Would you go to an allergist or dermatologist?

DD has eczema but not little patches here and there. Her whole torso is always red and then any place where there is fold in her skin like behind her knees and by her elbows and wrists and ankles they red and sometime raw and sometimes dry. I wash her with Cetaphil, use Dreft only and then do an extra rinse cycle, I use Aquaphore 3 times a day and put a cream made out of aleo vera before the Aquaphore and it is still like this. I have to put mittens on her when I change becaus she scratche herself and she rubs her legs together vigourlousy when I also change her. Last night I saw on the monitor that she was tring to scratch her chest but through her clothes . I feel so bad for her. She screams at every change too. I also have the humidifer on in the room. Now the only two things I can think of that she might be allergic to is the dog and milk. The only dairy I have now is milk in my coffee. I really thing iti s more the dog because DS also has eczema and would break out in rash when the dog licked him. Since we have moved and the dog is outside alot now and the house is bigger and DS isn't by the dog that much he hasn't had an outbreak. I know DD isn't around the dog but she just might have it worse.
Who do you think it is worth seeing? Is their anything else I can do?

Re: Would you go to an allergist or dermatologist?

Have you talked to your ped about it? It may just be that she has sensitive skin. They had us try a few different topicals and then we were going to see a dermatologist but his milk allergy was really obvious so we saw an allergist instead.

Per his allergist we use a 1% (there is also 0.5%) hydrocortisone on Andy's eczema. We have a stonger rx from the pediatrician for when it gets really bad.

I hope she is less itchy soon!

Re: Would you go to an allergist or dermatologist?

if you are trying to pinpoint an allergy i would see an allergist. a dermatologist will be able to identify the rash as an allergic reaction but won't really be able to tell you the cause.

Message edited 11/28/2007 11:03:10 AM.

Re: Would you go to an allergist or dermatologist?

Also, how often do you bathe her? There has been some recent research that says daily bathing won't dry the skin out more, but my allergist and our pediatrician still prefer every other or every third day for baths. Based on my own observations daily baths were making his skin much drier.

Re: Would you go to an allergist or dermatologist?

Are you nursing her? it could be a milk allergy. If you are nursing her, you might want to start an elimination diet. If you are not nursing her, you might want to try a soy based formula.

Re: Would you go to an allergist or dermatologist?

awww, poor baby

Gianna's eczema has gotten really really bad too with the change of the seasons. She has angry eczema on the back of her knees, back of her legs, elbows and back of her arms. It's awful.

I've used everything, from creams to ointments, 2 baths a week, sensitive detergent, and the only thing that calms it is hydrocortizone when it gets angry along with lubriderm, jergens healing lotion, eucerin or acqafor on it. And it heals, then flares again!

My cousin in law's son has it bad too and she's convinced it's food related. My ped doesn't think it is though. I just read something that said oatmeal based products like aveeno, can make eczema worse not better. who knows though!

I would take her to the derm first after talking to the ped.

Re: Would you go to an allergist or dermatologist?

Posted by sweetness

awww, poor baby

Gianna's eczema has gotten really really bad too with the change of the seasons. She has angry eczema on the back of her knees, back of her legs, elbows and back of her arms. It's awful.

I've used everything, from creams to ointments, 2 baths a week, sensitive detergent, and the only thing that calms it is hydrocortizone when it gets angry along with lubriderm, jergens healing lotion, eucerin or acqafor on it. And it heals, then flares again!

My cousin in law's son has it bad too and she's convinced it's food related. My ped doesn't think it is though. I just read something that said oatmeal based products like aveeno, can make eczema worse not better. who knows though!

I would take her to the derm first after talking to the ped.

Re: Would you go to an allergist or dermatologist?

My niece has bad eczema like this too. My sister brought her to a dermatologist and they prescribed a compounded cream to put on her (a special concoction of things that the pharmacist had to mix for her). I know there was a cortisone in there. It did help her but only as long as she kept using the cream. My sister wasn't comfortable with using cortisone on her all the time so when it got better she would stop using it, then when it got bad again she'd go back to it.

My niece is now 4 and I have to say she is still a very "itchy" little girl. Every time she is getting dressed, you have to scratch her back for her. She often is still scratching at herself several times a day. She even has little tiny scars on her back/sides where she has scratched herself so hard that she left marks. It's really sad.

The ped told my sister to switch to 2% milk (he felt it was the milkfat) but it didn't help. Come to think of it, I don't know why they didn't recommend switching to soy. I think I'm going to suggest it to her tonight.

She is now on Singulair for allergies, and any time she gets sick she develops asthma symptoms. The ped said they are related.

Another theory of the ped's was that the scratching had become a habit, and sort of "felt good" so she continued to do it. My sister used to scold her for scratching, but when she saw the scabs and scars, she knew it wasn't a habit -- that something was really bothering her.

I hope I haven't scared you with any of this. It wasn't my intention. I just wanted you to know my sister's experience.