Eczema above eyelids and below lower lids

[louiseTaylor83]

I suffer with grass pollen and weed pollen hayfever and my eyes become sore and dry. I have small patches of what I think is eczema. Is there anything you can recommend putting on this? I am 25 weeks pregnant, so GP is not keen on me putting a steroid on this.

[Wendy Green]

Allergy to pollen is a common eczema trigger and eczema can often worsen during pregnancy; using a TINY amount of weak hydrocortisone cream (1 per cent strength or less) no more than once or twice a day should be safe during pregnancy. In fact NICE states in its Clinical Knowledge Summary (guidance for GPs) that 'Mildly potent, moderately potent, and potent topical corticosteroids, if used correctly, are considered suitable for use during pregnancy'. http://cks.nice.org.uk/corticosteroids- ... endation:8

I also have it on good authority (from a dermatology lecturer) that it is safe to use weak hydrocortisone cream on your face - again so long as you use a small amount and only for a short period of time, as excessive use can lead to skin thinning. However, I've used 1% hydrocortisone cream to treat flare-ups on my eyelids and inside my ears for years - but only in tiny amounts and for very short periods; I usually find that a couple of applications are enough to settle down a flare-up. As you say you only have small patches, you should find that one or two applications are enough for you too.

I would advise you to mention the NICE recommendation outlined above to your GP and ask again if you could be prescribed hydrocortisone cream.

Best wishes,

Wendy

[Nat on the forums]

Hi Louise,

I'm afraid I have to disagree with Wendy. I have seen many people suffer badly from using even weak hydrocortisone on their face - especially around the eyes.

The delicate skin around the eyes absorbs a lot more of the cream than other areas. It can cause problems besides from skin thinning, including health issues with the eye such as dry eyes, glaucoma and cataracts. There are also reports of of it making the eczema spread, and causing big problems if you try to stop using the cream.

My advice - as someone who has experienced these problems - would be to try alternatives before resorting to steroid creams. Maybe try a barrier cream such as Vaseline or Aveeno to soothe the itch, and even wearing sunglasses might help. Try washing your face and moisturising when you come in from outdoors to remove pollen from your face. Antihistamines should help once you're able to take them again.

Good luck! Nat

[atopic mummy]

Topical Steroids causes athropy to the skin (breaking down the barriers of skin) and thus will cause other irritants and allergens to enter your body causing more allergic reactions.

Please refer to this article :
Substantial improvement of the skin barrier in atopic dermatitis after treatment with pimecrolimus but not with betamethasone
http://www.valuge.com.ar/pdf/tacrolimus ... rm_pdf.pdf

A healthy skin should have healthy skin barriers



If it is broken down, it allows all sorts of nasty stuff



So the safest is to apply natural emolients especially during pregnancy



Plus when you are pregnant your immune system's is balanced more heavily to Th2 responses which means more allergic manifestation (to allow the baby to survive). Try and eat a well balanced diet, lots of natural sources of omega 3 and less of the omega 6 (unhealthy fats), less processed sugar (to much sugar can supress the immune system) less processed carbs and white flour. Taking probiotics or fermented foods might help as well.

For the dry areas, try using natural emolients such as sher butter, extra virgin olive oil or natural organic creams instead.