Chicken Skin

I have 3 kids with eczema and what you're describing certainly sounds like it. I'll pass on one tip I got that has been great for my kids. When I get them out of the bath, before you dry them off at all & they are sopping wet, I put baby oil all over them. It seals in the moisture which is really important for eczema. Then I pat them down just a bit to get the excess water off and then I use the Eucerin all over them. I do this even when they don't have flare ups and it seems to prevent them a lot of the time. If we go without for awhile, they flare up within a few days.

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M.,

Hi there! Sorry to hear about the little one's skin issues. I work for a Pediatric Dermatopathologist (one who specializes in children's skin diseases). There are SO many rashes and different kinds to boot. If the rash persists or recurs, I would recommend seeing a dermatologist. It could be eczema or just a dermatitis, but whatever it is, could be treated by a dermatologist directly.

The dermatologists at Children's are wonderful and I highly recommend them.

Good luck,
J.

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Both of my kids have excema and one thing I've found I have to be careful of is over bathing. If I gave them a bath every day it made it worse.

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Ask your doctor if it could be Keratosis Pilaris (sp?). It is commonly called chicken skin. It is heraditaty and there really is no treatment. It does better by keeping the skin clean and well moisturized. I hope this helps.

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Hi M.,
Eczema is the first sign of an allergic reaction. It is called the asthmatic triad:
Eczema
Ear & Nose issues (running, ear infections, tugging on ears, etc.)
Asthma

My littlest at 4 mo. had the same type rash (chicken skin is a perfect way to describe it. The "dr.'s" kept calling it baby acne, and after 5 otherbabies I knew it wasn't baby acne. I tried a concoction of olive oil & boiled oatmeal, ezcema oil & such. Nothing helped until I took dairy completley out of my diet. SInce your little one is older & i'm assuming not BF you should try a diet diary. removing 1 allergen (wheat, soy, dairy) at a time. Once the skin has cleared up try re-introducing each allergen 1 at a time. Then when symptoms reappear you will know which is the culprit & be able to remove that from her diet.

To keep her comfortable in the meantime I recommend trying Arbonne's Abc baby oil &/or baby lotion to help make her comfortable.

Hope everything works out. Warmest regards, G

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That's exactly what happened to my nephew until we found out he was allergic to eggs. Food allergies often present themselves in the form of excema and sometimes it can get pretty bad. I'm surprised this wasn't your doctor's first instinct as it is really common. Has he been introduced to any new foods recently?

two of my three children have BAD eczema, they have both had it since they were about 6 mos. old and my daughter is now almost ten so we have been doing this for a while. My husband's cousin is the doctor who first diagnosed my daughter and he said first not to bathe every day, second use no lotion, it has ingredients in it that cause rebound dryness. I was told to put oil on them at least twice a day, plant oils are the best, he said even plain cooking oil works great. The molecules in mineral oil are not small enough to be absorbed by skin so it sits on top and the skin cant breath. I have tried tons of products and the ones that have worked the best with out irritating the skin and making my kiddos cry are the Arbonne baby products. The baby wash is not drying then you put on the oil and then you cover that in the diaper cream, sounds crazy, works like a dream. It will be white and sticky but just put a pair of long pj's on and in the am things will feel better. If you would like to ask me questions feel free to email me ____@____.com

If she has excema it will never go away. You can find out if she has a mild food allergy. My husband has psoriasis and it sounds a little bit like that with the patches that flair up. She needs to have omega-3 you can give her that with flax seed oil or fish oil, etc. There is also cereal in the health foods section that has omega-3 in it. We've also found for a natural cure for my husband that zinc pills, which your daughter is to young to take, but for later, Mentholatum rubbed on , or mineral oil rubbed on will calm it down and almost take it away.

Hope this is helpful.

My middle son was diagnosed with excema. Your description does sound like it but we never had it that severe. I was told the flare ups are usually caused by an allergy, and almost always are associated with asthma. The 3 are usually associated, so that's something to watch. We were prescribed a steroid cream because he just gets patches randomly over his body and not in one big area. That is the only thing that works for his spots, but again, they are smaller areas. Good luck.

