18 year old daughter

[karenajlwr]

Hi all, My daughter has always suffered mildly with eczema in the crook of her elbows and had general dryish skin. We have kept it under control by using the same washing powder and over the counter steroid creams when she had a minor flare up. A couple of weeks ago she stayed at a new friends house, when she came back her neck and arms were red and blotchy like I’ve never seen. She said the bedding she slept in was very floral smelling but that there were also 4 dogs and a cat at the property (we have 2 dogs so she’s not allergic but we keep them downstairs) Obviously she has stayed other places multiple times before like hotels and other friends houses without ever suffering a flare up like this. Two weeks on her skin has still not recovered, although she has not been as strict with moisturising and cleansing with eczema friendly products as I would have liked.
I recently read that a bleach bath can help .... sounds extreme to me but we’ll try anything. Has anyone found this helpful? I use Milton at home anyway which I presume will work just as well.
We are reluctant to go to the doctor as she is considering a career in the armed forces and a skin condition such as this on her medical record will firmly close that door.
I’d really welcome any suggestions on how to help. I also wondered if anyone has had a flare up because of dust mites and/or bed bugs, because it occurred to me that this might have played a part in her recent flare up?
Any advice/suggestions would be very welcome.

[talkhealth]

Hi karenajlwr

Thank you for your post. Please have a look at our free support programme, mydryskin which you may find helpful, http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/psp/mydryskin.php. We have also just finished an Ask The Expert clinic where members were able to ask consultant dermatologists skin questions and have them answered, you can see the questions and answers here, http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... ema_19.php.

We hope this helps.

Kind regards
talkhealth

[lisalewis]

It’s more likely that your daughter’s skin was affected by new laundry detergent. I think it was too concentrated and your daughter’s skin got used to only one remedy.

Still, if your daughter has suffered from eczema for so long, then I would advise you to look towards psychosomatics as well. In 50% of cases, eczema relapse is caused precisely by psychological experiences.