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If your child has eczema you probably are at a loss as to how to help them day to day. The main symptoms of eczema are red rough scaly skin and while eczema does come and go with the right treatment it may come back and flare up at certain times. This post will help you try and control those times when it comes back.

Obviously the known irritants of eczema should be avoided. They include soaps, bubble baths, dust, pet hair, wool and polyester clothing.

You should also make sure that you keep your child’s skin moisturized at all times with a moisturizer that doesn’t contain perfumes or fragrance (in fact the plainer version you can get the better).

Doctors usually recommend choosing greasy moisturizers over creamy ones as they are better at keeping the moisture in. You will probably need to reapply the moisturizer at least two or three times during the day.

When bathing your child, keep the water at a lukewarm temperature (hot water is too drying). If you need to use soap try and get those that contain moisturizers in them and rinse well. A good natural method to help control the itchiness and redness is to add some oatmeal to a cotton cloth, tie the ends so the oats can’t get out and add that to the bath. It is very soothing and moisturizing and will work on even the most sensitive skins.

Your doctor will likely prescribe different types of medication that can include topical steroid cream such as Cutivate and Dermatop or a newer steroid free cream such as Elidel or Protopic.

If you do have to use a cream like this make sure it is only for limited times as many prescription creams (especially those that contain steroids) have been shown to have some health side effects with long term use.

Some more advanced treatments are now being used such as ultraviolet light therapy, however there are still no long term studies on these treatments as of yet.

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