On 13 Feb 2005, at 18:40, sol wrote:
Just wanted to say how sorry I am for the horrible suffering of your little son. Eczema alone can be excruciatingly painful, as you surely know, it is far worse than simple itching, I know firsthand that it feels like a severe burn. And remembering some bad flares, I cannot even begin to imagine how awful it would be to have widespread bacterial infection in the rash.
thanks.
I would certainly be applying 10 ppm (at least) pure CS to all the affected skin. I would not use any silver protein product in such a case, though, because silver protein products can be contaminated with bacteria, what I read is that the gelatin coats the silver particles and ions, so they cannot contact bacteria to kill them. So there could be silver particles coated with gelatin, and the gelatin can have live bacteria growing that the silver can't kill. If that makes sense--I read this a long time ago.
that is interesting.
I also use a 50/50 mix of CS and aloe vera juice on the rash areas. Once the skin is wet with either straight CS or a mixture of CS/Aloe, some people say they wrap the skin with saran wrap, to keep the skin wet longer. I personally have never tried it. but I do use a homemade cream that I apply heavily over the eczema rash.
I do use wet wraps. It is a useful thing, to break an itch-scratch cycle. However, all these things have their trade-offs: here it is increased risk of infection, and perhaps another kind of itching due to wetness. heat and moisture control is the first line of defence.
I must make clear (ref your previous post: this ('child atopic eczema') is not a common 'allergic reaction (topical): it is not an adult eczema disorder in any sense: A s I have come to understand it it is a True allergy, in the sense that it is not a complex of metabolic reactions and/or psych, but an immune disorder of the skin, due to high exposure of dose-dependant allergens (namely dustmite pooh) whilst the child was in the womb or during first month of birth, when , as all children, the child has no rue immunity, but only allergic reactions, but relies upon conferred immunity through mother, and to a lesser extent later, milk. The dust mite pooh is interesting: it is a dose-dependent poison, and is one of the lightest substances known. It remains airborne until conducted by moisture tracks, through ionic charges. It is so light because the mites have no moisture regulation, but conserve their moisture by producing such pooh. The rise in incidence of child eczema is due to modern lifestyles (central heating , ventilation, and bedding and so forth), coupled with genetic susceptibility, naturally.
Actually , in terms of cause and maintenance, adult and child eczema are not comparable. Moreover, I am sure there is no cur for such a thing, because it is an immune disorder. This is the common view. I go further: the 'immune system' is a description of something rather intangible. At best a system. Healing of the immune system, is through the immune system, and not an intervention/correction/hygiene etc. Although environemental/dietary factors can help/exacerbate.
What I aim to do is avoid infections, to which eczema babies are susceptible due largely to severely dry and broken skin, coupled with a lack of own-control over scratching, possbly exacerbated by trade-ff in wet wrap measures, (to get sleep, give relief for parent and child, and to control the deterioration in the skin, apart from the obvious scratching). So therefore , my interest is in the application CS for strep and herpes.
With such a young infant, it is very scary to even say what I use on myself.............because I don't know what is safe to do for babies. There are some internet sites that have articles about infant eczema, with photos. Have you done any internet searches?
Yes, exhaustively, thanks.
I posted a minute ago about my son and his eczema, but forgot to say he was prescribed a cortisone cream once and he proved to be allergic to it--it made the eczema far worse.
Oh, that's interesting. There are different preparations, and being a medical product with shelf life, they have 'active ingredients' which are preservatives. These vary, and eczema children tend to develop, or have reactions to these, in all creams including E45 emolients etc. One has to keep changing. Pure (medical) olive oil is often better for us. We are trying a few different oils. Cortisone ceam was given once to our son, when the mother was exhausted and the condition very very bad. His skin responded well, but it returned immediately. It gave all a break. But more depression after. It does , I beleive strongly, (I am sure) supress the immune system, and shoul dtherefore be used sparingly, wisely.
In our case, as I think I might have said, heat and air/moisture are our preoccuptaions: there lies constant adjustment and care. So, cool-downs in night walks are preffered to wet wraps , an so on. ANy way, I do hope your son's eczema is a reaction to topical stimulants/chemicals, rather than an immune disorder (atopic eczema). On a happy note, thoug hwe as parents are exhausted all the time, and have no freedom whatsoever, our son will get better in a few years, we can hope anyway, with some reason. But the care (primary nursing) and the love are so very important for that to happen, and sooner rather than later.