My kids get some eczema bumps and I have had good luck with Paula's Choice products. You can get them at www.paulaschoice.com. They are no-frills and fragrance-free and there is a section of suggestions for eczema treatment (both general and using her products, which have all ingredients listed and are ideal for sensitive skin) on her site. You have to stop the itch cycle so the skin can heal, and then keep skin very moiturized with a bit of a chemical exfollient. I agree with the other moms that it's worthwhile to consider a possible allergy. Best wishes!

All the other suggestions sound great. My family has lots of different kinds of allergies, and the first thing I would do is to eliminate milk for a week or two. My sons (in their 20's) still do not drink cow's milk, but can have cheese and yogurt. Rice milk has been a great substitute. If you do go back to milk, use organic milk. The levels of antibiotics in conventional milk vary and the presence of these can cause allergic reactions.

Laundry is the other area where I have made changes to help. I can only use perfume free and "allergy free" detergents, and now that I have a high efficiency washer, I have to use half the recommended amount of soap. There are online recipes to make laundry soap. We use white vinegar as a rinse agent---fabric softeners cause me to break out. You can get these softener balls to put in the dryer, that have no chemicals.

My son Kai was born two days before your daughter. Oct 29 07.

I have been using Renue lotion for a few months now and it is was clinically proven better than Euricin. My husband and I love it. My sister's son has dry dry sking too, only his was itchy and she would scratch with his little nails and bleed. I helped my sister set up her account with the only online store that sells the Renue lotion. If you want more information, it sounds like the another answer a few down can get some for you, or I would be happy to help you too.

I just wanted to add my assurance that Renue works great.

S.
www.HomeWithKai.com

My son had the same problems. I use Dove soap on him that has Shea butter in it and lathered on the Eucerin cream a few times a day. Limit the time in the water this will dry the skin out more. Try running a humidifier at night and during nap time to keep extra moisture in the air.

Both my children has severe excema, even to the point of bleeding. We were involved in a local research study which gave us lots of information and resources. As a mom and an RN I would recommend switching to Cetaphil soaps and lotions instead of the eucerin. it is less greasy, absorbs better and helped much more. Additionally, although oatmeal is often recommended, it is actually frequently a cause of excema and other skin conditions so I would recommend stopping the oatmeal baths. Use the cetaphil twice daily, even when you don't see redness and apply lotion to still moist skin.

my nephew had similar symptoms. They ended up doing allergy test to find milk/dairy/egg allergies. Just a thought.

Eczema is hard to treat and keep away and comes and goes often. You may have to break down and use the cream only when she has bad flares. You might also consider testing her for allergies (eczema, allergies- both environmental and food- and asthma usually go hand in hand- my family has lots of all of these!!!). It is not worth the discomfort if just lotion is not working...that's what steroid creams are for. Eczema is painful and itchy (it's not just dry skin like lots of people think...mine cracks and bleeds if I don't get it taken care of fast) and can quickly get out of control if it is not taken care of early in the flare! Before going to the MD for stronger stuff, I would try 1% Hydrocortisone cream (it's over the counter) first, but ONLY use it on very dry, itchy areas twice a day...other than that, keep doing what you are doing with the lotions (make sure to give her 1-2 baths per day (some will tell you that dries you out more, but as long as you put the lotion on right after, it will actually help) and as soon as she is out, pat her dry and put lotion (Eucerin and Vanicream are the two suggested...some babies don't do well with baby oil) all over and hydrocortisone on the worst areas right away (called soak-and-seal)! That may help too! Good luck getting it under control. Mine spreads each time to different areas and the steroid creams I started with no longer work, so I have tried almost all of them with no adverse affects and my son is currently on Hydrocortisone 2.5%...so if you see her stop responding, don't be afraid to go the the MD and ask for something different...it should be HER comfort/health over YOUR concerns about the creams/lotions. It's not like she uses it everyday all over her body...just when she's miserable with a flare!

Hi M.,
One thing I didn't see on any other response was it is possible this could be a virus. My son has sadly picked up a few of these strange skin rashes. In his 5 years of life, he's had a good 3 probably. They started on his trunk and moved to arms, neck and legs. They weren't itchy, it just looked horrible. They looked like red / orange patches of bumps, almost similar to ring worm, but my dr. confirmed that it wasn't. Twice is was pytiriosis rosea ( I am sure that is not the correct spelling ). Anyhow, the last time he got it, it took close to 2 months to go away. I am sure people thought he had chicken pox or something, but in time they slowly faded away and he's fine now. My son's started in one area on his arm (it really did look like a huge dry patch or ringworm), and then about 2 weeks later spread quickly around his body.
I can't remember if he had cold symptoms or not, but my dr. has told me that sometimes when a child gets a cold virus, it can come out through their skin.
Anyhow, not sure if this is what it is or not, but wanted to let you know that it is possible that it could be a virus.
Good luck to you!

