Alice suffers with Excema, she has patches of it all over, her face gets worse when she is teething but she has it in the usual places
in elbows/behind knees but these areas flare and become very red very quickly we use all the normal treatments like oilatum, double base and steriod creams when they become really sore but for me these seem to aggravate it, in just 2 days behind both knees and her elbows have become very sore after digging the creams out. she has been clear all winter until the last week or so.

Adam is starting to think its an allergy to the cat hair as they are both maulting badly, just wondered if anyone else has any experience of this??

I am allergic to cats and the usual symptoms are itchy watery eyes..runny nose..and even skin goes red and all blotchy. It's not the hair..it's the dander and the cat saliva that usually triggers it. When I had cats, I would just bathe them regularly to keep it down. Try getting the cat to lick her on a clear spot on her arm to see if anything happens. Should be immediate. xxx

my sister has a cat allergy as already said runny nose eyes my sis even got really badly swollen eyes and skin rashes so well worth checking out hun hope you get to the route of her problems XX

Lily gets terrible red sores behind her knees.

I have found the only thing that helps it is Bepanthen x

I think I have caught my mums dyslexia as I read this thread as 'Hair Cut Allergy' and thought WTF I know I am bad at getting ym hair cut but this is serious!

hahahahaha lisa maybe it's time for new glasses!

erm just thinking from what you said, it couldn't be a reaction to sunlight could it? just a thought. i would have thought if it was the kitties it would be making her sneezy and things like others have said. i wonder if hayfever can be shown in the skin?

lol I bloody hope not! Ive had em lasered and have perfect sight

hahaha hmm that would be unfortunate then

Nah, she has no other symptoms but the sore spots and itching, i am not convinced it is, but the creams (other than the steroid) seem to doo bugger all but make it redder and more inflamed !!

Silver ointment..I swear by it!

hmmm weird. the only thing that might be of some use is i get horrible sore dermatitis/excema stuff on my hands and all the creams i got made it worse (including e45, diprobase etc) - like really stingy and tingly and horrible. the one thing that actually healed it was neutrogena norwegian formula unscented hand cream - it got rid of it and if it looks like it is going to come back (or i use fairy washing up liquid booooo) i use it a few times a day and it stops it restarting...

not sure how you would feel about trying it on your baby though!!

Sounds like you need a referral to a paediatric dermatologist. But in the meantime try only using one type of cream at a time as I was told swapping and changing can be a bad thing. Also avoid anything but the most basic products in the bath. Not bathing every day if you can help it - the water can dry the skin out.

I recently became sensitive to something in E45, which I'd sworn by all my life, so had to go about finding something different. Aqueous cream was worse and I ended up with diprobase - but I think doublebase you already use is one better anyway.

As for cat allergy, I don't think it would be localised to specific areas of the body, but if you think that could be a problem the best things you can do are groom your moggie regularly and keep your carpets hoovered. I wouldn't go to the extend of bathing them, it's just stressful all round and you end up with cat hair in your bath!

xx Em

Thanks guys,

Em we use oilatum tube cream on her face and doublebase on her body, we used it for the first time in months as she had a couple of dry patches on the tops of her arms and the creases of her ankles and the following day her knees and elbows were red raw and she was scratching

I am allergic to cats hun and I also have what sounds like the same thing Mari has on her hands, although the 'excema' type thing isb't caused by cats it certainly is made much worse when around cats, as well as the itchy face/eyes/throat, runny nose and eyes etc. Could be that the cat hair isnt causing the excema but may be making it worse?

Hope you find something that helps her hun, poor little lady

xx

Could it be linked to food, I know some foods can trigger it to get worse. My brother has always suffered with it and he couldnt have cows milk when he was younger as it made it worse.

i dont think so nutty, she hasnt had anything different than she has over winter..... mmmmm apart from strawberries???


i do think a rise in temperature doesnt help as she obviously gets warm in the elbows and behind knees.

I know oranges affect my brothers and niece excema too. My 5 yr old niece suffers badly bless her have you tried aqeous cream?

Paige had the same experience with her excema and E45 cream, it worked fine when we first used it then we left it off because skin cleared up, started using it again when skin flared again and i swear it made her symptoms worse, we went to docs and got given doublebase cream, oilatum for in the bath and hydrocortisone cream for any bad flare ups and touch wood she been fine for last month or so

Have you tried antihistamine to give her during flareups to prevent her itching while your not watching eg in bed and making it worse? we were prescribed certrizine syrup? x

I would suggest she definitely has an intolerance to something. I have very cracked skin on my knuckles and I find lansinoh is the best thing for clearing it up so maybe try that on the really bad bits.

My mum put my niece's ezcema cream on Wil's bum when he visited and he ended up with horrible nappy rash that cleared up almost instantly when I bathed him and put sudocrem on so maybe stay away from the creams that cause the flare ups.

I suggest you keep a diary of everything Alice eats, where she goes, the weather and how bad her ezcema is (even take photos) and you will soon find a pattern. Ask your docs for a referral to get her allergy tested too.