Is it Eczema?

[rebeccamum]

Hi all,

My 7 wk old girl has red patches on her cheeks, they look like rash and are quite dry. I touch them and they feel very rough, a bit like leather..?? My DH suffered with Eczema when he was a kid and had tons of different allergies. Is my girl having Eczema too? I know that people experience itchiness from Eczema but I can't tell if she feels they're itchy or not. Should I take her to see doctor? It's just frustrating because my dh doesn't like doctors. He's an anti-doctor kind of person and that's why we don't have a GP. :(

[dannii]

Hi. im no doc ..but it does sound exactly like Eczema. My daughter get its on occasions, never lasts very long. she also gets it on her face like small red 'leathery patches'.

Hers is usually due to certain weather conditions. but i know it can be certain things to set off allergies, could be some food, or even some sort soap etc... and if u have a family history of eczema probably contributed to it.

If you can't go to a doctor.. what about a health food shop? they would have natural products u could try or maybe go to a chemist ?

good luck with your little one.

[rebeccamum]

Thanks, Danii. I'm still not so sure if it's eczema but I'll talk to someone about it when we take her for immunisation next week. I just put Sorbolean cream on her face and it helps a bit, her cheeks aren't as dry as before but I still feel those leathery patches. It could be caused by weather conditions as she started to have heat rash last week when it was so hot. I thought it was just heat rash at first but it shouldn't feel dry, should it?

[nemosmum]

Hi :)

Yep it sounds like eczema and if your bubs daddy has had allergies and eczema then I would be checking her out coz it is hereditary.

Its also good to get it early, by getting it early I mean discovering whats causing her to get eczema. It could be something in the environment or food that she is allergic too, it could also be effected by the wheather.

If you are bf then it could be certain foods you are eating however if your ff then its more likely to be the environment.

My DS was diagnosed with an egg allergy and a severe dustmite allergy and since then we have followed a strict diet (me too when I was bf) and eliminated things in the environment that can effect his allergies. He no longer gets outbreaks of eczema because we now know what the causes are!

Please see a doctor about this, see what they think (dont forget to mention your DH's history with eczema). Get a referal from your gp and get your bub skin tested at an allergy clinic to determine the cause of the problem.

Theres also a good thread called "Eczema misdiagnosis" so check that out, that should help too.

Good luck and feel free to pm me any time.

Sarah and O :)

[Benandrewsmum]

Hi :)


My DS was diagnosed with an egg allergy and a severe dustmite allergy and since then we have followed a strict diet (me too when I was bf) and eliminated things in the environment that can effect his allergies. He no longer gets outbreaks of eczema because we now know what the causes are!


Sarah and O :)


Hi Sarah

You mentioned that your little bubba has a dustmite allergy...what sort of things do you do to try and alleviate this??

Cheers

[nemosmum]

Hi,

Yeah Dustmites sux lol :D

DS has no stuffed toys, except one little soft doll that is easily frozen to kill mites and then washed in hot water to get rid of them. We wash it every second day.

He has a special dust mite mattress protector, carpet is a big NO NO but at the moment we have it so we need to vacum when DS is out of the house.

His room gets the most sun, which is great for keeping mites to a minimum. When he was little he had to be covered all the time (in a cover all suit) when he was on carpet eg when he had tummy time and started crawling. We limited his exposure to carpet and wool skin rugs. Also there are no heavy curtains in his room (or in the house) instead we use vertical blinds which are cleaned often.

All these things have helped limit his exposure to dustmites and in turn he no longer gets eczema.

I hope Ive helped :)

[Benandrewsmum]

Thanks Orlandosmum

My little guy has a bit of Eczema and although he hasn't had any tests I believe that dust mites might be contributing....we are ripping out carpets up this week and putting timber flooring down......hope that helps.

My hubby and I both suffer from hayfever so it should help us too!!

Thanks for the other tips!! Where did you get the matress protector from??

Cheers

[stormanet]

Hiya :) My son has baby eczema, although very mild compared to some. When he was first diagnosed by the doctor he had a rash all over his body, torso, arms legs and it freaked me out. My doctor told me it was baby eczema and gave me some very lightweight hydrocortisone cream for the sore spots. I'd say definitely go and see a doctor who is used to dealing with babies. The other advice I have is the following things have helped us to teh point that Christopher has beautiful skin once again and just has a couple of small spots we need to keep an eye on

1. Use hardly any washing detergent. I'd recommend Amolin.
2. Double rinse all clothes.
3. Take all bath products out of the bathwater. We now use olive oil. (sounds gross but works beautifully to add moisture to the skin)
4. We use QV cream (not lotion) from the chemist. I moisturise him 4- 5 times a day. Usually at each nappy change.
5. If changing to formula from breast milk (have forgotten the age of your bub sorry) try the Karicare "sensicare" with the orangey lid. Don't automatically switch off the cows milk based formula as this can be bad advice some people give and make it harder for you later on.
6. When introducing solids give it at least 4 days between each new food so you can notice if there is a flare up. Foods to avoid at the start are tomato, wheat, and I can't remember what else.
7. Be careful of using some of the "natural" miracle cures. I tried a cream at $35 a small pot, it made his skin worse, not better.
8. Just moisturise, moisturise, moisturise!! and definitely see a doc :)

[Snugglepot]

Amolin cream works a treat for mild eczema!

[Cheyenne's*Mummy]

Cheyenne has had the same thing on her cheek for a about 4 months now, since she was 8 months old. The doctor prescribed a cream called Elidel which is great but is only put on twice a day so i have been using sorbelene during the day, to keep it moisturised as i find if i dont' it'll go dry and she scratches it, as well as bathing her cheek with a little bit of salt water after her night time bath.
We went to Wollongong for week and as it has salty air, her cheek cleared right up within a matter of 2 days.
As soon as we came back to Wagga Wagga, it flared up again, so we thought we'd try the salt water. It has never been anywhere else on her body, only that one cheek and i have also found that when she is teething badly it'll flare up and then clears up when she isnt. Im just waiting now for her teeth to EVENTUALLY come through :) to see if it may clear up a little better.
But yeh, if you can't go to a doctor, just go to a chemist, i saught there advice last week and they're a great help. ;)

[Cheyenne's*Mummy]

Well i tried the salt water on her cheek every night after he bath and it cleared right up within 2 days so have been doing every night.
Just mixed up some warm water with salt and used cotton wool balls to dab some of it on there.
Worked a treat ;)

[Mamaduke]

Just speaking of dust mites. As a child I suffered from asthma and was always coming down with colds and flu. It wasn't until I had an allergy test when I was about 17 that I found out I was allergic to dust mites. From the time I was little I had always slept under a 100% goose down quilt and goose down european pillow, but as soon as I got rid of these it changed the amount of times I was sick so drastically. Dust mites love down and feathers!!
Carly

[wattle]

Apparantly there is a disease called Slapped Cheek. I don't know what it looks like, but thought I'd mention it as it sprung to mind.

[nemosmum]

Yep Cathy its also called roseolla I think, um yeah I think thats the name it just looks like the bubs cheeks are really red. Like some one has slapped them hence the name.

Carly- that is so strange as I was told by O's Paed. at the allergy clinic that goose down bedding etc was better then polyester and other synthetics as O has dustmites.

We dont use goose down though as we have special dustmite covers for his bed etc which stop him coming in contact with the mites or their poo (which is the main cause of the allergy)

[nickosmoo]

Nicks' just been diagnosed with mild eczema around his mouth - I thought it was a spit/heat rash. The doctor recommended pawpaw cream which is all natural - the chemist stocks it and so far it seems to be working well