My son had a bad case of excema. We tried so many things but nothing seemed to work. Finally I started giving him fish oil, and putting emu oil on his skin. Now he is totally excema free.

I would take her to an allergist. They can prescribe something for the rashes. Also give her some benedryl. This will help a lot with the flare up. You should also look into getting the Arbonne Baby Care line. It is all natural and it works great. I have to use it on my 4 year old because he very bad eczema.

It does sound like eczema. Keep a food diary and see if out breaks are due to diet. It can also be caused by environmental allergies. Our son used to have it very severely until we went to National Jewish. They recommend a 10-15 minute bath once or twice a day, depending on severity. If once, do it at the end of the day to wash all irritants off the skin. At the very end of the bath, use Dove or Ivory (unscented) and rinse off immediately. We use shampoo immediately after and take our son out immediately. Towel dry slightly and cover with Vanicream -- you can get it most any pharmacy just by asking. We then let him sleep in jammies that hold the moisture in. It has cured his eczema. He still has to be on oral allergy meds, but we're no longer using meds to contain or treat the eczema. The Vanicream has no meds in it, it is just lotion. We have also used Gentle Naturals products, but they were not as good. The docs at National Jewish (at least ours) seem to be open to other treatments and not always just steroids. We've been pleased with our care there, although I have had to give in on some things I would prefer not to use as other alternatives have not worked for us. It sounds like your daughter's skin isn't to bad, so if you treat it now, you should be fine. GL!

Cure childhood excema with probiotics>

http://www.babybites.info/2009/02/24/probiotics-healthy-k...

All three of my kids have really sensitive skin and bumps. I just got a water softener and it went away.

My daughter had excema and it turns out she is allergic to dairy. I am nursing and I stoppped eating any dairy and her rashes went away. I also do not use Johnson's baby wash. Her skin is too sensitive. I use nature's baby organic stuff and very sparingly.

There are tons of natural products out there, one of my favorite lines is alphacura. I used their spray for ringworm once and it is totally gone.

http://www.herbalremedies.com/psoriasis-gone.html

They are expensive for such a little bottle, but that little bottle did the job. Or you can search alphabetically under ailments.

What you're describing sounds exactly like my 22mo old son's symptoms and it is tough to deal with... he has had excema since he was 4 months old and we're just figuring out it may be caused by a milk/dairy allergy. Excema is considered an immune system reaction and is often associated with some kind of allergy... did you change laundry soap or softener? Had you added any new foods into your daughter's diet around the time her skin flared up? Just some things to think through -- it's just pointless and frustrating to chase symptoms with creams, etc. if she is being repeatedly exposed to an allergen causing the reaction.

All the creams and washes we've tried really don't make much of a difference for my son. The only time his skin has been clear was two weeks ago when he had a stomach virus and was on a clear liquid diet for 3 days. It was so nice to see his skin healthy.

Also, you might try adding Barlean's Omega Swirl Fish Oil supplement -- it's lemon cream flavor and my kiddos love it. Good luck!

Stay away from mineral oils (like traditional baby oil) and be wary of Vanicream -- it has BHT which is a known toxic cosmetic additive.

DEFINITELY give Renew Lotion from Melaleuca a try!! I LOVE this stuff! Its been clinically proven to work 7 times better than Eucerin for dry skin, and you only have to apply it once a day instead of 2-4 times. Its non greasy, has a nice mild scent and WORKS awesome! My baby probably would have excema if I didn't have this lotion - whenever I notice him getting a dry patch I just apply the lotion and it gets it to go right back to soft baby skin in a day or two. Also, my hubby gets patches of excema on his legs and feet, and of course he always lets it get completely dry, raw, and cracking before he does anything for it... well, even when its cracking the Renew heals it right up in 4-6 days of one application a day. This stuff is AWESOME!! If you are interested, I can even help you get it for free, just send me a message!

