A baby girl whose eczema was so bad she couldn't leave the house has been soothed by a 'miracle' £7.99 cream.
Mum Lisa Aaron, 27, couldn't even put clothes on daughter Florence without her screaming in agony.
Bath time became a nightmare for the five-month-old, while even going outside felt impossible.
The tot had suffered with the severe skin flare ups from birth, with her sore, irritated skin worsening from around three months.
But Florence is “finally able to play and go outside happy and content” after being prescribed Oilatum cream and bath additive, which can be bought from High Street stores.
Full-time mum Lisa has also shared incredible pictures of Florence's skin before and after.
She said: “At its worse, she couldn't do anything. We couldn't leave the house or go anywhere. We couldn't put clothes on her - she would just get too upset and scream until I undressed her.
“Getting dressed in the morning was just the worst part of the day, so most days I would just leave her indoors in a nappy, covered in thick cream."
With Florence suffering on a daily basis, Lisa consulted her GP, to find a solution to her daughter’s pain.
Lisa explained: “We’d been back and forth with the GP several times and made a number of changes to Florence’s routine and diet, such as changing her milk. This helped for a few days, but was only a short-term fix.
“We tried applying a whole range of different emollients, which again, didn’t seem to make much of a difference. They all had a very thick, paste-like consistency when applying it to her skin and felt very adult.”
As well as Florence’s skin being irritated with clothes on, Lisa struggled with bathing her daughter.
“She was happy to be in the bath, but getting her out was horrendous. As soon as she came out the water and I tried to dry her, she would just burst into tears,” she said.
“Florence’s skin definitely got worse as it got colder. She was always much happier skin-to-skin, as opposed to when fully clothed.
“As she’s getting older and finding her knees and feet, we started to notice her scratching worsen. But we couldn’t cover her to stop her scratch, as she couldn’t keep clothes on.”
After feeling fed-up with Florence’s pain, Lisa took another trip to her GP, where they prescribed the Oilatum Junior Bath Additive (£5.29) and Oilatum Junior Cream (£7.99).
Lisa was apprehensive.
But after just one bath, Lisa noticed an immediate improvement in Florence’s overall wellbeing.
She said: “She's just content, we've got more time when she's just happy and content and playing. Whereas, previously if she was awake, she was either eating, naked or crying.
"Those were kind of the only options. But since using Oilatum, she can play and just be content, it’s just amazing to see the difference.”
She added: “Using Oilatum has meant we can dress our daughter in nice clothes, clothes we never would have been able to before, without worrying about her screaming or itching.”
“I’ve also been keen to take her swimming this winter, but I just knew it would cause a flare up, but now we can play fun family activities”.
Lisa's main advice she’d offer other parents is to get to know products you’re prescribed, rather than just taking the first advice offered.
She said: “I just thought if you were prescribed an emollient that was it, an emollient is an emollient. I just didn't realise that there was such a difference between them. We tried three different creams before we tried Oilatum, I’m just annoyed it took so long to find it."
Oilatum helps to treat and reduce the occurrence of dry skin and eczema by soothing, softening and hydrating the skin in children and babies.
People close to the family have noticed Florence’s positive reaction to her new regime.
“She had eczema down the side of her face, which has now completely cleared," Lisa added.
"And as a result of this, a few people from our baby class we attend have noticed and asked what we’re using, as they saw how severe it was before, so we’ve of course recommended the range.
“I no longer have the dread of getting her ready in the morning and having that restriction on what to do for the day, due to the worry of whether it’s going to upset her or not”.
