You need to see a dermatologist and see if it is eczema or not. I had it as a child and some of my kids did and you have to get a prescription that works for that. You may need to try several before you get one that works or use a steroid even. If it's dry skin there is vaseline and put it on at night every night. If you could see my hands right now from dryness you would be shocked and I put lotion on ( Vaseline cocoa butter ) and have tried everything out there. I think if it's dryness you need to have him stay hydrated well too in winter but if eczema you need medication. See a doctor to get something while you wait for a referral to a dermatologist if you can. I can tell you eczema is miserable and bleeding dry cracked hands and face are too.
Ok, Vaseline is just a barrier to keep dry skin dry, it does nothing for this. You need to simply get your doc to call in a dermatologist referral or find out from your insurance if you need one for a dermatologist. I also agree that if it is that difficult to see your regular pedi then it is time to move on. He/She is there to SERVE YOU and if you can not just call and have an appointment with in a few days then there is NO SERVICE. I have NEVER had a doctor tell me they could not see me with in 5 days of my phone call other than a specialist - even then I was able to rangle a faster appointment by "working the system" of wait lists. Specialists, are the only ones that I would "tolerate" that from and that is because they should be the only one in the area that knows about your particular issue!
Call your insurance provider. They are the only ones who can tell you if the primary doc has to do a referral. We have a state medical card for the kids and once they realized they were spending tons of money for a child to go in, the doc take a look, then say "I can't treat this, you need a specialist"...it is saving them a ton of money now if the parents just call one of the docs on the list and tell them the symptoms, they can say yes or no, we do or do not treat stuff like this.
Once your insurance tells you what their policy is you can also ask them if they have a list of docs or if they have a nurse on duty to answer questions. Ours does. She is usually right on the money too. It is her job to save them money and get a person to the right kind of doc.
I have read that PURE coconut oil will help dry cracked skin... it promotes healing and moisturizes at the same time. not to mention, you can cook with it :) but apart from that, it is helpful.. but buy the pure stuff.... not lotions..... find it at health food stores..
best to you and yours
Aveeno doesn't do much
My oldest gets extremely dry and chapped when the cold weather hits. Go buy some Cetaphil cream - in the short tub thing, not the lotion, b/c it works better. Lather him up 1-2x daily.
Both my boys have eczema and the Cetaphil keeps 95% away ~ they get a few "spots" but that's usually if I have forgotten to lather them up for a few days in a row.
I have tried two products that work. The first one is 100% pure Shea Butter. You can order from Amazon if you have trouble finding it in stores - it costs only $6-$8. The second one is Aquaphor Advanced therapy healing ointment for dry cracked or irritated skin. I prefer the Shea Butter as it is natural and it has been a saver for my family this winter. Make sure you try a little bit first to make sure there are no reactions to it. Good luck.
start putting neosporne on it and lotion religiously. when we goes to school put vasiline on his fave. also put it on his face and hands at night. my daughter gets like this too and thats what i do for her and her cheeks are perfect.
My son has excema and the doctor gave us a sterioid cortisone ointment that we put on him and then told us to use aquaphor in between. His get's really itchy and comes in patches on his chest, arms and legs for various reason. I only use the prescription ointment when his itchy spots first appear, and then i use the aquaphor after that. He clears up - and it comes again... it's just a viscious cycle, but the prescription works immediately.
dermatologist
OK all you wonderful ladies…Thank you so much for all your answers!
He had his appointment today with the dermatologist and he does in fact have Eczema, they prescribed him a steroid cream and gave us instructions on what we need to do at home. As it turns out the cats at home might also be contributing to his problems, sad!
Thanks again guys…You all ROCK!