19/09/2019
1 in 5 children in the UK suffer from Eczema. For National Eczema week we’re bringing you some tips on how to help your child with eczema.
What is Eczema
Eczema causes the skin to become dry, itchy, cracked and sore. Some people might have small sections on their skin and others can have it all over their body where it’s inflamed and red.
What causes it?
It isn’t fully known what causes eczema but it seems to be a genetic issue that runs through the family. Most children grow out of it, but different factors can make the eczema worse such as soaps, heat, pets or the weather.
In a lot of younger children, eczema can also be caused by food allergies.
What to do if your child has it
Unfortunately, there is no cure to eczema but there are many ways you can control it. Your local GP can diagnose eczema and can often give you a prescription that contains steroid cream to help keep it under control.
If they don’t or you feel it isn’t necessary to go to the GP, there are plenty of different emollients out there that can help relieve the itchiness and redness. It might be a case of trialling different ones to find which one suits your child. Once you’ve found the best emollient, it’s best to keep to a daily skincare routine to keep the eczema under control.
If you think it could be a food allergy, it’s a good idea to keep a food diary to see which foods are the triggers for the eczema. When you’ve found the food causing the issues, it’s best to avoid these, however you will still need to treat the eczema by using emollients.
If your child does develop eczema, don’t panic – they’ll most likely grow out of it. There are many resources out there that can help manage the eczema and if it starts to become too uncomfortable, we advise taking your child to the GP.