Eczema Tips To Help Your Children Feel Better By Angela Guzman

Children who get eczema often have family members with hay fever, asthma, or other allergies. Some experts think that children may be genetically predisposed to get eczema, which means characteristics have been passed on from parents through genes that make a child more likely to get it.

About half of the kids who get eczema will also someday develop hay fever or asthma themselves. Eczema is not an allergy itself, but allergies can trigger eczema. Some environmental factors (such as excessive heat or emotional stress) can also trigger the condition.

About 1 out of every 10 kids develops eczema. Typically, symptoms appear within the first few months of life, and almost always before a child turns 5. But the good news is that more than half of the kids who have eczema today will be over it by the time they're teenagers.

Here are tips to help your children relieve eczema conditions.

Bathing Tips

1- Bathe your child in warm – not hot – water.
2- Limit your child’s time in the bath to 5 or 10 minutes.
3- Use cleanser only when needed and make sure the cleanser is mild and fragrance-free. Do not use bubble bath.
4- If your child’s eczema is frequently infected, a weekly bleach baths may be beneficial. Discuss this option with your child’s dermatologist and/or peditrician.
5- If your child has medicine that you apply to the skin, apply medicine when your child’s skin is almost dry and use the medicine as directed.
6- Apply moisturizer on top of the medicine and to the rest of your child’s skin. Try to keep your child's skin moisturized to prevent redness and irritation.

Skin Care Tips

1- Apply moisturizer at least twice a day (morning/night). Keeping your child's skin moisturized will prevent dryness and cracking. -which can decrease the need for eczema medications in the future.

2- If your child has severe itching, scratching and the products are not providing relief, ask your child’s dermatologist and/or peditrician about wet wrap therapy.

3- Keep your child’s fingernails short and smooth. Long nails can scratch or puncture eczema wounds; plus dead skin and bacteria can get underneath your child's nails causing infections.

4- Keep temperature and humidity levels comfortable. Avoid dry air that will cause your child to sweat. Sweating is the most common trigger of the itch/scratch cycle for people suffering from eczema.