<p>My HS junior son has dealt with severe bouts for the past couple of years. When it comes on, he is so distracted and feeling so miserable that his schoolwork suffers. Sometimes it is so bad, that we keep him home from school since nothing is accomplished by sending him under those conditions (the school has sent him home a couple of times this year). He always makes up the work but in a perfect world, he would never miss school. </p>
<p>However, after we visit the dermatologist and it clears up (for the time being), he is so on top of things. He is an excellent math student and pretty fair in the other subjects.</p>
<p>He is a shy kid and really just keeps to himself, so he has no support system among his peers. I doubt they know what to make of his condition.</p>
<p>I would be interested to know how other people have handled eczema in their kids. I think we may be beyond hope of totally alleviating the syptoms but would like to help him so that the outbreaks aren’t so incapcitating.</p>
<p>My S has eczema too, but it seems to be mostly confined to his feet, so although the flare ups are itchy aqnd uncomfortable, they do not really effect his life much. We are looking into allergy testing. We just visited an allergist and he will be doing contact patch testing as well as food allergy testing. I personally think it might be food allergy related, but we will see.</p>
<p>Where is your son’s eczema and what are his symptoms?</p>
<p>extremely red itchy skin on the ankles, behind the knees, on his wrists and the bendy part of his arms, blotches on his legs. When it’s bad, it’s difficult to walk. He is going to an allergist soon. He went several years ago when he had allergies affecting his sinuses and was allergic to a lot of things.</p>
<p>My son’s eczema was much easier to control once his numerous allergies were diagnosed and treated. It seems many cases of eczema are a sign/symptom of allergies; in my son’s case, that included food allergies (non-life threatening), as well as many types of grasses and some animals.</p>
<p>Treatment for allergies included the standard anti-histamines, flonase, and years of allergy shots. He would still need to apply hydrocortisone creams and ointments when the allergies were bad, e.g. when he went on camping trips, but the outbreaks of eczema were far less frequent and less severe.</p>
<p>Usually it goes away by the time the person’s 18 or so…I’m 19, I still have it. I’ve had eczema/atopic dermatitis since birth and it really sucks. You start itching all over, you skin gets really dry, and most people are sensitive to either excessive humidity or excessively dry surroundings, I’m affected by both. It’s a miserable disease. Really. I went to the dermatologist and he gave me this cream thing and then it got better, as long as I was applying the cream every single day in the morning, usually. But I ran out, and I keep forgetting to refill the prescription, and it’s showing up again, and its like worse than before ugh. And he gave me these pills and it got better when I took those too, but I ran out and I don’t have a prescription for them. The best thing to do is just to use tons of moisturizers and such, and usually as for dryness, expensive makeup can sometimes do the trick. Take it for what it’s worth-I’ve been fighting this thing since I was BORN.</p>
<p>It really sucks because every time there’s a material change in my environment, this thing flares up, I get itchy for a while and stuff like that. I’m just scared that it’s gonna be a permanent thing and I’m gonna suffer from this thing forever.</p>
<p>S has it too - all his life. The flare ups are not as frequent but he avoids taking baths (especially hot baths). If he does soak in the tub, its with Aveeno Oatmeal bath to soothe the skin. His is usually in the folds of the arms and legs. Hydrocortisone cream is a big help too but afterwhile it tends to discolor the skin.</p>
<p>I don’t remember all the prescription stuff to help my s’s eczema, but the most important (I think) has been to use Cetaphil bar soap for VERY SHORT not very hot showers. Spread Cetaphil cream on wet skin, then air dry. He also has allergy meds that he takes now and then, but keeping the skin well hydrated has been key. Also, uses Dreft laundry detergent. He also has some ointments for flare-ups, but the Cetaphil routine has helped remarkably.
