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Child-Eczema

Atopisk dermatitis (Latin name)

By Bjarne Lühr Hansen PhD, MD and Philipp Skafte-Holm MD, Mentor Institute

Child-eczema is a very common skin disease. It usually starts before the child is 1 year old and disappears with most children as they grow up. Child-eczema is a hereditary disease, where allergy plays an important role. A dry, scaly and red skin with severe itching is typical. Children under the age of 2 are especially annoyed in the face whilst the larger children have eczema in the elbow crease and on the knees. The treatment is fat lotion and hormone lotion.

Child-eczema is a rash often seen with children. During the latest 10 years, the number of children with child-eczema has tripled. Between 15 – 20 % of all children, get child-eczema. The disease starts with most children a few months after birth and lasts for a couple of years. With most children, the disease clears before puberty.

Around half of all children with child-eczema are allergic to one or several things. The most common is lemon fruits, soap, dust and different food ingredients (most often milk, egg or fish).

With children under 2 years, you can see a dry, scaly and red skin in the face, on the neck and chest. With the larger children, the skin often thickens with course furrows in the elbows, knees, and by the hand and ankle joints. Severe itching occurs with all children with child-eczema. All children with eczema has very dry skin.

Click here to read about how you evaluate your child

Medication

Treat the child’s dry skin daily with fat lotion. If the eczema worsens – spreads and is red and the itching worsens – you can treat it with lotion that contains adrenal cortex hormone.

What can you do?

Use lotion twice a day – all year round. Use the adrenal cortex hormone lotion if the eczema spreads, gets red or gets very itchy.

Contact the doctor tomorrow

If the eczema despite your own treatment does not improve. If you think, the eczema has become inflamed. The inflammation is shown by the fact that the eczema liquids with some goo.

Contact the doctor immediately

Never necessary.