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Nov

27

Will My Child Outgrow Eczema?

Filed Under Eczema Treatment, Baby Eczema, Eczema Child

This is a question that parents with a child with eczema would normally ask: will my child outgrow eczema?

Approximately thirty percent of infants will develop eczema but many will outgrow it by the time they reach three to five years of age. In babies, eczema has been found to appear between the ages of four to six months. It begins with the appearance of a red rash that could possibly ooze fluid. Next it spreads to the cheeks and the forehead and sometimes continues to the arms and legs of the baby. In the most severe of cases, the baby’s entire body becomes covered with the skin disease. In the instance of cradle cap (or infantile seborrhoeic eczema) a great deal of scaling appears on the scalp.

The unlucky few who do not outgrow their [tag-tec]eczema[/tag-tec], carry it into their childhood years. Then, there are those children who develop it sometime between the ages of two and four years of age. When it comes to a bout of childhood eczema, the rash first appears behind the knees, the ankles, the creases of the elbows and sometimes will even affect the face, neck and ears of the child.

Childhood eczema can be a painful experience for the inflicted. Parents often write to me, sharing about the anguish and sadness that they feel for their babies with having to battle eczema. Conventional doctors usually recommend topical steroid creams to keep it under control. I’m not sure if this is not the best of solutions; but eczema can be tough on an infant.

Even though, many children outgrow [tag-dtec]eczema[/tag-dtec], they often have an increased risk to skin problems. They invariably have dry skin. Their skin gets irritated easily and chafes often. Skin infections such as staph, yeast infections and herpes simplex (such as cold sores) and eye problems in terms of cataracts and eyelid dermatitis are also commonly experienced.