Son's Extremely Sensitive Skin -- Reality Check

While my son often as a red ring around his mouth, I think getting it all the time from foods could indicate an allergy and I would talk to his ped. For my son, his issue seems to be that he licks his lips,but also the skin around the outside of them, and it becomes chapped. We treat with rose salve or coconut oil.

Many children and adults have skin like this. I'm a very pale redhead. I've never outgrown those extreme sensitivities, and have in fact acquired more as I age, including fairly severe rosacea, but have learned to cope.

My daughter (brunette who can tan but also freckles) had some of those same fruit sensitivities as a child, but outgrew them.

Please help your son learn to take care of his vulnerable skin. I still have to wear wide-brimmed sunhats and long sleeves/long pants in the summer (sensitive to sunscreens); have had pre-cancerous spots removed because I didn't have appropriate sun protection as a child. I seek out and wear only soft fabrics with gentle seams; comfort is way more important to me than fashion. I avoid many foods because they cause skin, digestive, and/or joint irritation.

I suggest that this is more extreme than usual. I urge you to talk with his pediatrician. Sounds like he is allergic to certain foods. How are you treating his exzema? If he hasn't been seen by a doctor I urge you to take him. If he has allergies his condition will only get worse over time unless you deal with the allergies.

http://www.nationaleczema.org/
This is the link for the National Eczema Organization.

my dd isn't overly fair, but she has sensitive skin and breaks out over everything. I use straight zinc oxide as a sunscreen and make a mixture of vaseline, zinc oxide, !% hydrocortisone, and benedryl cream for her eczema.

Her skin has toughened up as she gets older

One thing that has helped us tremendously is a daily antihistamine (she takes prescription Zyrtec). My daughter started exhibiting food sensitivities and eczema as soon as we started introducing her to food at age 7 or 8 months. She grew out of most of them by age 5 or 6, but she still can't have any cocoa products, even creams, or cantaloupe. She's 11 now.

After trying every "natural" product on the market, we now use 2 different types of (prescription) cortisone creams for her skin (one is gentler and for her face). She does fine with petroleum products (vaseline was our go-to before she started the cortisone), but reacts to any kind of essential oil. We also have to switch back and forth between Aveeno and Eucerin lotions, as she tends to develop a sensitivity to one after we use it for a while. Oatmeal baths help a lot in the winter, I just wrap about a cup of oatmeal in a washcloth and rubber band it shut and put it inthe water. She also uses the cloth to apply the glutinous-like stuff that "oozes" out of the cloth.

And every year she gets a mysterious rash on her face, and this year it made her eyes swell, so she is using steroid drops in her eyes for a while. Because her reactions range from red skin to her eyes swelling shut, we also always keep an epi-pen at hand.

This fall we started Vitamin D (5000 iu) and a B-complex in the morning with her antihistamine and I have seen a marked improvement in her skin overall. Multi vitamins didn't do any for her, but this combo seems to work for her.

It's trial and error, mostly.

I agree 1000% percent with Diane! No one should react to anything natural. Something else is going on with his system. He needs to get healthy, at a baseline that can be measured to see where everything is going awry. Non processed foods, a removal of synthetic chemicals from the home also and a good absorbable multivitamin would help too.

Hope this helps,
M.

It is called oral allergy syndrome and is because certain foods are very similar in biology to other plants that my daughter is seasonally allergic to. Once cooked she can eat them. She cannot eat many raw veggies or fruits but can have the same things cooked (or processed like fruit cups of pears but not s fresh pear). It is not dangerous since oral allergy syndrome does not cause anaphylactic shock but still annoying since the bumps in her mouth sometimes itch, and she really likes some of the good that she can no longer have. The irritation lasts maybe half an hour our so and then clears up.

Sounds like allergies to me too. Have you seen an allergist? My daughter also has very fair and sensitive skin but to environmental allergies. She's not quite 5 yet so not sure if she will outgrow. Given she is severely allergic to peanuts I am not hopeful. She is not sensitive to fruits as you describe but I am but only when certain pollens are high. Does applesauce cause the same reaction as raw apples? If not then try steaming his fruits, it breaks down the proteins that maybe causing the reaction.

Here's the routine we follow to stave off breakouts. Twice a day we use vanicream all over her body. This is also applied immediately after a shower/bath or pool time. Besides cetaphil cream (in the tub) this is the only product that worked for us and it was recommended by the allergist. We have found that a good sunscreen (nutrigena for example) can be substituted for one application. We also use a prescription strength hydrocortisone cream on the break out spots. I would not use this around his mouth as there would be a risk of ingestion. Check with his doctor.

He's missing nutrients if he's reacting to foods. A food allergy or sensitivity is not a natural thing, and it's not a life sentence. He needs additional nutrition to be sure he's getting all the vitamins, minerals, herbs, trace elements, and phytonutrients he needs - when he can't do that, he gets eczema, rashes, burning sensations, and so on.

There is one school of thought that you just eliminate everything and make yourself crazy and your son miserable. There's another that says you can support the immune system and nourish the body at the cellular level with highly absorbable nutrients that give each cell what it needs so it can function properly without trying to eliminate the "offending" food.

I have friends whose kids had multiple food issues - one had 60 food allergies. In five months he was allergy free. Another had severe peanut allergies as well as soy & egg. She now has her numbers down to zero.

But is he going to outgrow it on his own if you do nothing? Doubtful. Whatever he's missing, he will continue to be missing.

Could be an intolerance or an allergy. It isn't that unusual, but there are things you want to keep an eye out for:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-allergy/DS00082/DSE...

I have an intolerance to bananas and cantaloupe, probably related to my ragweed allergy and could also mean a latex allergy. I just learned that up they are all connected.

I get fruit from a local, organic farm (in season)---no harsh pesticides, herbicides...

Have you had him tested for allergies?