excema

after mini tweety having had excema since she was teeny, i have suddenly developed it in the crooks of my elbows.  for some reason today, the itching is unbearable.  i have put some hydrocortisone 1% on first thing this morning and have been applying diprobase but it's driving me nuts (as i might have said a few times!) i took my antihistamine this morning as well (xyzal.)

any suggestions?  i am at work so am limited until i get home.

Make sure you're not too hot - it always aggravates mine. Short sleeves are best - let the air get to it, as it reduces the itching.

Put the diprobase on BEFORE the hydrocortisone - it helps the skin to absorb the hydrocortisone cream. Keep putting diprobase on thoroughout the day.

 Drink lots of water.

Think back to what you've done that's different - shower gel/soap/washing powder all likely causes. New formulas of products I've used for years have always caught me out too.

Have you tried a cream called Eumovate? It's available over the counter from most Pharmacists, and you can get it on prescription.  Only drawback is price - costs over £5 a tube, but I've found it to work v well.

Find stress / worry aggravates mine. Flared up during recent house move, and worry about a close relatives ill health. Can't really do much about it - probably a viscous circle as worry can be increased by the Eczema getitng worse and so on! Hope your's gets better soon

My younger brothers both have it - but since seeing a nutritionist in London a couple of years ago one of them has it almost totally under control these days.   This was after over 30 years of suffering it too so it's unlikely to have been just coincidence.  

This won't help right now BUT I got the most wonderful potion made up for me at a pharmacy on the instructions of my dermatologist.

It was menthol mixed into a plain diprobase type cream.  It is INSTANT relief and lasts for quite a while.  you need to find someone who knows about this though - some of the pharmacists I took my prescription to just scratched their heads and said eh?  I was heavily pregnant at the time and so I suspect it's one of those old fashioned remedies involving no dangerous drugs.

But it sure does stop the itchiing.