Our family experience allergic rhinitis too often. Even before Mr. JG & I had our children, there was always a battle of who sneezes most in a day. So when our pedia broke the news that both my kids have the same predicament when it comes to allergic rhinitis, we weren’t surprised. But one thing that we didn’t anticipate was our kids having eczema. Their first encounter with it was when they were a little over a year old. What we thought was just the usual case of dry skin turned out to be skin allergy.
WHAT IS ECZEMA?
Eczema is a general term for a range of inflammatory skin conditions, commonly known as atopic dermatitis. It’s a skin condition characterised by dry, itchy and red rashes and can appear anywhere on the body, however they are more commonly found on the body folds such as the crease of the elbow, neck and back of the knees.
WHAT CAUSES IT?
The exact cause is unknown but it’s common for people who are atopic or have inherited tendency to develop allergic diseases like asthma and allergic rhinitis. As is the case for my kids. Since I have asthma and their dad has allergic rhinitis, the chances of my kids developing allergic rhinitis and eczema are pretty good. Eczema affects 10-20% of children and about 1-3% of adults worldwide. Aside from its link to allergy and asthma, it is also linked to a hyper responsive immune system. Defect in skin barrier leading to loss of moisture and increased exposure to irritants and micro-organisms are also causes.
Up until now they still get episodes of skin allergy. Usually, they get it during summer when the heat tends to be unbearable but even during the rainy season they get bouts of it. It pains me to see my kids feel irritated every time they experience this. But since they’re so used to it, they just ask me to apply the “cream in the pink box” on their dry skin.
This is the pink cream that my kids refer to whenever they have bouts of eczema. Though the cream isn’t really pink (it’s white) they’ve come to call it as such. Elica cream was prescribed to us by my children’s pedia. Elica cream manages my children’s eczema, relieving them of itching & inflammations.
ELICA®
Momemestasone furoate (Elica) is a topical corticosteroid which works as the first line of treatment for eczema.
Elica® comes in cream and ointment.
The ointment is as effective as a potent steroid in reducing symptoms. It’s good to use for dry, thick lesions and areas of the body where skin is generally thicker such as the palms or soles. While the cream is for wet, oozing lesions and area of the body where skin is thinner such as the face and body folds.
Reference: Marchesi E. et al. G Ital Dermatol Venereol.1994;129:IX-XII
Every now and then, my kids would come to me and complain about their flare ups. It’s usually after we come from the beach or even swim at the pool that I notice their skin is drier.
We love using Elica® because there’s always visible results in just one day. Plus we like that we only need to apply it once a day.
A few days after and my son’s skin condition was better. 
I still need to train him not to scratch it to avoid scabbing.
Here’s my daughter’s flare up at the back. This was day 2 already, it was worse the first day that she wasn’t able to swim ‘coz it was so itchy. 
A few days after and it was gone. We really love how effective Elica® is that whenever we travel out of town or out of the country, we make sure we have a tube with us.
We also use this on my daughter’s ears whenever she would get dry, flaky skin from her earrings. When it gets worse, she’d have lesions so we’d then use Elica® ointment and the next day, it clears up like magic. Can’t remember how many tubes we’ve used since my kids were diagnosed with skin allergy back when they were younger. I’m really glad there’s Elica® to help my kids manage eczema.
Though these two get flare ups from time to time ‘coz of their skin allergy but it has become manageable over time, all thanks to Elica®.
TIPS TO MANAGE & PREVENT FLARE UPS
Keep fingernails short
Avoid heat and sweating
Use physical sunscreens to avoid irritation
Use cold compress or wet wraps
Use cool or lukewarm water for bathing.
Avoid smoke, perfume and air fresheners
Keep it covered
Choose fragrance free cosmetics and detergents
Rinse clothes well
Avoid harsh detergents and fabric softeners
Use light and natural fibres like cotton and avoid scratchy synthetic materials
Elica® cream and ointment is at Php 428/tube and are available over-the-counter at leading drugstores nationwide.
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