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View Full Version : So do you wanna play Name that Rash?



s_gosney
05-11-2004, 10:31 AM
Who needs pediatricians when we have the BBB? :)
Kylee has a mysterious skin issue that I need help with. A week and a half ago, she made a mess on her clothes at daycare, and I hadn't replaced her extra outfit there, so they had to put something on her that they had there. That evening I noticed tiny little pink bumps that were slightly raised all over her chest. I figured it was probably just the detergent they had used which was odd because Kylee has never had any detergent issues. We had a well baby visit the next day, so I asked the ped about it and he said that he thought it was just dry skin, that detergent gets blamed a lot of times, but he's not convinced that it's really an issue. Since then, the rash has grown to be basically all over. Her forehead looks like it's peeling and her face has some areas that are really raw. She keeps scratching at it, so sometimes I think it must itch, but she also scratches me and the couch too, so she may just be experimenting with how things feel. I'm not sure. I've had several ideas of what it might be (and several well-meaning grandmas and great grandmas telling me what it is :P). Since Kylee really started crawling recently, I thought that perhaps it really is dry skin that is just getting irritated by rubbing against the carpet. Or I thought maybe it was a food allergy. I don't really know what a food allergy looks like I guess. The only foods she's had though are bananas, peaches, and applesauce, so none of those are very allergenic. She did have a couple of zwieback toast things though, and I noticed that those have wheat flour and sugar in them. Could that be the culprit? My sister was allergic to sugar when she was a baby. I looked into both hand, foot, and mouth disease (she doesn't have bumps on her hands or feet really) and roseola (she did run a fever, but she also had immunizations and ear infections in this time; plus the description made it seem like it should already have gone away; and I heard that you don't get roseola on face?). I've thought that maybe the part on her forehead is her cradle cap spreading. And her face is more raw than the rest of her body because she's been drooling and having a runny nose, both of which she insists on rubbing all over her entire face. So, I've just been putting Eucerin all over. I don't really know what else to do, but I'm ready for this to go away. Thanks for reading this novel and thanks for any suggestions!

amp
05-11-2004, 11:34 AM
I don't know much about food allergies, or any allergic rashes for that matter, but my first thought was eczema (which my son has and it sounded slightly similar to Kylee's) and my second thought was heat rash. I don't know if either of those sound remotely like what you are seeing. www.askdrsears.com is a great site for trying to identify rashes. They have pics you can refer to if you have any idea what you think it might be. Good luck!

s_gosney
05-11-2004, 01:56 PM
Hmmm...I checked out dr sears w/o much success. It seems like rashes are even hard for doctors to diagnose. Here are a couple of pics that I took.
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/5881.jpg
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/5882.jpg

The redness is little tiny raised bumps. Her skin does feel really really dry too. I guess I'm going to go on assuming it's dry skin/eczema possibly aggravated by a food allergy. It will be impossible to know though if the rash just went away on its own or if it went away because I didn't give her any more wheat.
I really wish my instruction book for this little creature would hurry up and arrive. It's about 6 1/2 months past due! :)

Momof3Labs
05-11-2004, 03:02 PM
It's a long shot, but it could be a contact rash from crawling on the carpeting, either from the carpet itself or from something you have used to clean the carpet (or from something on the carpet at daycare). I only mention this because you said she is newly crawling but it would probably only make sense if she crawls in a diaper only sometimes.

s_gosney
05-11-2004, 03:09 PM
Lori-
The carpet issue had crossed my mind, as she does crawl in just a diaper sometimes. If that's the case, is there anything I can do? Will it go away eventually? I can't imagine having to spend the next however many months asking everyone we visit "What kind of carpet is this? Kylee is allergic to carpet with X fibers in it."
Someone had mentioned that febreeze makes an allergen reducing spray that I could maybe spray all over, but she's sure to injest some amount of it from touching it and probably licking the carpet knowing her. Or do I just put out as large of a blanket as I can and keep moving her back on it?

amp
05-11-2004, 03:27 PM
Sherri - I'm still leaning toward eczema. Has she had it before? My DS has it (we asked about the rash at around his 2-4 mth well baby check). We use Elidel for it (prescription) and it works very well. He also had it on his scalp, and at first we thought it was cradle cap (since I've never seen that before). The ped assured us that that was also eczema. So, just a thought since you mentioned Kylee having cradle cap and having the rash spreading down her forehead. That's what happened with Jake. And eczema can itch, although I haven't notice that being an issue with Jake. And it does feel rough and dry to the touch. And dryness can exacerbate it. So, if you haven't already, I would ask your ped when you can. Until then, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. And keep bathing to a minimum and with water that isn't too hot. Good luck!

And when you get the owner's manual, can you send me a copy? Mine was obviously lost in the mail.

stillplayswithbarbies
05-12-2004, 11:45 PM
Logan had a rash like that when she was 5 months old. The ped ruled out roseola since she did not have a fever, and Fifth Disease since her cheeks were not red. He finally termed it a "benign viral rash" and said it would go away. After a few days, it went away.

It looked exactly like the rash in your pic.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

starrynight
05-13-2004, 01:15 AM
Has she crawled in the grass at all? My 2 yr old has eczema and that is exactly what she used to look like if she crawled in the grass. Sunblock used to break her out like that also she has since outgrown the grass allergy.

It might be a food allergy, I would hold off on the zweiback for a few days and wait for the rash to clear up, if it clears up and then you reintroduce the zweiback and it comes back then you have the culprit. If it doesn't clear up and or reintroing the zweiback has no effect it's something else.

s_gosney
05-13-2004, 03:10 PM
Well, the rash seems to be clearing up now, but her forehead still looks all scalely and peely. And her skin is dry all over. She's still crawling on the carpet, so I guess that's not it. She hasn't been in any grass, though I was allergic to grass as a child, so it won't surprise me if she is too.
The more I think about it though, the rash started the day before we went to the ped, so that's before the shots and before the zwieback, but it definitely got much worse after. Do I just assume it's a virus and go on or do I keep her off of wheat? I guess it's just a big guessing game, huh?