Anastasia Beaverhausen

I dont suffer with excema, but I have had psoriasis since I was 17, and the triggers for irritation and easing are pretty similar.

I found my Psoriasis was at its best when I was in Oz and Nz, and since being back in the Uk it has never gone back to the condition it was pre backpacking trips.

The easing of the symptoms I feel, were bought on by the sun and sea water, but the change to the way I lived was the biggest factor in my improved condition. Basically I dont get stressed anymore, Oz and NZ taught me not to be so up tight and to relax a bit more.

I still have psoriasis but I dont let it get to me anymore and treat it and move on. A bit of hippy thinking I know, but it helped me.

My aunt lives in NZ and visits Oz regularly, and since moving to NZ her excema has never given her a big problem.

Claire
xx

MrsDagboy

Sorry to tell you, but a good friend of mine has a young son with extremely bad eczema & their life is hell for most of the year here in Brisbane. Heat makes it worse, so does dry air - basically the only time that they find it bearable is when its wet & rainy & cold (as it is in the UK for much of the year) & unfortunately here in Qld that doesnt happen alot. Despite the showers we've had in the last month or so, winter here is normally very very dry.

I wouldnt bet on it being better, at least not here in Brisbane.

susannah

I had excema when i lived in the UK. I now live in France (the weather isn't as good as ausie, but far better than the UK). Touching wood i haven't had a problem since living here. I'm not expecting one in Ausie either. As long as you keep the area moisturised it should be OK.

Susi

caleb2003

My Boy has had this from birth, and my wife breastfeeds all that time (shes knackered now!). I think we may be in a dusty house cos we moved in and had a rewire straight away and its just stuck around.

I think with OZ, looking at those other threads that it is really dependant on the individual as I noted Pollyana stating that in the UK it was manageable but in OZ not, well at the moment in the UK as I speak its not so manageable so that may be different for us their, when you look at it its difficult with the medicare etc and we probably would look at not taking our pets if we go but all these comments however negative or positive are very welcome.

Secretsquirral

My 7 month old son suffers from excema but we recently went on holiday to Spain, where the temperature was on average 38 degrees c and it completely cleared up - we haven't seen his skin so soft and clear, since the day he was born.

We are heading for Queensland and so hope that it clears up again (within a day back in the UK the excema was back.)

Debbie

Rich and Angie

Hi

I have ezcema and my daughter Georgia 18months gets it in bits too.
Mine is mainly dry areas, feet, knes, elbows and my hands. I have strted to use a lotion called Allergenics. You can get it from health stores (bit expensive) but it helps to ease it and it has disappeared off my fee and hands now and Georgia is much better.
I just bought a tube of it but I believe that you can get big tubs of the cream. It is a non steroid bases so no worries when using it.
Hope this helps
Ang

Tass

My son had eczema since birth and was 4 in Feb.We used hydrocortisone cream and diprobase 3-4 times a day and then heard a rumour about Fairy soap powder but in the tablet form. We used this for everything with comfort pure and his eczema almost completely dissapeared ! Wonderful respite for almost a year and then we moved to Oz last November.You can't buy Fairy tablets here and had to do the trial and error thing which took a good few months. Eventually , a few months ago ,omo sensitive was produced for front loaders and that has saved us some heartache.
When we arrived ,it was very hot , he did sweat more and that combined with the change in soap powders and new suncreams broke his skin down very quickly especially in all the obvious places -like his joints where it went into deep hacks.When he went into the sea he used to just stand and cry and said it was stingy , I suppose literally rubbing salt into his wounds.
Now it's winter , his skin has healed but is very dry and I still use a moisturiser on him every day. We have reverse cycle AC and it is very "drying", also we are finding that in general the weather at this time of year has a very drying effect.
I had almost forgotten about all this until you had posted this question. It's just part of normal routine .I hope this summer coming won't be so bad . Hopefully it was all part of the transition.
All the best to you,
Tass.
P.S. My son was breast fed for a year , so that argument can't come into it , the paed Doctor said his eczema was genetic.Remeber some kids grow out of this too.

Bella Donna

[QUOTE] That's not the problem then! I only mentioned it because you queried why the UK had a higher rate of eczema.

