Baby who itched until he ‘bled all over the bed’ due to steroid withdrawal and severe eczema cured by high street cream

A mum whose baby suffered withdrawal from steroid creams to treat his severe eczema, causing his skin to become so aggravated he would “bleed all over the bed” from scratching, can now “see the light at the end of the tunnel” after finding a high street cure.

Kaizen Rice, now 20 months, has battled sore and painful eczema across his body since he was three months old, which his mum, Latishia, 25, has said would keep him awake at night and leave him scratching until he bled.

Kaizen’s eczema had been exacerbated by topical shock withdrawal (TSW), a withdrawal reaction to steroids after prolonged use, with symptoms including intense itching, the peeling of skin, oozing open sores, and a burning or stinging sensation.

Unable to play like a normal toddler, Kaizen drew blood at night from scratching his irritated skin before Latishia, a social media influencer from Redditch, found a cure with Balmonds Skin Salvation cream.

To Latishia’s disbelief, she said Kaizen’s skin had cleared up “within a month”.

“I always thought having a baby that suffers with a skin condition was hard, but the real challenge is having a toddler who suffers from a skin condition,” she said.

“The road to recovery is long and while going through TSW is both mentally and physically exhausting, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Latishia first noticed symptoms of eczema when Kaizen was three months old and she found a small rash on his stomach.

Mistaking it for ringworm, she took her baby to the doctors who prescribed him anti-fungus cream.

Latishia said: “It got worse from there, the rash appeared on his neck, and I noticed all these rashes just starting to appear all over his body.

“I became conscious of his gut health and, because he was breastfed, I cut dairy out of my diet in the hopes that might calm down the rashes.”

At four months, Kaizen tried eating kiwi for the first time and suffered an allergic reaction, which Latishia said escalated his eczema.

Taking him to a dermatologist, the mum tried various creams including steroid creams to soothe Kaizen’s skin.

She said: “He was in constant discomfort, just itching nonstop, all day and throughout the night.

“It made it really difficult for me to work and I couldn’t leave him with family or friends because of the pain he was in.”

“It was really sad because he couldn’t be a normal toddler, he didn’t want to play.”

Researching online, Latishia found information about TSW and immediately wanted to change course on his treatment.

Latishia said: “I knew I needed to get him off the steroid treatment because he was exhibiting a lot of the TSW symptoms. As he was now over one year old, it was also getting harder to stop him scratching.”

“He knew how to take off his sleepsuit or get his fingers under it to itch his skin. One night, I woke up and he was quietly itching the back of his head and drew blood all over the bed.”

In December 2022, Latishia had Kaizen go cold turkey on the steroid creams, which she said was a “hard decision”.

Searching for alternative solutions, the mum found information about Balmonds online, and decided to give their Skin Salvation cream a try.

She said: “I’d tried everything at this point so I just thought, ‘let’s go back to basics, just give this one cream a go for a while.’

“I couldn’t believe it myself but I kid you not, after over a year of trying all sorts, within a month of just using the Skin Salvation cream Kaizen’s skin had cleared up.”

Now, Kaizen’s skin is calmer and more manageable, as Latishia has said the cream acts like a protective barrier for him.

While he still has some redness and patches of dry skin, her tot is no longer in pain.

Latishia added: “We’ve finally been able to get control of it.

“As a mum, it’s horrible watching your child go through something like this, where they’re in pain and you’re trying to help but it’s not working, so finding a solution has been a huge relief.”

Every morning and evening, Latishia applies the Skin Salvation cream to Kaizen’s skin and in the day she will use the daily moisturising cream if needed.

She said: “I used to use the Skin Salvation cream four or five times in the day but that has decreased a lot since his skin has improved.”

Not only has Kaizen’s skin cleared up but Latishia said she has also noticed an improvement in his temperament.

“He’s a much happier baby, my whole family sees it as well. He’s been able to spend time away from me and he is sleeping through the night completely now,” she said.

“He’s running around, being free, wanting to play with other kids which is a huge difference and improvement on his development.

“He still has eczema, I don’t think that will ever go away, but he no longer suffers painful flare-ups. It’s so much more manageable now and I don’t want to put anything on his skin apart from Balmonds because it’s working so well for him.

“Going through this has been exhausting but we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I want to say a big thank you to Balmonds for their support – these two products have become a staple in our family and we use them every day.”