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Why Is My Child’s Eczema Getting Worse with Age?
Eczema is challenging at any age. However, it’s especially frustrating for parents with children plagued by itching.
It’s even harder when they watch their child’s symptoms worsen with time instead of improving.
If this sounds familiar, it’s time to contact the Advanced Allergy & Asthma team in Ogden, Utah. Although you may not be able to cure your child’s eczema, you can control it.
Has your child’s eczema been getting worse with age instead of better? Here’s how our team can help.
Understanding eczema in children
The word “eczema” describes conditions that cause itchy, inflamed, and red skin, such as atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, and seborrheic dermatitis.
However, eczema causes more than itchy skin. It can also lead to more severe allergies and blisters and break down the skin’s protective barrier, leaving it vulnerable to disease and infection.
That’s because it weakens the immune system.
Experts don’t know the exact cause of eczema, but it’s likely due to environmental allergens and genetics.
It also looks different in infants, toddlers, and older children.
Eczema in infants
Eczema often develops on the cheeks, face, chin, forehead, and scalp in children in the first six months of life.
While it may spread, it typically doesn’t occur in the diaper region because moisture protects the skin in this area.
At this stage, eczema typically looks red and “weepy.”
Eczema in babies
If eczema develops in 6-12 month-year-olds, it’s often on the elbows and knees. Why? These areas get easily scratched or rubbed while a baby crawls.
When eczema rashes get infected at this age, they often appear yellow and crusty or like very small pus bumps on the skin.
Eczema in toddlers
For children 2-5 years of age who develop eczema, small red bumps often occur on the face, mouth, eyelids, wrists, hands, and ankles, or the creases of the elbows and knees.
It’s also common for the child’s skin to start looking dry and scaly or become thicker with deep lines.
Eczema in children
Finally, once children reach five years and older, eczema becomes far more common in the folds of the elbows and knees. And, in some cases, it only appears on the hands.
If redness or itchy patches appear in other areas, it can also be a sign of other conditions that can exist simultaneously with eczema.
What causes eczema symptoms
When a child has eczema, numerous things can trigger symptoms, such as:
- Dry skin
- Heat and sweating
- Irritants, including saliva from drooling
- Allergens, including pollen, dust, and pet dander
In many cases, children start to see an improvement in symptoms when they reach age 5 or 6. However, it can also flare up again during puberty, and some continue having symptoms well into adulthood.
However, working with experts like the Advanced Allergy & Asthma team can help reduce inflammation, manage itchiness, prevent infections, and reduce flare-ups.
We can help identify specific triggers and outline an effective management strategy.
Managing eczema in children
First, our team confirms the presence of eczema by performing an exam and reviewing your child’s medical history. We also perform allergy testing to better understand your child's sensitivity to specific substances.
Food allergies, along with things they come in contact with in their environment, are often a key trigger of eczema symptoms. As a result, we could recommend eliminating certain things from their diet and daily life, like eggs and milk or certain soaps and detergents.
Once we understand your child’s condition, we can outline a strategy for managing it.
Key methods for reducing eczema symptoms include:
- Moisturizing 2-3 times each day
- Using topical corticosteroids or anti-inflammatory medications
- Taking oral medications, like antihistamines
- Light therapy
- Wet wraps on irritated skin
We can also offer day-to-day strategies to avoid flare-ups. These methods range from using mild, unscented soaps and warm water for bathing to dressing them in breathable fabrics made of cotton.
Even proper hydration and stress management can help reduce eczema symptoms.
There isn’t a cure for eczema, but your child’s symptoms shouldn’t get worse instead of better — even if they last a lifetime. Our experts can help.
Contact Advanced Allergy & Asthma by phone or online to book a visit with our team in Ogden, Utah.
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