When my son was only little, about 2 or so, I noticed a little rash on his face and upper thigh. It seemed to be aggravating him with each passing day. One morning I woke and the rash seemed to take a life of its own on. It had flared
up so bad Luke had been scratching like crazy during the night and it began to bleed.
I took Luke to the doctor and was told they were mosquito bites which had become infected. Something I challenged the doctor over as from the first day of surfacing they looked NOTHING like mozzie bites…. But hey, what do I know…I haven’t a medical degree…Apparently I was hoping something more was wrong with my child, going by this doctor. When I challenged him he answered me with ‘What do you want? Do you want there to be something more wrong with him? It’s a mosquito bite that you’ve let him scratch and now its infected’ Being young and a little intimidated by this GP I allowed his words to get to me and doubted myself above him.
As the days passed Luke seemed to be covered in this nasty viscous rash and he became so distressed. I had to places socks on his hands to prevent him from scratching himself. I smothered Luke in moisturiser as his skin seemed to be cracking and looked just so dry. I would bath him and cry along with him. I ended up taking Luke to another doctor who reprimanded me for not bringing Luke to a GP sooner. I explained that I had and that I had followed the first doctor’s suggestions so carefully. I kept asking ‘What am I doing wrong?’
The answer - nothing!
Luke had developed eczema, Atopic Eczema to be exact. Something that is extremely common for children to get at one point in their life and normally grow out of. I wished so many times that I had ignored the first GP. Poor Luke was so miserable and it looked so painful and itchy and it could have been avoided. I understand what to look for now – but not back then….
I read an article the other day about someone who faced the same thing I did with my son and I have to admit, I was a little shocked to find out what I did. My story takes you back 18 years ago, this other story takes you back 1 year ago. You would have thought that they were the same one, the same child. Considering Australia has one of the highest rates of eczema across the globe you would think there would be more attention and education on the matter…go figure!
Luke wasn’t too bad, I saw so many other children suffering from it - who were worst off than my own child. Appointment times found us parents exchanging ideas and remedies in the waiting room. Some suggestions that can help prevent flare ups were old wives tales and some were genuinely made up from desperate parents trying to bring their child comfort.
The following is what I and others did for our children as well as some standard advice given by health professionals and can be found on the internet or from standard pamphlets.
What is eczema?
The word eczema originates from ancient Greek and means ‘to boil over’ Eczema causes the skin to become dry, red and itchy. It can look scaly and crusty and weeps and bleeds, not very nice at all. It is commonly found to affect the creases between the elbow and knees along with the face and hands but it can spread over the body.
Have a plan
Besides putting moisturiser on Luke a few times a day, which I always kept in the fridge to keep it nice and cold, I always opted to give Luke baths rather than showers. Baths re-hydrates the skin, just like giving skin a drink. Adding a little oil in the bath to keep the body moisturised and never used soap or bubble bath. As soon as I noticed Luke scratching or any redness I would use the moisturiser and also (I can’t remember the name of the over-counter-cream) a non-steroid based cream.
Cucumber creams are another great thing to use to keep the area cool and well hydrated, Failing this I would use the cream, steroid-based, prescribed by my GP for a few days. Once the skin calmed down I would go back to doing what I normally would with baths and moisturisers.
Spray bottles and damp washcloths help during the night to calm skin flare-ups
Lifestyle management of flare-ups (kids health magazine 2005)
- Keep your child’s fingernails short so as to prevent scratching
- To reduce sweating, which irritates the skin, try and use clothing that is 100% cotton.
- Wash all new clothing to before wearing them
- Try and avoid wool and textured clothing and bed wear/linen
- Keep rooms at an even temperature Humidifiers are great for keeping the air moist
- Keep pets off of beds and furniture
Eczema can be traumatic for everyone concerned and little attention is really given to this fact. There is no known cure for it and this being said, it is important to keep on top of it, if at all possible. If you happen to notice any rashes on your child that will not go away and that appear to be getting worst, go to your GP and have it looked at. The Elidel website offers some great information that you can print and also provides a list of questions to ask your doctor.
Cheers Lavinia
(January 2007) (
