Face Rash

[Shirale]

Hi,
My dd (7 mo) suddenly has a rash on one side of her face, I don't know exactly what it is from, possibly a food allergy, possibly exsema and my question is has anyone experianced this and what types of creams has anyone used that would help with this? I will call my Ped, but sometimes experianced moms know remedies...thanks!

[egoldber]

My ped usually recommends a little hydrocortisone. What does the rash look like? Is your baby drooling or teething? Sarah was drooling a lot at that age, and when she drools, she often gets a little rash (small red bumps) around her face. My ped actually said it was a form of contact dermatitis where the irritant is actually baby's own saliva! She is really prone to this if it has been hot. I would call your ped in the morning, but unless the rash is accompanied by diarrhea and vomiting, it's probably not a food allergy.

HTH,

[kerriflan]

My dd developed a red rash on her face at 4 weeks old. I thought it might be baby acne but it was really bad...all over her face and head and neck. I was very concerned so I took her to the the Pediatrician and she said it was eczema. She said to use hydrocortisone, but only once a day because it thins out the skin if you use it too much. She also said to use Eucerin and/or Aquafor. The hydrocortisone cleared it up pretty fast. She is now 3 months old and I use the Eucerine and Aquafor as maintenance because her skin tends to be dry and when she has the occasional red bumbs I use the hydrocortisone. It's worked out pretty well so far.

I would still take your baby to the doctor to confirm what it is, incase it is a food allergy or some other kind of rash. But it sounds like eczema to me. Good luck!

Kerri

[kls]

I'll start with this: Whatever you do, DO NOT use hydrocortisone or ANY steroid on a babies face, unless prescribed with specific instructions.

I am the husband of kls, and she asked me to answer this question. I just finished a pediatrics rotation in my MD training, and rashes are about 30% of all patient complaints we saw.

First off: watch what soaps/cleansers you use on the babies face. We see often what is what we call "Johnson and Johnson Rash"....funny because about 90% of parents bringing their children to the pediatricians office with a new rash have been using a Johnson and Johnson product on their babies skin. When they switch brand names, the rash disappears! Unless the baby is VERY dirty, you DONT need to wash a babies face with soap at every bathtime: a wet rag will do, with soap about once a week (same with babies hair!). Their skin is much more sensative than ours, and they need their natural oils to protect their fragile skin.

About steroid use on the face: unless a doctor prescribes a steroid cream or gel, DO NOT use this on a rash on a babies face. Although hydrocortisone is a relatively weak steroid, any steroid can cause discoloration of the skin (yes, its reversable with time- a long time). This is ESPECIALLY true with african american babies or babies with more pigment in their skin (although white babies are affected as well).

If your baby has eczema, he/she needs to been seen by a doctor. Without a family history of allergies/eczema/asthma, it is unlikely that this "new" rash on the face is eczema (although irritant contact dermatitis is a type of eczema).

There are 2 rules in dermatology based on skin conditions:

1) Dry skin you keep moist (i.e. eczema)

2)Wet skin/blisters you keep dry (i.e. poison ivy)

The first thing you need to do is get a correct diagnosis by visiting your doctor. Change or reduce the frequency with which you wash you babies face and see if the rash disappears.

Hope this helps....hard to diagnose a rash without seeing it. But this is the most common scenario.

[princess_m]

It might also be 'prickly heat'. That happened to my dd when his head got too hot from a fleece cap and again recently from the hot weather (his head gets hot and sweats a lot). Same ointment as other suggested was recommended from my ped - hydrocortisone

[megsmom]

My daughter developed a rash on her face that very much resembled ezcema when she was about 3 months old. From birth, I had only used Dove sensitive skin soap (cheaper and no scents) on her but thought it would be okay to use a tiny bit of the Johnson's baby shampoo sample I got from the hospital on her hair. I stopped using the shampoo and the rash cleared immediately. I would agree that you don't need to use soap on the your little one's face, just water and a washcloth will do. From time to time, my daughter has gotten some chapping from drool and a slight bit of Aquaphor or Cetaphil lotion has worked well. This was more problamatic in the winter with dry weather but we've had no problems since the summer.

It's not a bad idea to get any rash checked out with your pediatrician since there's lots of things it could be.

[sntm]

I totally agree with the above. Not only could it be dangerous to use a topical steroid like hydrocortisone, it could complicate the diagnosis when you do get to the doctor. Same goes for yeast-like rashes unless they have been diagnosed already.



shannon (surgery resident)
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever