Questions about children with Eczema

[Jenn Lynn]

DD has little tiny bumps all over her upper thighs. They have recently spread down to her ankle area. They are also on her top part of the wrists. Her cheeks are also getting more on them.

From what I have found on the internet it seems to be Eczema. They do not itch her or if they do she does not scratch them. Sometimes they almost look pimply and there are alot! IT seems to have increased since we have moved.

We are in the process of finding a Pediatrician, but I was wondering if anyone here has delt with this? From what I have read there is no cure. And there could be some triggers that are affecting her.

DH has bad skin and from what I read it sounds like he might have this also so she could have inherited it?

I am just so worried about this!

Thanks for any advice.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Eczema is VERY itchy, so I doubt it is that. It sounds like it could be an allergic reaction of some sort.

 

[WendyZ]

Both my DS and I have it. His is only on his arms. It's starts as a red rash, that itches alot!! The more he itches, the worse it gets and spreads when the red bumps appear. I have a cortizone cream(over the counter) he uses on it. Sometimes he takes benadryl for the itching. If he keeps the cream on it, it works well. The problem is he quits to soon and then I notice it's all red agan!
Mine is on my legs. Just starts out itching, then red, then spots. I was a mess the first time I got it. Now I have learned how to control it. It almost got away from me this winter. That's the worst time. Summer is awesome...I don't even worry about it them. My dermatologist said it usually start on the extremities. He had me switch to Tide Free and NO fabric softener. Ivory soap or cetaphil, there the most gentle on the skin. Cetaphil has a great skin lotion to. That's all I use on my skin for lotion. Those things made a big difference. Then once you can get rid of the spots....keep it moist.

If she doesn't itch...I doubt thats it. Thats the first thing I notice. Good luck...I know what this is like. No fun!!!
Feel free to email me if you have more questions....I'm happy to help if I can.

 

[Keli]

It was sounding like it might be keratosis polaris (sp?), that's a condition where the hair follicles become infected/ingrown for no apparent reason. It's a chronic condition and there's really not much of a cure but as far as I know, it doesn't occur on the face so I'm not really sure. I think will have to wait for a dr. to give to the likely diagnosis because there are just so many skin conditions and many of them have similar symptoms.

 

[ez]

I think my daughter has what you are referring to. Chicken skin. One of her first cousins has it as well. It does not itch but will sometimes redden on her cheeks. She has it also on her arms and legs and trunk a little. She saw a dermatologist when she was younger and he said she has atopic eczema and she will outgrow it. She just turned nine, she can't wash her hands with anything but ivory or she gets a rash. But otherwise no problems, shes just a tad self concious of it.

 

[janette]

Both my girls have eczema but different types.

DD#1 has very dry skin, it is easily irritated and sometimes can have very bad rashes. She has had to get prescription cortizone creams when it is bad. Day to day the best cream we've found is Creamy Vaseline, no perfumes or color it's just plain vaseline but not as greasy. Anything with perfume can burn and this is the only thing we've found that works quickly.

DD#2 had allergy related eczema, she would get red spots often but since she's been on allergy medications she's been fine. She has taken allergy medications since about 2, the spots improved almost immediately and anytime I saw them after that I treated them as allergy and they cleared up.

There is also a lotion called Aquaphor that is very helpful for irritated skin but also safe.

Only a Dr will be able to really help with some things but I'd try either Aquaphor or a over the counter cortizone to see if they might help until you get there.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Thanks everyone!

ez-that sounds more like what my DD has. I wouldn't really call it a rash. Just a TON of bumps! And they don't really get red or itch.

Did your DD outgrow it? Did you do anything to help keep minimize the bumps? Thanks!

 

[ez]

Well, she just turned 9 and she still has them. I am so used to her skin being like that for all these years, its like I don't even notice it. I haven't found anything to minimize the bumps-I've learned that with her skin-the less done to it the better. Use ivory soap, don't soak in a warm tub too long, that was the doctors advice. Best of luck.

 

[CBRorBust]

I have had eczema my entire life. And trust me it itches and she will scrath it!

I hope it is something else because it is a really annoying condition to have! You can't be too cold because then your skin is too dry which then itches. But you can't be too hot because then you sweat and your skin itches! UGH! I need to move to Hawaii where it's just right all year long

 

[momof2OH]

I have had eczema all my life as well as my DD, DS, DB and several other relatives. In all our cases, most of the time it doesn't itch. Every once in awhile it will but not always. There are several types of eczema or I should say it can appear in different forms. Winter time is the worse! I get a form on my hands and they eventually bleed and it hurts. Most of the time ours looks like we have a rash without the redness. The doctors have said there isn't anything we can do for it. The closest thing to any help would be tons on moisturizing lotion, but that won't make it go away.
I would have her see a dr. and then maybe a referral to a dermatologist. Good luck.

 

[MrsMud]

My daughter has the same thing as what EZ describes:

It does not itch but will sometimes redden on her cheeks. She has it also on her arms and legs and trunk a little. She saw a dermatologist when she was younger and he said she has atopic eczema and she will outgrow it.

It is mainly on her upper arms, a little less on her upper legs, and very little on her face (although she did have some on her face when she was a baby, and her cheeks were very red). We were also told by a dermatologist when she was 2 1/2 that she has a form of excema. He recommended that we did not use soap on the areas at all, but rather Cetaphil. It is a light lotion that can be used like a soap but can either be rinsed off, or just wiped off. I did use it and it seemed to help a great deal, but did not make it disappear.
As she has gotten older (she's 7 now) it has lessened but is still on her upper arms, more so in the winter. I no longer buy the Cetaphil as it can get expensive, but I am careful to use a very mild soap like Dove Body Wash for sensitive skin, and try to put lotion on her after every bath.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

DS, DD and myself have eczema which DOES itch. DS also has what Keli mentioned, Keratosis. Little bumps on the bottoms of his legs and back of his upper arms. Dr. actually gave him a prescription lotion to try and said it should help slough off these bumps. We just got the lotion(HUGE bottle), so I don't know if it will work.

 

[mbw12]

My 3 year old has a form of eczema...but it sounds different than your daughters. My daughter has food allergies also...and eczema can be a sign of the allergy. anyway, she sometimes gets red splotches on her face....but it doesn't seem to itch her. Along with that, she does have very dry skin. We go to a pediatric allergist every 6 months, and next week we will be seeing a pediatric dermatologist (for a mole that she has...but I will also ask him about the eczema)

Our doctor recommended that we use Cetaphil as her cleaning agent....and to use Eucerin to moisturize her. We have found that this works wonders for her skin! It really is amazing stuff. winter is the worst time for her flare ups, but since we have started using both of the above mentioned, there were less flare ups and less noticeable ones.

 

[Karel]

I had really bad eczema on my hand for about a year. It itched something awful! They gave me something like a steriod cream which helped somewhat but I found this really great stuff - Zim's Crack cream and it cleared up my hand in a month and I haven't had trouble since.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

My DS has had it practically since he was born and DD has those "bumps" all over her upper arms as well. My dr assures me that it doesn't necissarily itch and DD (who is 5) doesn't complain of any itching. Some babies just have real sensitive skin that makes them prone to eczema...like my DS. The dr just tells us to use cortizone cream (10% I believe) and it helps a lot. When it gets really bad we use a prescription cream that she prescribed for us. What you have described sounds exactly like what my DS has. Sometimes it's a little...sometimes it's a lot. I also worried about food allergies, but the dr assures me that with food allergies you get hives rather than pimple-like bumps. If you have any questions about it, you can PM me. I've asked my dr just about every question imaginable about DS's eczema. In the meantime, you can bathe her in Dove (the dye-free one with moisturizers) use Eucerin if her skin is dry and get some cortizone creme.

 

[browneyes]

I bet your DD just has a heat rash. My ds had eczema when he was a newborn. I had to make sure I used the mildest detergent I could find and I couldn't accidentally wash his clothes or wash clothes or towels with any of my other detergents. The dr said to wash him with Dove soap. I had some cream to put on his cheeks (that was the most evident area), but when he was a newborn, he'd just smear it all over the place when I put it on him, so I very rarely used it. His skin is still VERY sensitive now (he can brush against something and his cheeks will get red or break out), but it's not like it was when he was tiny.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Check out this picture of Keratosis and the description: http://www.keratosispilaris.org/about_kp.htm

Eczema is very itchy! I cannot stop scratching my flareups!
http://www.aad.org/pamphlets/eczema.html

 

[DawnCt]

There is a new perscription drug available called Eladil. (sp). It is a non steroidal antiimflamatory cream that was developed especially for excema. I would ask the pediatrician about it. People have had very good results.

 

[Christine]

Dawn,
My son has eczema and I recently asked his dermatologist for Elidel. He laughed out loud and said "that stuff doesn't work" and wouldn't give me a prescription (no, he doesn't have the best bedside manner). I would like to hear from others who are using it.
Christine

 

[clutter]

My dd's had it for two years, it's worse in the spring and summer. She gets the bumps on the back of her hand,her elbows and around her knees. Last year, the ped said it was a pretty common rash and gave us some Cutivate, a steroid cream. We just had her check-up and she said it's called papular (sp?) eczema. So, yes, it's an eczema, but not a very common one. The cutivate dries it up pretty quickly, if I get it on her twice a day for a day or two, it clears up (but then eventually comes back. There's not much info on the internet on it, as other forms of eczema ar more common.