Experience Sharing 3 - The Most Common Mistakes Done By Parents In Eczema Management
The Most Common Mistakes Done By Parents In Eczema Management:
Eczema, a skin condition related to an autoimmune disease characterized by extreme itchiness, rash, inflammation, and dry skin, used to be an unfamiliar word to me until Merrick was diagnosed with this condition. Merrick is 3+years old. Before he was affected by eczema, he was a healthy happy little boy.
About 2 years ago, he started to show symptoms of mild rashes and itchiness especially after eating eggs, nuts, seafood, cheese, chicken, fish, spirulina and etc . Since then, our family life experience a dramatic change. I needed to clean and change the bedsheet everyday to ensure the environment was clean. If we need to buy a new thing home, we would be extra cautious in case it might exacerbate Merrick’s condition. Even when we went out as family, we need to choose a cooler time and the hanging out places ought to be air-conditioned! I felt that the whole family have lost our freedom and we were all under pressure. I have been seeking for help. I brought Merrick to many doctor’s visits for his eczema. However, the only thing that i have been given each time was a corticosteroid cream to soothe him. Once I stopped, the condition got back to the previous stage again. Then, I started using essential oils to control his condition. Initially, the result was brilliant. His skin became good and smooth for a short while. I was very happy with the results and products. However, perhaps I did not control his diet well that his eczema got back. This time is was even worse than it was. The essential oils could no more control the flare-ups. Things got worse!
He would wake up every night around 2am, crying and scratching his body and limbs due to intense itchiness. As a mother, I was helpless. The only thing that I could do for him was to help him scratching and to dust powder on the affected sides hoping that it would relieve his itchiness. With a crying child in pain, my heart was shattered making every minute like hours. Usually it took me 1 to 2 hours to comfort him every night. He often scratched himself aggressively till the skin was broken and bled. It was tough. Slowly, we realized that his development was not catching up with the children of the same age. His anger was easily being triggered until the extent that I was unable to control his aggressiveness sometimes. I brought him to a pediatric psychologist for an assessment and Merrick was diagnosed as “Delayed speech development syndrome”. The psychologist said it could be linked to his eczema condition which was not only a physical torture but also a mental stress to him.
I have been seeking for help again. I would consider any products or treatment introduced by anyone. One day, I was talking to a doctor in an Herbal Life breakfast session. She recommended Marina Pharmacy, Miri to me. I decided to give it a try. I made an appointment with them. Our official consultation is on 4th July 2018. Merrick has been given both topical and oral complementary medicines as part the holistic management. We have been given a list to follow. You know what? It was totally out of my expectation that for the 1st night of more than 6 months of waking up in the early morning, my son could finally sleep like a baby throughout the night! Both my husband and I did not expect the result to be that quick!
From there onwards, his condition has been under controlled and got better days by days. He is finally graduated from Marina Pharmacy, Miri on 20th August 2018 after showing disease stabilization for weeks. We still maintain some of the oral supplements and moisturizer prescribed by the dermatologist pharmacist consultant as she advised. Until today, Merrick’s condition is still stable. Moreover, he could enjoy eating some food that he used to be extremely allergic to. At least, we are not as worried as last time because previously if he has been given a fraction of food that he is allergic to, his skin would develop severe rash and itchiness. Now, even he accidentally eats the same food, his reaction is very mild to none. Moreover, his speech development has shown a huge improvement after he is symptoms free of eczema. My husband and I were impressed and it was truly a relief for us. By thinking back to the period that we needed to wake up every single night to comfort Merrick for past 6 months before we started the therapy, I seriously could not describe and imagine how we could have survive those days.
I understand that many parents or people out there are just like me. We listened to friend’s or relative’s advises. Occasionally, we self-diagnosed and we made our own ‘cocktail’ to “treat” ourselves and our family members. As a mother who has gone through all these, my sincerely advise the public to leave the treatment to the professionals. Please do not try your own “recipe” and to listen to other’s tricks and tips without consulting a health professional. You may worsen the condition. This is because everybody is different. There is no standard treatment. Holistic personalized management is the key.
Thank you.
- Encourage scratching action because the nerve can enter the scratch-itch mode cycle.
- Put powder on the itchy side because it can cause caking leading to further itchiness later.
