When people peered into Doreen Fraser's pram, they always recoiled in horror because her newborn son's skin was so sore and red it was weeping.

"People just didn't know what to say to me and for a new mum that was horrific," she remembers.

It was the same story with her third child Kirstin, but by then she was used to the prejudices people displayed against eczema.

A new campaign, run by the National Eczema Society, aims to highlight some of the problems sufferers experience and destroy the myths that surround the skin condition.

Doreen and her husband Alan, of north Oxford, are both eczema sufferers but neither was prepared for the effect it would have on their children's lives, or their own.

She says: "As a parent it is pitiful to watch your child in so much pain and be able to do so little about it.

"My eldest son Stuart suffered most badly, but he had a ten-year break. It was worst when he was young and then it came back at 17 when he was taking his A-levels. He couldn't sleep because it was so itchy and it spread to his face. He didn't do very well in his exams and I'm sure eczema was partly to blame. "It's also very difficult for children with eczema to hold a pen because their fingers are cracked and bleeding."

Kirstin, 13, says: "People at school understand it and no-one teases me or anything. But it is sore and it doesn't just hurt in the summer because it's hot. In the winter when it's cold your skin dries up and cracks."

The family feel they have tried every eczema cream and cure under the sun, but none has had a permanent effect.

Stuart, now 24, recently visited an acupuncturist and was diagnosed as being allergic to dairy produce. Since cutting that out of his diet, his eczema has almost cleared up.

Doreen says: "Different treatments help different sufferers. "I found it enormously helpful to meet parents of other sufferers. You stop feeling like the only one experiencing these problems and know you aren't alone."

She is secretary of the Oxfordshire branch of the National Eczema Society, which meets four times a year and has 250 members.

For details, call the national helpline on 0171 388 4097. Facts:

It is estimated that one in 12 adults suffers from eczema, and one in eight children. Nationally, that's 5.5 million people. But many people suffer in silence and never visit their GP about it

Eczema is hereditary

Eczema is triggered by temperature, environment, food and lifestyle

It causes bleeding, dry, sore, reddened skin and itchiness which results in irritability and discomfort

Those with eczema often have food allergies and asthma

Eczema targets, arms, legs, feet, hands and sometimes the face

Children sufferers are often bullied at school because of their skin condition

Oxford has a very good dermatology department at the Churchill Hospital which treats extreme eczema cases

Story date: Monday 11 October

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