding a great cream, only to find it stops working after a few months!
We were recently given POLYSPORIN® Eczema Essentials product line to try and Billy’s been pretty pleased with them. He’s especially a fan of the Daily Moisturing Cream which is thick but absorbs nicely leaving no white residue. I’ve found the key to keeping it at bay is to apply creams daily. I tend to stay away from soap on his legs because it can be so drying but he uses the Daily Body Wash when he’s been particularly grubby or after hockey. Fortunately, his eczema has been nicely under control so we haven’t had to resort to the Hydrocortisone Anti-Itch Cream!
My son is going to have to deal with his skin the rest of his life, so I’m glad we’ve found yet another tool in our arsenal!
“Disclosure: I am part of the the POLYSPORIN® Eczema EssentialsTM Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”
