Does anyone know any good remedies for excema, besides steroid creams? My 5 yr old is suffering and there's no end in sight.
Thanks in advance.

Do you know what triggers it?
Mine was triggered by food allergies but I didn't figure that out until I was an adult and in charge of my own diet.
Dairy is a common trigger.
If you can figure out what is causing it, you can avoid the outbreaks for the most part.
Also, don't use heavily fragranced/dyed detergents.
Bathe him as rarely as possible and don't use strong soaps.

For my dd, the biggest thing was making dietary changes-- food allergies-- and getting her on the right allergy meds.

But the allergist and dermatologist told us:
bathe her every day, that it's actually better than skipping baths. IDK why... but to only use body temp water, warm/hot water is not so good
Don't use soap, just water and a soft rag
Slather her down with a good lotion right after her bath.

My 8 year old struggles with it in one specific spot. When I limit his dairy, it's much better. It's often much better in summer than winter.
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I rotate a few different treatments. Coconut oil, Kerry's Miracle Salve (herbal salve you can buy online), jojoba oil, calendula oil are some things that I often rotate through. Coconut oil and the Miracle Salve the most though, just b/c we use them around the house for a lot of things, so they're often on hand. I usually apply some type of moisturizer/oil (as mentioned above) 4-5 times a day, and remind him to do it a few times too.

Our case is fairly mild, I've heard of famlies with more severe issues using different treatments.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm going to try and see if any of these work for him. He developed excema as a baby, but we haven't had any major issues with it until recently. The backs of his arms are so bumpy and a little bit on his back. It's really bugging him, and the steroid cream does nothing to help. Hopefully these suggestions will give him some relief. I am going to see about getting him an appointment for allergy testing. Wish us luck!
Thanks again.
Jessica

A couple more things that we've done for DH who has severe eczema:

* Only use cotton clothing, sheets, bedding - ANYTHING that will touch the skin
* Wash clothing in a scent free detergent and use very little. No fabric softeners.
* Lukewarm showers with gentle soap only on areas that need it (we use Kristerae's calendula oatmeal soap)
* Immediately after a shower or bath, within 2 minutes, SLATHER with lotion. This will lock in the moisture (this has really helped a lot).
* Watch for allergies that can cause the eczema to flare up.

Hi Bonknbug, nice to meet you.

My youngest had ecsema (probably still does at 8 but it is under control).

We didn't use steroid cream.

Bathing and soaping up with Dove unscented using bare, wet hands to sudz and make sure it was rinsed helped the most. Unscented moisture creams occasionally but not too often helped.

He had patches behind his elbows and on his knees from ages 18mths til around 5 years and they finally kind of went away (knock on wood).

Hopefully your child will get it under control!

I agree that finding allergy triggers is key. My daughter used to have huge problems with eczema. We tried eliminating the foods most likely to cause reactions and didn't notice any improvement. Finally I took her for allergy testing and found she is allergic to specific trees that happen to be in our yard (now she takes zyrtec in the spring and fall) and she's allergic to feathers (she had a feather pillow and down comforter on her bed...they were removed immediately). After taking those steps to address her allergy triggers she never had a huge eczema flare-up again...8years later. When she starts to show signs in the spring/fall we start zyrtec.

Chiming in to second / third / forth finding the triggers.

For my daughter it was milk and artificial colors. At that time I could not believe that MILK (the healthiest substance on Earth, right? :rolleyes:) can cause anything bad...

BTW, where in North Cali are you mama? Are we neighbors?

I use the disney baby calendula cream on my daughter and it works great! When she first got it she was only on breat milk so I have no idea what her triggers would be.

Chiming in to second / third / forth finding the triggers.

For my daughter it was milk and artificial colors. At that time I could not believe that MILK (the healthiest substance on Earth, right? :rolleyes:) can cause anything bad...

BTW, where in North Cali are you mama? Are we neighbors?

We aren't too far from you! You live in the Bay area? I live in Stockton.
Thanks for your suggestions. I will try anything, at this point, to help my poor boy.