But what kind of Dr.? Do I take him to his regular Dr. and ask for a referral? It takes MONTHS to get an appt. w/his regular Dr. and I do not want to wait that long, can I take him to the Minor Emergency that is connected to his Dr.'s office and get a referral??
My son has WAY chapped hands and a lil' around his face....almost all the time recently but it is severe (cracked and bleeding) during the winter...I am starting to worry it might be Exzema/Excema? or something similar...and he absolutely needs REAL medication to help it heal up. I have used all the stuff I can find (Aveeno, etc.) at the Health food stores and the regular stores and nothing is helping and I know he is hurting.
If he has Eczema, I don't see why he couldn't go to an urgent care. Although I don't think it is life threatening, it is very painful and uncomfortable.
If the affected area is bleeding, he could get infections, which would make it an emergency too.
A pediatric dermatologist is probably best. Call your insurance company and ask what their policy is regarding referrals. Do you have an HMO or a PPO?
Cerave lotion has worked best for my son, who has pretty bad eczema and a bunch of allergies. It's sold at a lot of drugstores (Walgreens, CVS) but I haven't seen it at Target or Ralph's. Aquaphor also works well but it's so slimy we don't like using it all the time.
We do have a couple of different steroid lotions/oils that we use when he is really bad, prescribed by a dermatologist.
I second the olive oil. It is very like the oils your skin makes and will help rehydrate his skin. I actually have been know to float olive oil on my bath water to help (some soap in the water helps it to disperse, like shampoo).
If you still use wet wipes on him they may also be drying. I use landolish (sp?) brand as they have lanolin in them which is also an oil. Less drying.
Also, I was diagnosed with excema and it turned out I was allergic to aloe vera. Not saying that he doesn't but be aware that there are so many things that your son could be in contact with and any one of the could be it. At the time my shampoos, conditioners, face creams, ance soap and even my feminine napkins had aloe in them.
We are military so we have to have a referral. But you may not need one...
My daughter had excema for a long time and when it got bad my husband would mix a few things to help it. It didn't feel great on her, so we'd let her run around to get air on her - or put a fan right by her to help soothe it...but within a couple of hours her skin was soft as a baby's behind. I'll ask him what it was.
And do some research on lotions - Aveeno didn't really help to solve it, but it helps keep it maintained. My daughter still can only use the Baby Aveeno lotion though, and she's 8.
It sounds like eczema. My dad, my son and my friend's son had it as well as my other three kids have VERY dry skin. We all have found success with Arbonne products. All natural, gluten free, and vegan. Worked like a charm for us. Let me know if you have trouble finding a consultant, the products are not in stores.
Yikes! I just noticed a post that said to use something with lanolin in it. I just want to caution you, although it works great for some people, it is an extremely high allergen and if your son is sensitive already you might have a nightmare on your hands with lanolin. In fact, you might want to look at a lot of the products you already have, lanolin could have been the culprit all a long. We had this happen too in our family, so I felt compelled to warn you.
Dermatologist, or pediatric dermatologist if they have those. When my daughter's skin got dry (when she was a baby) we used Aquaphor. It is the only thing that really worked. Also, watch what you are using to wash hands/face. Make sure it is as gentle as possible. And maybe a colloidal oatmeal bath?
He needs to see a dermatologist and unfortunately, those can take months to get an appointment with (unless you want to pay out of pocket for things like botox and laser procedures, then they'll fit you in right away. But I digress...). Call your pediatrician's office and explain the situation. He or she might be able to diagnose and prescribe something him or herself and in that case, ask how he can be seen soon. I would imagine that you could use whatever procedure one would use for a sick or mildly injured child.