Organic coconut oil is hands down the best treatment for eczema.

test for allergies. My son is allergic to oats! So watch out for that.

she should take luke-warm baths often....but don't use soap. air dry or lightly pat dry. coconut oil within 3 minutes of getting out of the bath.

more coconut oil in the "trouble areas" every time you change her diaper.

when you do need to clean her, use Cetaphil instead of soap. It's amazing! You can get it at any grocery store.

keep her nails clipped short all the time. She will scratch in her sleep...even if it makes her bleed she'll keep scratching. some people resort to making their kids sleep with tube socks on their hands.

Benedryl makes a spray-on that's supposed to relieve itching. I haven't tried it.

Some kids outgrow their eczema at age 3. or age 10. I think most just learn how to keep it under control.

Hi M.,
Poor thing. You are wise to question what you put on her skin since it is quickly in her blood stream. I'd be happy to hook you up with some Renew lotion. I've had several people have good luck within a few days with it. The other thing I'd encourage you to do is look at the water you are bathing her in. Tap water definitely has issues and chemicals that can irritate her skin. Also, if you are using water to mix formula you want to consider where that is coming from too. I've written some articles on environmental toxins and the impact on health, plus some articles on how to be a good consumer when comparing water systems. livinghealthiernow.com has lots of info, articles and research on it. Let me know if you want any additional info on the systems I personal use and like.
Good luck.
S.

My son has extreme cases of eczema on his face, arms and legs. It can show up almost instantaniously and heat, dogs, and smoke seem to bring it on really fast. We have been to all kinds of doctors(allergy, pediatrician, etc.) but finally found the best dermatologist! Her name is Tara Burton. She is at Summit Dermatology. http://www.summitdermatology.com/bio_burton.php
The best lotion and wash that we have found is CeraVe, and believe me, we have tried them ALL!!! You can get CeraVe lotion, cream and wash so it is great for everything. You can get CeraVe at Walgreens and use as often as you can. It helps recreate the protective layer of the skin so not only does it take the itch and redness away, it actually heals the skin so it doesn't come back so easily. Another key to keep up with the eczema is to bathe daily, and when they get out of the bath, blot them off, and immediately cover them with lotion from head to toe. That helps seal the moisture from the bath, into their skin. Good luck and email me if you have any questions...we have really tried everything! :-)

I would try to remember what she ate the day it happened. It seems like it occured quickly which tells me it's not excema. MD's only look at the symptoms and then prescribe the appropriate medication for those symptoms and their not always right. If it is excema that is an auto immune disease which means her immune system is compromised and needs to be addressed. If it's an allergy that is also an auto immune disorder so I would work on her immune system. My kids develop dry skin during the windy winter months and I use Gentle Naturals baby excema cream. If I remember, I found it at target and I'm sure Burt's Bees has a lotion that will work great. Also don't forget about things like carpet or new clothes that contain chemicals or anything else she might have come in contact with that she normally doesn't. She may have been exposed to things before but for some reason she is now having an adverse reaction.

Hi M.
My now 11 month old daughter had the same symptoms as you are mentioning although she only had it on her face and upper body. I tried alot of different things (aveno, cetaphil, burt's bees, baby oil, etc.). What it came down to for us was realizing she had food sensitivity and we also used California Baby Calendula Cream. She was very sensitive to formulas (I had problems with breast feeding and was unable to continue) and also different baby foods. We just had to add foods slowly and see if there was any reaction. One of my friends told me about the Calendula Cream and I fell in love with it! Literally within a few hours of putting it on, my daughters face was easily 80% better and by the next day it was completely clear. I know it all depends on your child though and it looks like there are a lot of good suggestions here, I hope one of them helps you and your little one!

Is it possible she is allergic to something? Sometimes excema is a sign of an allergy. Has her diet changed at all? My daughter would also have breakouts of really dry skin. I found Cetaphil (tub) to be GREAT.

I would strongly suggest that you try Renew lotion by Melaleuca. It is all natural, very effective and safe for children! Melaleuca carries over 300 products that are safer and more economical for your family. Check them ____@____.com you have any questions, please feel free to call me! :)

Usually these things are a manifestation of an allergy. Ask your doc for some antihistamine rx and see if that doesn't help. :D