15/09/2010 by eczemaboys.

We had a trip out to Splash World during the summer holidays with my youngest two children.

This is not just a ‘swimming pool’, but one of these huge places with multiple pools, slides etc, the type of place where they want to stay most of the day which is great value for money but actually they ‘pay for it’ in another way – their skin by the end of a few hours is quite shocking!

The boys had a great time and at the end of the visit showered but due to the communal showers couldn’t ‘treat their skin’ properly, so after the hour long drive home, with them constantly itching and scratching they bathed properly.  Joseph’s skin was red raw in places, particularly in his legs.  We stepped up the strength of steroid and then applied lots of emollients!

We will stick with this strength steroid for a couple of days and then step down in strength, after many years I know this will work.

Our ’eczema way of life’ doesn’t stop the boys doing any activity and that is so important.

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25/08/2010 by eczemaboys.

My eldest son, James is 19 years old, and will be in his second year at university in September.  Fortunately last September we applied for help with health costs, James was going away to uni and therefore not in ‘full time education’ which meant that he had to pay for his prescriptions which would have been a huge struggle financially for both him and us to be fair.

I was lucky - on advice from our local pharmacist we applied for a HC2 certificate and was successful, which meant that he has not had to pay for prescriptions, dental treatment or NHS eye sight tests.  I have noticed that this is due for renewal and we have to fill in this ridiculously detailed form again, hopefully we will be successful once again as it will prove very expensive for us if we don’t succeed!

I can’t imagine how much it would of cost in prescription charges this past year that is why it is so important to join the Prescription Promise campaign.

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02/08/2010 by eczemaboys.

It’s difficult when to know when to let go when you have children with eczema and probably any other medical condition where help is needed with care and treatment.

My eldest son, James, looks after himself most of the year with being away at Uni, he has probably, out of the three boys, the worst skin.  I can see he needs a little help and advice about what steroid cream to use but he’s an adult now and doesn’t take to ‘advice from his mum’, who is fussing!  What do you do?

The other two I can monitor quite easily as they do need help with application of emollients.

Joseph has come home from a football tournament and his feet, ankles and shins are very sore, inflamed and in places have been bleeding, the continual wear of shin pads is the cause. He has had a long soak using his bath oils and between us we have applied a moderate strength topical steroid and lots of thick greasy ointment.  We will do this for the next few days to see if there is any improvement, if not I will try a slightly stronger steroid cream to get the skin under control.

Posted in Children and Eczema | 3 Comments »

27/07/2010 by eczemaboys.

A few days into the school holidays and my children, all boys, James 19 years, David 14 years and Joseph 11 years are enjoying the lie ins, and pleasing themselves what to do with their days.

They have all had eczema from birth. James’s skin improved at that magical age of 8, but then his eczema returned with a vengeance when he started his GCSE’s and has got increasingly worse the past couple of years; he now visits a dermatologist regularly.  He has just finished his first year at Uni and is living in Halls during term time.

David’s skin at the moment isn’t, dare I say too bad!  He still needs to moisturise with ointments and creams morning, day and night, but has not needed to use a topical steroid for a few weeks.

Joseph’s skin is extremely dry and requires a lot of attention, we are using a steroid cream and a heavy ointment in an attempt to put some moisture into the skin.  He is a keen footballer playing for two clubs and even though it isn’t the football season he is constantly training and playing matches.  He has problems with shin pads and football boots and we don’t seem to be tackling the eczema on his feet and ankles very well.  It is important that the children do not miss out on sporting activities and this means that we have to work harder and spare more time in looking after the skin.

If any of you have hints and tips I’d love to hear about them.

Anne x

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