red cheeks but not itchy

[justme]

Hi,
I've just been reading the thread relating to eczema and have checked out the eczema website that was recommended.

They said that if the rash isn't itchy then it's probably not eczema.

My son has had a red blotchy rash on his cheeks and down toward his chin for the past 3 months or so and it's pretty much always there - sometimes redder and more widespread than other times. :(

The doctor said it was atopic dermatitis or eczema and recommended trying sorbolene or if that didn't help, a cortico steroid cream.

He's breastfed, eating no dairy products apart from a little yoghurt every now and again, we're using QV bath oil and sorbolene to try and moisturise the skin, which is a little dry.

The sorbolene doesn't seem to be helping and I'm reluctant to start him on a high-powered cream if it's not really eczema. Sometimes he gets little patchy rashes on his shoulder, but that's about it.

HELP! Does anyone have any suggestions about what I should do?
Thanks!

[emmicoa]

I'm not sure how old your son is, but I understand your concern about using cortico steriods. My 4 yo daughter has eczema and my 1 yo son used to get very bad eczema on his face. With my daughter we tried all kinds of soap substitutes, with little improvement, until I used Dove unscented on her. Since then she has had hardly any problems.

My sons eczema was very bad when I took him to the Dr. I told him I didn't want to have to use cortico steriods unless I had to and he prescribed a non-steroid cream called Elidel. It is quite expensive because its not on PBS, but it is brilliant. You can use it at the first sign of redness, so it stops the eczema before the skin gets itchy. And it doesn't have all the side effects of cotico steroids.

[justme]

HI,
thanks for the reply. My bub is 8mo. I have a nappy rash cream called Desitin and it actually said on the tube that it could be used for mild atopic determatitis and guess what, I put some on his cheeks and it seems to be clearing up!
Not sure if it's a short term thing, but it's lovely to see my son's cheeks almost back to normal.
Sorry to hear abou the probs that your children are experiencing with excema. Sounds like you've found a few things that are helping though.

[emmicoa]

Glad to hear its clearing up. Hopefully you won't have too many more problems!

[Marcy]

hi Girls,

Samuel gets Dermitis every now and then i went to Dr and he gave me a script for Sigmacorte once i started appling it , it clarded up within days when i see it coming back i just put some on for a couple of days.

Marcy

[justme]

Thanks for your replies.
What does your son's dermatitis look like when he gets it?
Ben's got a small raised red bumpy type rash on his shoulder at the moment and I'm finding it hard to know if it's related to the redness on his cheeks or not?