My child has eczema

Here is how practice proper skin care with eczema

My child has been diagnosed with atopic dermatis eczema. He has seen so many doctors who can only relieve his condition for a very short period of time. What can I do to prolong his eczema free days? 

Unfortunately, eczema is a long term condition. It is not something that we can cure or get rid of over a short period of time. The baby is born with a skin disorder that causes dry skin and is very easily irritated, so it gets itchy and gets red by anything that might irritate his skin.

A very important part in the management of eczema is not to irritate his skin, and to have daily skin care. The most common irritating factors are that of heat; when it is very warm, strong soaps; do not use strong soaps for bathing. In fact, we recommend soap free cleansers. Moisturize the skin because dryness can irritate him and cause itchiness.

Finally, his clothing should be soft, not furry or hard in texture because that will irritate his skin. Sometimes you would have to rely on medication for his skin care because when the rashes appear, you need to treat those rashes with topical treatment. You will also want to watch out for skin infections, which are obvious when the skin is broken, or when there is weeping or discharge from the skin. This is because infection can also worsen eczema just like all the other factors that cause irritation. Skin care is very important in the long term. If you manage this well, you will find that there will be more days without eczema and over the long term, the eczema conditions of these young children will eventually improve tremendously.

About Dr Lee Bee Wah

Dr Lee Bee Wah is a Paediatrician from Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre. Dr Lee has a special interest in the areas of Paediatric Allergic Diseases, Epidemiology or allergy diseases in children, Allergen characterisation – and dust mite allergens, Probiotics in the prevention of allergic diseases and Childhood Vaccines.

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