This was a kid, who, as a baby couldn’t take water baths because water “burned” his skin.</p>
<p>Im wondering if the physical symptoms are mostly managable or is it that they are so uncomfortable that he can’t do his work?</p>
<p>In that case- some students home school- sometimes taking online classes through a college when they have medical issues.</p>
<p>But if it is just as much that he is uncomfortable because of how it looks, a therapist might help & give him a way to get support from his peers, they may be much more supportive if they knew more about it- and what he needs.</p>
<p>My oldest daughter responded well to hydrocortisone cream and Aquaphor ointment. She had it bad in middle school, not so bad since, now that she uses the cream right away when needed. It never really affected her schooling, aside from being sent home one day because the nurse insisted it was ringworm. Have you been seeing the dermatologist regularly? I think there are other meds if he’s that bad off.</p>
<p>Symptoms should mostly be manageable. My doctor told me to stop using regular soap when washing my hands and use a cleanser instead, and to always use lotion and moisturizer and stuff for my hands and face (yes, it happens on my face too). He recommended cetaphil…it’s worked pretty well up till now.</p>
<p>My DD has it, esp in her “knee pits” and “elbow pits” She has both envirnmental and food allergies- she does all she can to control them, try all the different allergy meds to find whatever is best, sometimes combos. D is allergic to legumes, thus soybean oil (vegetable oil) which is in everything so she is not as meticulous as she ought to be with her diet, but the worse the pollen or the worse her eczema, the more careful she is about eating.</p>
<p>We have tried a lot of health food store remedies and some have been helpful, but it seems to be an individual thing. Try them all, the medical profession is simply not outstanding at quality of life issues.</p>
<p>I had a sudden onset of it during the latter stages of my freshman year (of college). I ignored it (didn’t recognize it in the beginning), until it got pretty severe and I went to the student health center. I was started on a short-term prednisone regiment (lasted about two weeks), and I used fluocinonide (brand name: Lidex, it’s a topical treatment) for about a year. It’s mostly under control today, with occasional flare ups, but I can take care of it with a daily treatment of hydrocortisone combined with Eucerin to help with the dry skin and inflammation.</p>
<p>My doctor tried finding an allergic cause for it, but despite the numerous blood tests and the skin biopsy (and running a panel of common allergens), nada. Finally I suggested to him, “mold or fungus?” which turned out to be right, I have a sensitivity to aspergillus which may cause an allergic reaction in the form of eczema. (Though it’s not definite.) </p>
<p>As for impacting my studies – at its worst, it affected me tremendously. I couldn’t get enough sleep due to the itching, and it really did bother me. Once I started treatment, the physical symptoms went away, but I did feel a bit down psychologically. I won’t say that it’ll be easy for your S to overcome the psychological aspect of it – it’s not easy, but it can be done. It’s mostly in remission now, but I’ve come to accept the fact that this is something that I will be living with quite a while. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not a hindrance, merely an annoyance.</p>
<p>I cannot say how much eczema affects my D’s schoolwork as she has had it ever since we introduced solid food; but I do know that the year we went allergy-free, special everything, 504 plan at school etc, I could totally tell if she even had a cookie from a friend at school lunch. Eating allergens makes her very brittle and cranky.</p>
<p>My S has it as well. He hasn’t seen an allergist although he has seasonal and cat allergies…thanks for the tip, I’ll get him an appointment. S’s derm doc has him on Clobetasol, which is a super-steroid cream hundreds of times stronger than hydrocortisone. It works VERY well when S applies it, but S is not religious about it. He also takes lots of hot showers and doesn’t moisturize (like so many others, Eucerin works well for him, as does Aquaphor, but either must ACTUALLY BE APPLIED to work)…</p>
<p>S’s symptoms get worse when he’s stressed. His worst attack ever was at camp…he hid the outbreak under clothes and by the time he got home it was all infected and he was one day away from IV antibiotics and hospitalization. I was worried about this as he’s now a freshman at college eight hours away, and sure enough it recurred about six weeks ago. S was resistant about going to the health service (the degree to which this is embarrassing is great) and again almost needed IV antibiotics. I hope as he grows older it’ll get milder and in general I think it has. OP, if your son’s life is so very affected, I think he should see another doctor, preferably a specialist. There IS help out there. Best wishes to you and to your son.</p>
<p>My D gets terrible patches of excema on her face and arms in the dry months, usually in the winter her in the NE. Once while at a Sephora in Las Vegas, when the dry heat excacerbated the problem terribly, one of the sales clerks mentioned that soak in the tub with sea salt would help. And it does! Something about the minerals in the sea salt. And Aveeno has a new line of creams and body washes specifically for excema…haven’t tried it yet but plan on it.</p>