22 answers

Itchy Hands and Feet??

For the past couple of weeks, my 3 year old son wakes up in the middle of the night scratching the bottoms of his feet and the palms of his hands. He can't sleep because he is so itchy. I can't understand what it may be. I give him baths with mild baby wash, I rub lotion on his body after baths and before bed. I haven't changed any of my soaps or detergents. He has no rash, red areas, or anything abnormal on his hands or feet. He doesn't even seem to have dry skin. Has anyone else experiences this?? I heard of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Could it be that??

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So What Happened?™

Thanks for all of the great advice, ladies!! I realized that it could be eczema, as I also suffer with this horrible disease. I am lactose intolerant, which only causes the exzema to worsen. So....I decided to switch my son to Soy products. He has been drinking soy milk and eating soy cheese and yogurt. Hopefully, this will help. He hasn't been complaining about the itching lately. Wish me luck!! :)

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Well, here's a new one to consider: blocked bile duct causing an elevated belirubin (sp?) level. See the doc.

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With hand, foot and mouth they get actual sores. My daughter had it in her mouth and they run a fever. I would think that he has an allergy to something. I have a food allergy and we did not relize how many things it is in until my reactions escalated to mouth swelling and difficulty breathing. I used to get really itchy on my legs and feet, like scratching until the skin was raw, this was after I ate something that had coconut in it. My first guess would be a food allergy, I would make an appointment with my pedi and ask about a referral to an allergist.

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my 7 year old would "itch all over" every night when she was in bed. come to find out she is highly sensitive (not allergic) to wheat, egg and cow's milk. i was stunned. i thought she might have a sensitivity to dairy, but when the results from the blood test came back, they showed that egg and wheat were even worse than dairy. ever since we TEMPORARILY (60-90 day program) took her off of all cows milk/gluten/eggs, she has not itched at all. in hindsight, we realize she had headaches and tummy discomfort too that have since disappeared. every person has different sensitivities to food, it's just a matter of getting a bloodtest to figure it out. since my daughter had actual symptoms to justify the test, we had no problem with insurance coverage.
if you are at all interested, her doctor is Dr. Park-Davis out in West Bloomfield. she is fantastic with children and is a regular MD who also practicesh alternative medicine.

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With hand, foot and mouth they get actual sores. My daughter had it in her mouth and they run a fever. I would think that he has an allergy to something. I have a food allergy and we did not relize how many things it is in until my reactions escalated to mouth swelling and difficulty breathing. I used to get really itchy on my legs and feet, like scratching until the skin was raw, this was after I ate something that had coconut in it. My first guess would be a food allergy, I would make an appointment with my pedi and ask about a referral to an allergist.

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My 6 y/o daughter has been having a similar issue with itching. My DR. suggested I give her Benedryl before bedtime. I have also been putting a hydrocortisone cream on the specific spots (tops of legs, small of back)- but very lightly. I have also been trying to "lube her up" after bath time with a lotion. She has not been complaining as much, but she was also very sick last week w/ viral phryngitis - which consisted of a high fever for over 5 days. Her itchiness was much worse last week, but I can relate as she was very upset by the itching and had a very difficult time sleeping due to it.

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I am not sure if it is hand and mouth. However, here are few things. Does he drink water? Half his body weight in ounces is the ideal amount. Also, Omega fish oils are also good for dry skin.

What it boils down to is that something is going on inside his body for him to have this reaction.

Do you use soaps, washing detergents, lotions, etc that have fragrances? If so he may be alergic to the fragrances in those products.

M.

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R.,

If it were hand, foot and mouth disease your little guy would have red blister type spots all over the palms of his hands, the soles of his feet and around his mouth. It's horrible! My children have unfortunately been through this one before.

It sounds like he's allergic to something. It could be a change in food or even laundry detergent. You can give him a little benadryl to relieve the itching until you're able to determine the cause. My son can pet our cat but washes his hands right afterwards because if he rubs his eyes they will swell up.

If you can't figure out what's causing the reaction I would suggest you take him to your pediatrician.

Good luck and hang in there!

C.

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Well, here's a new one to consider: blocked bile duct causing an elevated belirubin (sp?) level. See the doc.

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It could possibly be excema. If it was hand, foot, mouth disease he would have blisters all over. In his mouth, they would be all over his tongue, and cheeks. They are paiinful in the mouth and it is VERY contagious. Good luck with figuring it out.

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R.,

My 4yr old had the itchy feet thing for awhile (but not the hands). I took her to a dermatoligist & they said she had "sweaty feet syndrom" & gave her every cream under the sun...because none of them were working?? He then wanted to give her an oral med. which she took only once because she said it tasted so bad. Nothing was really helping her & I felt so sorry for her...every night she would wake up in such discomfort! I was treating her for something else with a "home remedy" which you just happen to use on the bottom of their feet and what do you know...it worked! I was using garlic & olive oil every night and her problem went away...when i figured it out it was really just the olive oil that worked. I would put it on the bottom of her feet and then put socks on her for the night and we have not had any problems since. I don't know if it will work for you but it doesn't hurt to try the natural stuff. All their fancy creams just made her worse??
Good Luck,
D. N.

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