Question
My son has severe eczema, in the form of red blotches. When he has a bath, his whole body tends to itch and therefore causes him to scratch and the condition gets worse (bleeding). We have tried various ointments with no success.

Answer
This is a difficult one. It is probable that the eczema is being caused by something coming into contact with his skin. It could be soap, shampoo, additives that you may be adding to his bath or cream that you are applying after his bath. It could even be the softener or detergent that you are using to wash his clothes, although from your description this seems unlikely. It is a remote possibility that one of the additives in the tap water itself (for example chlorine, fluoride, lead or other naturally occurring substances) may be causing this problem. Making it still more complicated is the fact that, very rarely, it is possible that the temperature of the water itself can precipitate an eczema-like reaction, either too warm or too cool.

This sounds rather severe and I would advise that you systematically work through the possibilities and test various treatment options with the assistance of a dermatologist.