- Self-diagnose and treat without health professional advises.
- Ignore psychological signs of the child's development such as speech delay, aggressiveness, anti-social behavior, hair pulling behavior etc.
- Use soap to bathe. Soap-free wash that can be freely found in pharmacies is a good replacement.
Eczema, a skin condition related to an autoimmune disease characterized by extreme itchiness, rash, inflammation, and dry skin, used to be an unfamiliar word to me until Merrick was diagnosed with this condition. Merrick is 3+years old. Before he was affected by eczema, he was a healthy happy little boy.
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About 2 years ago, he started to show symptoms of mild rashes and itchiness especially after eating eggs, nuts, seafood, cheese, chicken, fish, spirulina and etc . Since then, our family life experience a dramatic change. I needed to clean and change the bedsheet everyday to ensure the environment was clean. If we need to buy a new thing home, we would be extra cautious in case it might exacerbate Merrick’s condition. Even when we went out as family, we need to choose a cooler time and the hanging out places ought to be air-conditioned! I felt that the whole family have lost our freedom and we were all under pressure. I have been seeking for help. I brought Merrick to many doctor’s visits for his eczema. However, the only thing that i have been given each time was a corticosteroid cream to soothe him. Once I stopped, the condition got back to the previous stage again. Then, I started using essential oils to control his condition. Initially, the result was brilliant. His skin became good and smooth for a short while. I was very happy with the results and products. However, perhaps I did not control his diet well that his eczema got back. This time is was even worse than it was. The essential oils could no more control the flare-ups. Things got worse!
He would wake up every night around 2am, crying and scratching his body and limbs due to intense itchiness. As a mother, I was helpless. The only thing that I could do for him was to help him scratching and to dust powder on the affected sides hoping that it would relieve his itchiness. With a crying child in pain, my heart was shattered making every minute like hours. Usually it took me 1 to 2 hours to comfort him every night. He often scratched himself aggressively till the skin was broken and bled. It was tough. Slowly, we realized that his development was not catching up with the children of the same age. His anger was easily being triggered until the extent that I was unable to control his aggressiveness sometimes. I brought him to a pediatric psychologist for an assessment and Merrick was diagnosed as “Delayed speech development syndrome”. The psychologist said it could be linked to his eczema condition which was not only a physical torture but also a mental stress to him.
I have been seeking for help again. I would consider any products or treatment introduced by anyone. One day, I was talking to a doctor in an Herbal Life breakfast session. She recommended Marina Pharmacy, Miri to me. I decided to give it a try. I made an appointment with them. Our official consultation is on 4th July 2018. Merrick has been given both topical and oral complementary medicines as part the holistic management. We have been given a list to follow. You know what? It was totally out of my expectation that for the 1st night of more than 6 months of waking up in the early morning, my son could finally sleep like a baby throughout the night! Both my husband and I did not expect the result to be that quick!
From there onwards, his condition has been under controlled and got better days by days. He is finally graduated from Marina Pharmacy, Miri on 20th August 2018 after showing disease stabilization for weeks. We still maintain some of the oral supplements and moisturizer prescribed by the dermatologist pharmacist consultant as she advised. Until today, Merrick’s condition is still stable. Moreover, he could enjoy eating some food that he used to be extremely allergic to. At least, we are not as worried as last time because previously if he has been given a fraction of food that he is allergic to, his skin would develop severe rash and itchiness. Now, even he accidentally eats the same food, his reaction is very mild to none. Moreover, his speech development has shown a huge improvement after he is symptoms free of eczema. My husband and I were impressed and it was truly a relief for us. By thinking back to the period that we needed to wake up every single night to comfort Merrick for past 6 months before we started the therapy, I seriously could not describe and imagine how we could have survive those days.
I understand that many parents or people out there are just like me. We listened to friend’s or relative’s advises. Occasionally, we self-diagnosed and we made our own ‘cocktail’ to “treat” ourselves and our family members. As a mother who has gone through all these, my sincerely advise the public to leave the treatment to the professionals. Please do not try your own “recipe” and to listen to other’s tricks and tips without consulting a health professional. You may worsen the condition. This is because everybody is different. There is no standard treatment. Holistic personalized management is the key.
Thank you.
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