If this is something your doc doesn't feel comfortable handling and would refer out, then you should be able to get a referral over the phone with no appointment.
my daughter has this too, the best stuff is a lotion called Renew....it is by a company called melaleuca.......i tried the meds the dermatologist prescribed but they didn't work half as good as Renew. If you could try to find someone that sells this, you won't be sorry & its inexpensive
my son has it and we do vaseline daily (we do it at night right before he goes to bed because he doens't like the "sticky" feeling from it) and oatmeal baths once a week. It works wonderful!
When we do the oatmeal bath we let him play in the tub. Otherwise on the other days ( he only gets a bath 3x a week, water dries out the skin) he gets a lukewarm bath and its just washing and getting out, no playing.
Also we put a humidifer in his room so the air wasn't so dry.
You can call your ped and they can refer you to a ped derm over the phone or set up an appt by 3 way on the phone.
I have eczema on my hands and NOTHING but an Rx is going to help it--not Vaseline, not Aquaphor, etc. Eczema is not "dry skin" so it does need special attention.
Look for the listing of dermatologists near you and start calling...see who can get you in first. IF you can even find a pediatric derm (we have 2 in our entire city!) be prepared to wait. Personally, I'd see a regular derm b/c you will get in sooner, and eczema is a pretty common condition, so it's not going to "stump" them or anything!
Good luck.
I'm sorry that it takes months to get an appointment with your doctor. That sucks. I get same day appointments. I don't know why yours is so different.
Eczema is also considered an allergic reaction. It can be scaly (like a fish) and rough. I don't know how old your son is - but you can monitor and change his diet as well...take one thing out for a week (gluten items) and see if that changes anything.
Get a humidifier in the house for the winter. That will help as well.
If this ONLY happens in the winter - it's not eczema - at least I don't think it is. I'm not a doctor.
I use Mary Kay Night Emollient cream on my dry skin, lips and face. It is wonderfully soothing as it doesn't burn when applied to cracked skin (outside in the stinging cold for too long!)
My son has eczema. OTC stuff, esp Aveeno, contains alcohol, which just makes matters worse. Go to the urgent care and he should be properly treated with some prescription strength hydrocortizone ointment. If it is eczema, then it's an allergic reaction to something either environmental or food related. The trick to controlling these flare-ups is to eliminate the underlying allergen (which may involve a trip to an allergist).
Also, I think I would find a new pediatrician if if takes that long to get an appointment. :(
My kids and I had severe eczema and nothing the doctors prescribed helped. with me it made it worse because I was allergic to everything. I use Renew lotion and it helps a lot. I also found that vaseline helped too. With Renew lotion, you use it once and it helps for 24 hours. We use it at night after our showers. With the vaseline, you have to wet the skin, then dry it with a towel, then apply the vaseline. That way you trap the moisture in rather than just trapping dry skin. Good luck!!
How old is he?
Is he sucking his thumb or chewing his fingers?
Does he have to wash his hands a lot (lot's of hand sanitizer, etc)?
You need to stay away from anything with alcohol in it - that makes the drying worse.
A dermatologist would be best to be seen soon as possible.
You could try Bag Balm on his hands over night (have him wear cotton gloves over it).
In the mean time, try oatmeal bathes (Aveeno makes one) and have him play with oatmeal (smoosh it with his hands) - it's very soothing to the skin.
Some Epsom salts in the bath are soothing too.
Before there were steroids to use for skin irritations (eczema, poison ivy, contact dermatitis, etc) people used jewel weed salve to calm the itching.
Google it and you can buy it from a number of places.
I hope he feels better soon.
It most defanitly sounds like exima. My son has pretty dry skin as well. The dr. just told me to "slather" his skin with baby lotion after every bath and about 4 other time throughout the day. If that isn't working for you, you will have to go to the dr for a referral. He may need an antibiotic cream with steroid in it.
If it takes months for you to get an appointment it's time to look for a new "regular" doctor. Chapped/dry skin, even if it is cracked is not an emergency and you really shouldn't utilize emergency care just to get a referral.
With something like this I would simply take my kid to a family doctor or pediatrician and they may refer you to a dermatologist.