Treatment

Doctor Appointment Tips

Bring specific questions to your doctor, tailored to your needs (or your child's), such as...

A Combination of Things Helped Me

I just finished my last light therapy treatment yesterday. But I’ve been doing great many months prior to finishing this. I don’t know what exactly it is ... or if it is a combination of things.

Latex or Rubber Against Skin

One of the main things I have found for me is that it's important to avoid anything next to my skin made of latex or rubber of any sort.

Azathioprine

I receive your NEA Advocate magazine and just wanted to offer a suggestion. I was an eczema sufferer to the very extreme. I had it from head to toe for over 8 years, and just like everyone else I went through about 10 dermatologists until I hit on Dr. Ken Greer of the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, Virginia. He put me on azathioprine (Imuran). I took two 50 milligram pills twice a day.

Less Medication Resulted in No Eczema

I have had a continuing case of eczema for well over 20 years, from very severe in the early years to moderate and livable during recent years. I was also being treated for atrial fibrillation with digoxin (0.25 mg daily) and flecainide. About six months ago I was hospitalized for dehydration. My cardiologist stopped digoxin entirely and reduced my flecainide by a third. Within one day my eczema disappeared entirely and has not returned.

Arnold Katz
Torrance, California

New Medicines?

Q: What are some of the new medicines that can be used for eczema? I have been using MimyX and/or clobetasol propionate ointment when flare-ups happen. Is there anything else that would help? The clobetasol is thinning my skin. What would be as good to treat the areas?

Topical Steroids for 5 Year Old?

Q: My son is 5 years old and has been on a variety of eczema treatments, such as Elidel and Derma-Smoothe. What are the recommendations for Derma-Smoothe? His skin improved initially after using this for four weeks, then he went right back to breaking out. I also have tried over-the-counter hydrocortisone (1 percent) and hydrocortisone oil (.5 percent). Any other suggestions?

Prolonged Cellcept usage?

Q: Are there any long-term studies of the affects of prolonged CellCept usage?

CellCept and Protopic Together?

Q: What about CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil) and Protopic—is it safe to use them together?

Daughter's Eczema: Combination of Products

My daughter, Madeline, has had eczema since she was 3 months old. She is now 8 and only recently did we find a combination of products that has helped. She started doing UVB light therapy in June and that brought moderate improvement, but the real change came when I switched her from the wash and ointment she had been using to a natural olive oil soap and TriDerma’s Eczema Fast Healing Cream.

Eczema Herpeticum?

Q: What causes eczema herpeticum, how can flare-ups be prevented, and is there a vaccine?

Probiotics

I went to the health food store to see if I could find something natural that could help her skin. An employee there said that children’s probiotics worked really well on his child.

Best Habits for Six-Year-Old Son

My six-year-old has experienced moderate to severe eczema since he was four weeks old. The worst of times seemed to be when he was 18 months to three and a half years old.

What else should I do for 7-month old Baby?

Q: I have a 7-month-old baby girl with severe eczema. We have been doing bleach baths two to three times per week, daily and sometimes two-times-a-day baths followed by 2.5 percent hydrocortisone cream and Aquaphor. I hate using the hydrocortisone on her.

Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Soap Nuts Helps Son's Seborrheic Eczema

I found organic virgin coconut oil and soap nuts (a fruit, not a nut, that grows on the soapberry tree). I boil the nuts to make a soap nut liquid for my son’s bath/shampoo/laundry. Since using these there has been a huge improvement in his skin!

Steroids, Coal Tar Shampoo for Severe hand Eczema

I soaked my hands in one quart of water mixed with four capfuls of a coal tar shampoo for a half hour EVERY night for six weeks. After soaking, I would rinse and pat my hands dry, and then I would apply a steroid ointment and cover my hands with white cotton gloves.

Leather Gloves Lead to Flares

I have found that wearing unlined leather gloves (which I always used previously) drives my hands crazy. The eczema problem FLARES really badly.

Wary of Rip-Offs

It is my belief that companies such as these are preying upon the desperation of eczema sufferers, and I want to make this known to others from my expensive personal experience.

Improvement with Vitamin D Supplements

Since my recent diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency and subsequent therapy with supplements, my eczema flares have disappeared and my rash is clearing!

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