Cutting out cow’s milk ended Rory’s flare-ups

WHEN, in 2012, ITV weather presenter Becky Mantin first spotted an eczema patch on her baby son’s foot, she thought nothing of it.

But, ten months later, she woke up to find ten-month-old Rory covered in an angry, red rash.

‘We feared the worst and thought it i was meningitis so took him to A&E,’ A Becky, 38, recalls.

‘The doctor told us it was eczema and a I was relieved at first.’

Little did she know that this was just the beginning. Over the next couple of years his flare-ups got worse, becoming more frequent.

‘He would scratch himself raw,’ says Becky. ‘We put socks over his hands to stop him from scratching.’

‘He once spent five days in hospital on an antibiotic drip after his eczema became infected and he developed abscesses. He was so

pale, he wasn’t speaking. It was heart breaking to watch.’

The turning point came when Rory was three and a half. He had picked up a type of the herpes virus that affects the face called herpes simplex while in hospital.

Every time the virus flared up, so would his eczema. He was put on medication to tackle the herpes virus. At the same time, Becky, who is also mother to Thomas, six, and Elizabeth, three, took Rory for a food intolerance test with a nutritionist. ‘There’s a history of eczema in my husband’s family so I had an inkling that could be part of it.’ While food intolerance testing is not usually done with eczema, it’s not uncommon for it to exist alongside other allergies – including food.

It is thought that some people’s immune systems are especially sensitive to any potential triggers.

In Rory’s case, cow’s milk seemed to make the eczema worse, so Becky cut it out of his diet. His herpes flare-ups became less frequent and the eczema began to clear.

Rory is now eight and his eczema is largely under control. He has a food allergy test once a year.

Becky’s advice to other parents coping with childhood eczema?

‘Every case is different, but know your enemy so you can tackle it. Ask for your child to be screened, find out what you are up against. Keep going until you find out what it is.’