So as you all know we are fighting a continual battle with eczema. Once a week or so Ashlynn's face breaks out and turns fire engine red. The next step we reach is the scabby yellow weepy stage that marks up all of her outfits. Then while her face is raw and weepy all manner of dirt sticks to it... so we end up with patches of dirt that become a part of the skin. The doctor prescribed some 2.5% hydrocortizone cream for her face, and it helps. The problem is that it can cause peeling and loss of pigmentation etc. So I am to take a break from it for the same number of days that I use it. Well I started out with a 5 days on 5 days off regime. I thought that would give it ample time to clear up what had become a terrible case of eczema. Boy howdy did it work. Five days of using that stuff and you could forget that she had skin problems. The trouble came when we took five days off. Her face was getting icky the first day off. Not even a full days break. It got awful. Dave put it best when he said that it felt like we were guilty of neglect on day 3 1/2 off. So we gave up on the 5 days and started a one day off one day on regime.
The problem is that we never really get to the point where her skin clears up well. And by the time we use the cream again it is just in the nick of time to keep from getting too deep into the weepy stage. So treating the symptom is barely working, that means that we should treat the cause. But that is easier said than done. There are no perfumes in any of the products that are used by everyone in our house now. I do not put lotion on that has a scent. We have gotten every cream and lotion that we can imagine to put on her to treat dry skin. We have a humidifier going 24 hours a day.... and have even taken to boiling water on the stove for the moisture. I have removed most all of the know problem foods from my own diet, in case it is an allergy through the food. We have now started giving her sponge baths and with just water, as every soap in the world has caused trouble. I pump and bottle feed when her face is at its worst to keep irritation to a minimum.
Truly it feels like we are fighting a losing battle, as she is covered in the scaley eczema from her elbows to her fingertips, her hips to ankles, her head an neck and all along her chest now. There are few places on my daughters body that are not dry and irritated, and touching her in many places seems like it causes pain. She is in pain and itches. This we can tell by the way that she rubs her face on every thing in reach, or by the way that she moves her head repeatedly back and forth on blankets. We have put socks on her hands because even in her sleep she will rub her face and head with her hands, though to be frank I am not sure that the socks make it better. At least her nails are not cutting her any more. It has become personal this fight with the eczema. I would do anything to keep her from the pain that this causes. Although I seem to be falling behind in the fight.
In sheer desperation last week Dave covered her in olive oil. My Granny had told us how it was the only thing that had helped my uncle Doug's cradle cap. So Dave thought what the hell, how can it hurt. Well it didn't hurt at all.... in fact on her legs and arms it seems to help quite a bit. The only thing is that you have to put it on all the time. We oil her up with every single diaper change and when we think of it in between. Our daughter glistens like she is trying to get a sun tan constantly. Only it doesn't seem to help on the face. Not only that but the olive oil has destroyed several tops for both Dave and I. Not to mention I was shopping today.... and I was wondering what that smell was several times.... when it hit me it was olive oil that Ashlynn had wiped on me. So our miracle cure is imperfect at best.
We are still at the drawing board with this one. And the fight is still very personal. I can handle all of her pictures being red and blotchy. I can handle all of her outfits destroyed by the weepy face or the olive oil. What I cannot handle is the look I see in my baby's eyes when her face hurts and I know that I as of yet don't have the answer. But I will find the cause and I will irradicate it.
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