Mother, 28, reveals her seven-year-old son with eczema went from looking like a ‘burns victim’ to being blemish free in just two weeks because of a £4.50 ‘miracle’ cream
- Michelle Ellis’ son Lucas developed eczema on his face when he was weeks old
- His red raw sores would become infected, with him waking covered in blood
- At her wits’ end, a relative recommended Miss Ellis try the Childs Farm range
A mother whose son’s eczema was so severe people thought he was a burns victim claims a £4.50 ($5.55) ‘miracle’ cream cleared his skin in just two weeks.
Michelle Ellis’ seven-year-old Lucas developed the painful skin condition on his face when he was just three weeks old, with it later spreading over his entire body.
Now seven, the youngster’s red raw sores would become infected, with him often waking covered in blood from a night of scratching.
Lucas, from Wells in Somerset, was even unable to attend school for three weeks when the inflamed skin on his legs made it too painful to walk.
After years of dermatologist appointments and countless prescribed creams, Miss Ellis, 28, was at her wits’ end.
It was then a relative recommended she try a baby moisturiser from the skincare range Childs Farm.
Sceptical, Miss Ellis was amazed when Lucas’ skin started to improve after just two days and cleared within two weeks. He has been eczema-free for the past year.
Lucas Ellis (pictured left aged four) developed painful eczema on his face, which later spread all over his body, when he was just three weeks old. At her wits’ end, his mother Michelle used a baby moisturiser from the skincare range Childs Farm. The lotion cleared Lucas’ skin in just two weeks, with him being eczema-free for a year. He is pictured right at six years old
Red raw sores on Lucas’ legs became infected (pictured), leaving him unable to walk
A relative recommended Miss Ellis try Child Farms’ £4.50 baby moisturiser (pictured)
Speaking of the ordeal, Miss Ellis said: ‘Lucas would be scratching at night. In the morning, there would be blood under his fingernails, and all over his legs and the sheets.
‘People would stare at him and comment in the street saying, “Look at that boy’s face”. It looked like burns and it felt like they were accusing me of causing it.
‘He would get really upset and I would have to try and wipe away his tears without hurting him.’
Eczema is an inflammatory condition of the skin that leads to redness, blistering, oozing, scaling and thickening.
It usually appears in the first few months of life and affects around 10 per cent of babies.
Eczema’s cause is not fully understood but it is thought to be brought on by the skin’s barrier to the outside world not working properly, which allows irritants and allergy-inducing substances to enter.
It may be genetic due to the condition often running in families.
As well as their skin being affected, sufferers may experience insomnia and irritability.
Many factors can make eczema worse. These may include:
- Heat, dust, soap and detergents
- Being unwell, such as having a cold
- Infections
- Dry skin
- Stress
There is no cure for eczema, however, 70 per cent of childhood sufferers no longer have the condition in their teens.
Patients should avoid known triggers for flare ups and use emollients.
Source: British Skin Foundation
Miss Ellis, a carer, started treating Lucas’ red, itchy skin with a baby cream when he was just a few weeks old.
While it seemed to work initially, things took a turn for the worse when he was around five months.
Miss Ellis – also mother to Freddie, five, and Lilly, one – said: ‘He would have big scabs on his face.’
She took Lucas to the doctor who prescribed a cream.
The mother-of-three claims this would leave him ‘screaming in pain,’ forcing her to stop using it.
When Lucas turned one, his skin deteriorated even further, with dry patches springing up all over his body.
‘As Lucas got older, the eczema got worse and worse,’ Miss Ellis said.
‘It started on his face then spread to his back, belly, legs and arms. It was uncontrollable.’
Lucas was referred for monthly appointments with a dermatologist, who prescribed different creams.
Miss Ellis – who shares her children with her partner Tom Bateman, 30, a window cleaner – said: ‘The eczema would always come back.
‘There were open wounds all over his body.
‘They would get infected for a month at a time.’
Lucas (pictured left at eight months old with his mother) started to develop ‘scabs’ on his face at five months, with prescribed creams leaving him ‘screaming in pain’. When he turned two, his ankles swelled up (seen right), with Lucas being unable to bend them due to the agony
The scabs on Lucas’ face (pictured left aged five) left strangers thinking he was a burns’ victim. The youngster (pictured right recently) is now ‘much happier with his skin, and in himself’
When Lucas turned five, a steroid cream helped to clear up the eczema on his face, however, the skin on his arms and legs was worse than ever.
‘His ankles would swell up and he wouldn’t be able to bend them or stand up straight because of the pain,’ Miss Ellis said. ‘He couldn’t walk, we would have to carry him everywhere.
‘Last year, there was a period of about three weeks when he couldn’t go to school because he couldn’t walk.
‘Socks would stick to his eczema, so we would soak his feet and peel them off gently, but he would still scream the house down.’
With nothing working, Miss Ellis became panicked Lucas’ skin would never clear up.
It was then a family member told her about Childs Farm. Figuring it was worth a try, Miss Ellis bought their baby moisturiser from her local supermarket.
‘I was pretty sceptical about trying it because I’d tried so many others and thought nothing was going to help,’ she said.
‘Within two days, you could see the moisture returning to his arms and legs, and after about a week it really started to clear up.’
Miss Ellis claims Lucas’ skin was clear within just two weeks, with him being eczema-free for a entire year.
‘It’s definitely a miracle cream,’ she said. ‘We’ve been using it two times a day and whenever Lucas gets out of the bath or if his skin starts to get dry.’
The cream has even helped to calm Lucas’ personality.
Speaking of before, Miss Ellis said: ‘He got aggressive. You could see he was sad all the time, he was agitated and uncomfortable.
‘It’s nice to see him happier as it was heartbreaking to see my boy in such pain. He is so much happier with his skin, and in himself.’
Dr Jennifer Crawley, Childs Farm’s consultant dermatologist, added: ‘Eczema causes the skin to become itchy, dry, cracked, sore and red.
‘Some people only have small patches of dry skin, while others, like Lucas, may experience widespread red, inflamed skin all over the body.
‘Lucas’ story is just a heartbreaking example of the effect skin conditions like eczema can have on individuals, particularly young children both physically but also mentally by changing behaviours.’
Lucas (pictured left at six months) would have his hands bandaged in bed to prevent him scratching in the night and waking covered in blood. As well as clearing up his skin, the cream has also helped to calm the youngster’s (right) personality, with him being ‘aggressive’ before
Miss Ellis (pictured left with her son) claims she would have to carefully wipe away his tears when strangers confused him for a burns’ victim. His arm is pictured right before the cream
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