Question About a Weird Rash on My Son's Hands.

If it is what I get and my boys, it is the dry-air/cold winter skin eczema. I would put eczema cream on his hands CONSTANTLY.
L.

My kindergartener and several of her classmates have a similar rash. We found out that they were told to use the antibac.gel instead of washing. The alcohol-base in it was drying out their hands terribly. With vigilant moisturizing @ home (the first few times were painful), her hands got 100% better! Good luck!

Both of my kids get this as well as sometimes the kids I watch. I would bet it is the soap at schools and them not rinsing their hands. I notice this time of year especially my kids wash their hands and the soaps at school are pretty strong and they don't rinse well. Hence it dries them out and leaves a red patch and it is tender. At night I put Aquahphor and really rub it in before bedtime. By morning most of it has cleared up. Too much hand lotion can backfire and things like Aquaphor adds a layer of protection and it really absorbs in the skin. It is the dry air here too.

I have really stressed with all the hand sanitizers and soap that they need it and it has kept us all healthy, however be sparingly with it. I know both of my kids are super good about hand washing but I think if they use too hot of water, or too much soap, don't rinse well this happens almost every winter for us. I see how they hurry the rinsing process here at home so I can imagine at school.

Get him a bottle of CeraVe (you may have to ask your Pediatrician) and send it to school with him. It is moisturizing cleanser. I did for my daughter and it totally stopped the red rashy looking patches.
The soaps at school are typically industrial strength and really stress how important it is he rinses well, even see if they will let him put some good lotion like Aveno on between washing.
Good luck.

I have the same problem my hands and my daughters. My daughter washes her hands so much that they are really dried out. We use Curel or the new Gold Bond cream for extreme dryness. It seems to work the best. Hope this helps.

J.,
Sounds like when my dd got exczma (sp?). I used Mary Kay Moisturizing body lotion. She did get prescription of Elidel but that really stung... Also we noticed that she broke out in it when she was stressed, Tests at school, her father (my ex), etc.
S.

Have you tried a hydrocortisone lotion? My 3 year old daughter has been getting a dry itchy rash on her hands. It almost looks like a little red glove that wraps around her thumb and spreads over her fingers but stays close to the palm of the hand. We tried baby lotions that hurt her, and then went to the hydrocortisone lotion. So far it doesn't hurt when we put it on her. If it is very red, one coat of hydrocortisone lotion will relieve it within half a day. I hope this helps!

Hey, I'm sorry to hear that. It could be hand, foot, and mouth. I would check it out at http://www.webmd.com first to see if he has those symptoms, then maybe take him to the doc to get it checked out. Webmd also has a lot of other rash info so I'd look into some others. I hope this helps and good luck!

Does he have any other rough patches? My daughter's skin was like that around her joints and in creases and she has Eczema. Her rashes would get so bad that sometimes her skin would split... it's very sad. The best thing her nurse recommended was Hydracortisone. I put it on a couple of times a day and the rash would go away pretty quickly. Good luck to you and your poor little guy.

Is it dry and scaly? It might be dermatitis or eczema. You might want to show it to your pediatrician. He/She probably will suggest alternating Eucerin (or store brand equivalent, such as Rite Aid's), which comes in ointment or cream version, and a prescription topical steriod ointment to speed healing. Also, if you can find the little white cotton gloves (often at Dollar Tree), it helps a lot to apply ointment and then put on the gloves at bedtime. This is worth seeing your doctor about--it probably won't go away by itself and regular lotions containing fragrances, etc., will sting like crazy. Best of luck.

I have the same thing, I get it every winter. I use Triple Cream from the makers of Triple Paste. It is unscented and stays around even after I wash my hands. If it gets really bad, I will put a ton of it on before I go to bed and then put on a pair of thin gloves, in the morning it is much better. Things to avoid - long baths, dishes (esp. w/o gloves), going out in the wind and cold w/o gloves, and scented lotions. Good luck, it does get better. Also, my husband and I also have a humidifier running in our house all winter and that helps my dry skin too.

My daughter gets it too, and she just needs constant lotion. I have her put it on right before she leaves for school, right when she gets home from school, and before she goes to bed. I even put aquaphor on top of the lotion at bed time. That seems to really help her.

It sounds kind of like very dry skin, which can start to crack. The perfumed lotions just make it burn and can cause more skin irritation. And most lotions have perfume, even if they aren't the fancy "scent" perfumes. (I had this problem with my last pregnancy, and it go so rashy that I thought I had scabies).

I would get the cetaphil wash and use that to clean his hands most of the time. You can use it without water, unless his hands are really dirty. Then use cetaphil cream or eurcerine lotion - both are perfume free and good for really dry skin.

If they don't clear up soon it won't hurt to have a doctor check his hands, just to be safe.

Hi J.,
My entire family has this problem! It happens to us when our hands get really dry, so keeping them lotioned up will help preven this but now that you've got it you need to deal with it. We use Aveeno for dry/eczima skin and if it burns or stings alittle when we put it on the kids we make sure its rubbed in really well and then just blow on their hands until the stinging stops. Its the alcohol in the lotion that is causing the burning. You can try and find a lotion that doesn't have any alcohol in it, most facial lotions won't.

When my son developed this at school I started sending lotion in his back pack and his teachers called me and told me that it can also be caused by NOT drying your hands completely. Leaving them slightly wet and letting them air dry will cause this too. So you might make sure his hands are getting dried off well after he washes them.

My husband likes to slather his hands in Crisco and wear first aid gloves all day to help when his hands start cracking like that. We have seen that it gets worse in the winter than the summer too. Well I hope I've helped, good luck!

C.

Our doctor recommends Vanicream, and I love it. We also use Gentle Naturals Baby Eczema Cream. I like it better than Aquaphor, and it doesn't burn. It could just be dry skin given the time of year and extra hand washing from cold and flu season. GL!

I had a similar rash once. Bright red, with little tiny bumps only on my hands. Turned out that one of my roommates was using a deep heating rub that I was allergic to, and then touching things that I later touched.