I think pets can have an effect, as can dust, but that's usually more for respiratory problems. The saliva proteins in pet dander can aggravate skin complaints.

I think we also have a problem over recent years in becoming *too clean* and sterile around the home. Studies keep turning up conclusions that children who lived with a degree of dirt had stronger immune systems and fewer allergies, but the bottom line is that for some it will be inherited, and for some it will be food-related, and for some other allergens.

Your best bet would be to see a qualified homoeopath and work on the root cause. I knew a 5yo who used to suffer terribly with eczema, but it cleared completely after homoeopathic treatment and has never recurred. Some would argue that it probably would have cleared anyway, but homoeopathy treats in a different way to allopathic medicine.

I hope wherever you settle, the eczema clears up in due course.

Jonahs_mummy

I have suffered badly with it for over 30 years

This may sound daft but the only times it calms right down & looks like "normal" skin is when I have been to Australia. I am convinced it is a combination of the heat, sun & salt water that makes it better as it always seems to come back when I come back to the UK.

I have discovered some creams/lotions things though for my skin whilst out there that I brought home (that are FANTASTIC).... Emu Oil, PawPaw Cream & Hopes Cream.........

Claire
x

Pollyana

OK, heres a clue - SEVEN applictions of medicated lotion, all over, every day for the last three weeks while the air here has been dry. Screaming in pain last weekend as the humidity dropped to 20%. Brisbane is not good for eczmea - Mrs D has backed me up on that one.

And I was always better when holidaying here, cos I was relaxed - now living here its a lot different as I have the stresses of everyday life to cope with, rather than the freedom of holidaying.

(and please don't suggest a homeopath - tried one a few years back and he gave me something that triggered a further immune system deficiency, landing me with severe - and now chronic - rheumatoid arthritis!)

Bella Donna

All I would suggest is that the homoeopath did very badly by you if he triggered such a severe reaction. As with everything, there are good and bad in every profession. Homoeopathy itself works on very fixed scientific laws. However, its application is entirely down to the skill - or lack thereof - of the practitioner. The one you consulted obviously did something seriously wrong to get this bad reaction - but please don't judge them all by one bad practitioner. I have seen some spectacular results with homoeopathy.

caleb2003

Pollyanna I feel for you, seeing my baby itching away is bad enough for me but it sounds as though you got it far worse, although from what you are saying maybe you need to look at how you deal with stress (I know its easy for me to say but you more or less said that yourself) anyway I hope you get through this soon and it settles down.

I never really considered low humidity before your comments though methinks more research is needed from me there.

Thanks

Chalkfarm

Hi,we are in sydney and my sons excema has been the worst it has ever been in the last 8 weeks(he is 4 years old).It is only now after covering him in diprobase,hydrocortisone,elecon,balneum baths and bandages that he is slowly getting better.He is even on anthihistimine every day, and we believe it is all down to the humidity here.We are hoping that the warmer weather will be better for him otherwise we will have to consider going home .I think everyones excema reacts very differently, and you will not know what your sons skin wil be like untill you move.God luck with everything .

ABCDiamond

The cream that we have here, but rarely need now, contains emu oil.

On talking this over with my wife last night, she said that our daughters remaining condition cleared up very fast when we moved out to Australia, although she had been worried herself, about any effects that moving might have.

Also when we moved from Sydney to Brisbane, we were both concerned about it flaring up, but it didn't. In fact there is even less of it than when we were in Sydney.

My wife feels that it is more to do with the open air; whilst in the UK, they were more closed up in weather proofed houses, compared to here, where there is plenty of fresh air ?

It is obvious though that peoples conditions do differ, as some have got better here, whilst others are worse.

MrsDagboy

My friend finds low temps + high humidity = better (but still very bad :scared: )
Low temps + low humidity = worse
High Temps + high humidity = worse.

They put air con in their house to try to combat the high humidity/high temp problem in summer.

Her son is 2 & she still breastfeeds at night. They have done allegy tests with an allergy specialist & hes allergic to dust mites, cats, dogs, milk, dairy, fish, nuts & 2 other things that I cant remember now. Poor kid - can you be allergic to living?

Last week it flared up - his whole face & head broke out & his eyes swelled up so much that they were level with his nose & he couldnt see out of them .

Just shows that it does react differently to different situations in different people.