We have found that one of the best ways to keep Rapunzel from scratching is to simply keep her skin covered. It's been easy to keep her in pants, long knee socks, and long sleeves through the fall and winter. It doesn't keep her from scratching altogether, but it at least helps her nails to not make direct contact with her skin all day long. However, we live in south Texas, which means we've already started getting warm fronts, and in another month or so it will start being warm all the time. By May, the weather will be HOT and will stay that way until October, when we get our first cool front (if we're lucky). So it won't be long until she can't get away with wearing pants and long sleeves anymore. On top of her eczema, Rapunzel also suffers from "hypohydrosis" which means she doesn't sweat much. Her body has a hard time cooling itself, so we have to make sure she doesn't get overheated. So while pants and long sleeves may be good for her eczema, it would be detrimental for her to wear them in the extreme heat of south Texas.
So for this spring/summer I'm planning to get her a wardrobe of cotton tshirts, skirts, and leggings mostly and hoping that works well. It's all about finding the balance between covering as much skin as possible without overheating.
As I do my summer clothes shopping for my kids I will keep Rapunzel in mind...so if I find any super thin all cotton long sleeve pieces, I will give you a call.
ReplyDeleteWhen I married my sweet husband he did not realize that his back was not suppose to be hard, crusty, cracking, itchy and occasionally bleeding from all the scratching he was doing...
We were blessed that all the usual first steps worked with him...you know the non scented laundry detergents, soaps, shampoos, etc etc etc. Some hyrdocortizone and Cetaphil cleared him up, except in the dry dead of winter when he still flairs up but we just treat as needed. I might actually get him to an allergist or dermatologist if he were unconscious.
Once I had to trick him into going to the med clinic when his red inflamed eyelids were so infected from scratching that I was worried about his vision. Kids atleast have to go where you take them. Well, mostly...
I am getting a lot out of your blog so keep us informed...maybe I will find other ways to help my husband without having to drag him to the vet oh excuse me doctor!! :-)