Written in partnership with Dr Clarence De BELILOVSKY, Dermatologist member of the Mustela circle of experts
Does breastfeeding have a positive or negative role on atopic eczema?
This is indeed a question that can be shared.
Some people recommend breastfeeding because it better protects your baby from many infections and allergies.
It's true.
Others will say that if the child already has an allergy, the mother should remove certain foods from her meals so as not to transmit allergens to her.
However, this precaution has not been formally proven.
The best thing to do is talk to your doctor.
As atopic eczema is very rarely associated with a food allergy, there should be no reason not to breastfeed your child if that is what you prefer.
On the contrary ! What targeted care and treatments can I turn to on a daily basis to treat my baby's atopic eczema? Favor emollients every day!
The formulas enriched with these specific baby-child treatments help rebuild the lipid layer on your baby's skin and therefore repair and protect their skin barrier.
Just as exceptional: they can immediately reduce scratching sensations by up to 95%!
This is the case for Mustela products such as Stelatopia Emollient Balm and Stelatopia Emollient Cream. You can apply them once or twice a day at least (see our application advice), after a shower for example, and even during or in the bath. To summarize, they are the complicit care in cases of atopic eczema.
The only precaution: during a flare-up, do not apply them to the oozing patches.
In this case, the treatment prescribed by your doctor will be most appropriate.
Can I vaccinate my child for atopic eczema?
Quite ! Not only do vaccines not worsen atopic eczema but they protect your baby from many diseases such as Diphtheria, Tetanus or Polio.
And even if your child today has little chance of encountering these infections, an up-to-date vaccination record will always be a plus. We will only advise you to postpone the appointment if your baby has a flare-up.
More to leave him alone than anything else!
When is my child at risk of having atopic eczema flare-ups?
It's impossible to know precisely because everything depends on your child's atopic condition and their sensitivity. What we can say is that atopic ecema alternates between periods of calm and flare-ups.
These periods of calm can be made easier thanks to appropriate care, such as specific emollient care for babies and children, and some daily precautions, such as regularly ventilating the rooms at home or avoiding activities that make you sweat too much.
Furthermore, we know that flare-ups will be more likely to occur when your baby is teething or if he has caught a bad cold, that is to say, in medical terms, if he has a rhinitis infection. pharyngeal.
If extremely dry skin is hereditary, is the intensity of breakouts also?
Absolutely not ! So don't worry if you or your partner has experienced severe outbreaks and severe itching.
Your child will have “their own” atopic eczema which may be mild despite your experience.
Does atopy leave traces and marks on baby's skin? None ! Even if the redness is severe and it turns into oozing patches to become a scab.
This is one of the good news.
Here are two more: It is not contagious and tends to decrease with age!
Should you avoid certain foods to prevent atopic eczema flare-ups? Not necessarily. Atopic eczema is rarely triggered by a food allergy or intolerance.
The best thing, if in doubt, is to talk to your doctor. However, certain foods can have irritating contact with the skin. When swallowing them, contact with the mouth or around the mouth could tickle the immune system and therefore cause a flare-up.
Here too, do not hesitate to consult a dermatologist or allergist if in doubt!
My child has lymph nodes during an atopic eczema flare-up.
Is this normal? Yes, it can happen!
Indeed, during a flare-up, there is inflammation of the skin.
The body defends itself, which can be enough to cause lymph nodes to appear.
However, do you think that the plaques are superinfected? Rest assured, this risk is rare.
The best way to find out for sure is to consult your doctor.
What is the difference between atopic eczema and contact eczema?
They only have one thing in common: they are an allergic reaction! Afterwards, atopic eczema is often hereditary.
It can appear in your baby's first months and, in the majority of cases, tends to decrease with age. It alternates between periods of calm and outbreaks which do not always have a clear reason to rear their ugly heads.
For its part, contact eczema can occur at any age, but more often from adolescence or adult life.
Its appearance can be explained without ambiguity: it is a reaction of the skin when it finds itself “in contact” with a product or a very specific material: solvent, nickel, medicine, rubber, etc.
As soon as it appears, we can stop it with certain treatments, unlike atopic eczema which, when it flares up, will follow a certain course.
Is there anything I can do to prevent atopic flare-ups? If we cannot completely prevent the appearance of atopic eczema, certain precautions can effectively prevent its manifestations.
To start, you can rely on specific baby-child emollient treatments.
They help rebuild the lipid layer on your baby's skin and therefore repair and protect their skin barrier.
They also help to immediately reduce scratching sensations by up to 95%!
Then, you can count on a few attentions to adopt on a daily basis. They will provide a more conducive environment for your child.
The majority of them are easy to put in place: air out your interior, don't forget to put stuffed animals in the washing machine from time to time...