4yo developing eczema?

[catinthehat]

My 4 yo dd has just recently started to develop what appears to be eczema on the back of her knees.  She also has had and continues to have for the last 4 months a red rash on her bottom.  It seems to get redder after getting out of the tub, and it is worse in the last week or two.  The doctor said 4 months ago that it is molluscum, although I am not so sure.  She has now also in the last few days started to develop little pimples on her lower leg and underwear line.  She still wears a diaper(disposable) to bed.  I think I should take her to the doctor just to get a full diagnosis, b/c of all these new things going on.  I am wondering if she could have a systemic yeast infection?   She def loves anything sweet.  She does have dark circles under her eyes, despite getting good nutrition and sleep.  So I am going to start cutting things out of her diet to see if food allergies are the issue.  She also seems to have diarrhea or really loose stools almost all the time.  What do you all think?

[riomidwife]

I have seen Molluscum and it doesn't really sound like what you're describing. Anything around the unders/groin is a pink flag for yeast, but it could be something else to. It can be hard to diagnose skin stuff with absolute certainty -- sometimes you just can't know. Could be a yeast/eczema combo, which my son has had. Chronic diarrhea is not normal and is an indication that her body is struggling with something. I'd definitely try removing dairy and sugar for starters, and possibly gluten if you're up for that.

[catinthehat]

Thanks,

Yeah, it doesn't look like the pics of molluscum on the internet.  It looks like a yeast rash, and on her knees it looks like eczema.  My older dd has allergies to soy, corn, and dairy.  Do you think it would make sense to try those first.  Is she likely to share the same allergies as her sister?  She really doesn't have sugar at this point except for fruit.  Wow, if she was gluten intolerant I would be in trouble.  My husband is diabetic so doesn't really eat carbs, my dd1 is allergic to soy, corn and dairy, I can't do dairy, so please no gluten...

Riomidwife- Did you find any herbal or other therapies that helped with the eczema/yeast rash?

[riomidwife]

Siblings don't seem to share allergies necessarily, so it would be hard to say what is going on with your daughter. I never bothered much with topical treatments of my kid's eczema or yeast.....His eczema was never bad enough to be itchy or weepy, we were fortunate enough to nip it early enough before it progressed to that point. When his yeast symptoms and rash surfaced last year I upped his probiotic intake radically and kept him underwear-free. The rash went away in a few days. We use pharmax probiotic as our primary and then he helps himself to the chewable American Health probiotic wafers all day long!

[catinthehat]

Thank you so much!

I took her to the doc yesterday and he said the bottom rash, behind the knees, and the pimply rash on the shins is eczema.  He said it is just a papu.ar eczema as opposed to most people who have a more flat shiny eczema.  He said the pimply rash on her underwear line is inflamed hair follicles, probably caused by bacteria.  He said as long as they don't get white heads on them, just to wash gently with soap and water.  if they get whiteheads he said he would recommend starting antibiotics.  

I think all of this could be related to a diaper sensitivity.  So I am going to change her diaper type to either cloth or chlorine free.  I am also going to change my detergent and take your advice riomidwife on underwear free.  I will also keep up the elim diet and see how that effects all this.  Thanks

[riomidwife]

Interesting! My son had a similar kind of eczema. It would always start out as little red dots. Physicians like to use folliculitis as a catch-all though, so just beware. It's still possible the rash could be yeast, it's difficult to know with absolute certainty. In my experience folliculitis tends to stick around, it's not typically transient. Skin conditions typically relate to liver/digestion too. so depending on who you ask "follicultis" may or may not have a cause. Good luck! Hope it all clears up soon!

[smilinggreenmom]

Oh boy - behind the knees is where our son always got it the worst. I agree so much about the probiotics! Our son has been helped dramatically with his eczema and food sensitivities by taking his Belly Boost chewable. They have been the one and only thing to really help him and I am so thankful that I heard how much research is showing their benefits. They might even be useful for the bathroom issues she is having since they also can help with digestion. Hope this helps and she gets feeling better :)

[kjbrown92]

And folliculitis for my DD2 was because of her corn senstivity, so even that can have its roots in a food intolerance. Remember to keep a food journal while you're eliminating. My DS and DD2 share some foods, but others are different. At least it's a starting point for you.