Eczema

Background

Eczema certainly seems to be on the increase. An estimated 1 in 5 children under 3 are reported to suffer from this, often debilitating, condition. Having first hand experience of this I thought I would try to collate some relevant information. The main point that I have learnt over time is that each child is different. You may hear of the most wonderful cream that everyone swears by. You run to town and spend £20 on a tiny pot of cream, just to discover that your child appears to be allergic to one of the key ingredients. You have now just made your babies skin twenty times worse. It's very much a trial and error process. Eczema can be mild, moderate or severe. I would say that Pickle appeared to develop Eczema when she was around four months old. It was definitely pre- weaning. She began scratching her arms a lot but we did notice that she would absent-mindedley reach out and scratch us aswell which made me wonder if it had become a habit. Interestingly, I read of a report that had noted there was a higher number of children in an Eczema group who were clingy and irritable. So, does having Eczema make you irritable? Or does being irritable make you more likely to have Eczema? possibly a combination of both.

Characteristics

Eczema is characterized by red, itchy and dry skin. It can be prone to bleeding where the child scratches constantly and it can be extremely distressing and quite soul destroying to watch your child in such discomfort, endlessly clawing at her skin until she is red raw. Complications of Eczema include, secondary skin infections such as Impetigo, poor sleep and possible stunted growth (as a result of the growth hormone being disrupted due to the unsettled nights) Obviously a lack of sleep can lead to irritability and poor concentration and for older children, Eczema can bring about feelings of stigma and isolation.

Possible triggers

There is a lot of ideas around about why children develop it and I'm sure, like myself, if you have a chold with Eczema you will have spent a great deal of time down at the doctors and trawling the internet to try to find answers.