Rashes? It takes some common sense, an honest evaluation of circumstances, and action to come up with an answer!

 Over the years we have experiences many forms of rashes, including measles, chicken pox, hand-foot-and mouth, allergies to food, and sensitive skin conditions.

Many times they initially were a challenge to identify and treat.

This time, Michael, who was one, began scratching his legs every time we were changing his diaper. The rest of the day, this area of his body was covered by clothing.

Small blotches and irritated areas began to appear on his legs with the most irritation being at his ankles.

This increased condition was diagnosed by a pediatrician as the result of his tendency to be a “compulsive scratch-er”. At the age of one that did not seem reasonable to me, but unfortunately we did not take any corrective action immediately.

We started reviewing what I call “lifestyle possibilities” and since I felt the condition actually resembles a heat rash, it could be cause by too warm and fitted clothing and coverings. During sleep time this is common when infants seem most vulnerable to having their bodies overheat.

We also switched to cotton only and loose clothing for both and night to allow his skin to breathe and treated the area with concentrated skin lotion.

We actually saw very light improvement initially and then the condition actually got worse. Some of this result was due to the fact that he had access to the irritated areas when clothing and diapers were being changed.

Certainly the changes we made were a plus, but we were not getting the result we wanted and in fact, the lower areas of his legs appeared to be infected.

Finally, and obviously, an appointment was scheduled with a dermatologist. This diagnosis was eczema, a serious skin condition that now requires a detailed treatment regimen and a long term plan to control and possibly prevent follow up occurrences.

There is a history of this skin condition remaining in a person’s system and reoccurring at times throughout their life.

This is one time I did not follow my own rules.

1. Analyze each condition affecting your child’s health.

2. if you are knowledgeable and/or experienced in terms of a treatment, then it could be reasonable to follow and implement that experience.

3. If after 10 days, there is no improvement that is measurable, then you would be wise to call in a specialist.

Raising children is always a challenge, especially when illness is involved.

Good luck!