[Plaid Leopard]

It is not impetigo.

My dd has lesions - red, oblong, look almost like a burn from a curling iron. In the middle are tiny yellow blisters, kind of crusty. She says they do not itch, do not hurt.

She got this on her legs and feet a couple of weeks ago while she was visitng her granparents. The doctor didn't know what it was. The blisters went away after a week or so, and now she has scars, red on the outside, white inside, like her skin peeled off. Looks almost like a chemical burn.

Today she woke up with one of these things on her check and one on the back of her neck. DH took her to the doctor, they are not back yet.

Help! What could this be?

 

[gilnikche]

It could be Poison Ivy. It can look really gross looking. I found some pics that sound like what you describe...

http://www.poison-ivy.org/rash/rash-4.htm

http://www.poison-ivy.org/rash/rash-15.htm

Is this a possibility?

 

[Plaid Leopard]

Nope, not poison ivy. Thanks for the links though. IT is really a long, narrow red patch, with tiny yellow crusty blisters/spots in the middle.

DH just called and the doctor says it IS impetigo. But the kids have had impetigo before and it didn't look like this. It didn't leave scars either.

And of course she prescribed an oral antibiotic which I DO NOT want to give, but DH insists that we must (he doesn't question these things like I do, and doesn't feel abx can be harmful).

 

[gilnikche]

Interesting...

My son had Impetigo 2 years ago. It did not look like any pictures that I saw; nor did it fit the text book description. He had a bit of the yellow, crusty lesion near the mouth/nose area. But what really worried me the most was the the abcesses that were popping up all over his body!

I absolutely hated to do it, but ended up giving him Keflex (Cephalaxin) and applying Bactroban topically. 0ut of my four kids he was the only one who got it. Impetigo is supposed to be highly contagious. I still wonder what the heck caused it.

If I had it to do all over again; I would insist on a lesion being swabbed & sent to lab for confirmation. It is supposed to be caused by group A streptococcus or staphylococcus aureus.

 

[Plaid Leopard]

I actually think she has 2 different things going on. Impetigo on her upper lip and back of the neck, and then something else on her cheek, that looks like what she had on her legs. It is a big red patch with clear blisters, not yellow, and although they seemed to be a bit oozy yesterday, they are dry now.

DH and I got in a big argument about the abx. He agreed to let me try to clear this up my way for the next couple of days (my way being vinegar, tea tree oil, honey, breastmilk and good old soap and water). Things are already looking better. I hope I can convince him to hold off on the abx. The one that was prescribed has a risk of creating a yeast infection (of course) as well as liver damage, nausea, vomiting, and skin eruptions. great.

 

[ramlita]

"risk of creating a yeast infection (of course) as well as liver damage, nausea, vomiting, and skin eruptions."

I've been hearing about colloidal silver a lot lately, especially for skin issues, and its antibacterial/antimicrobial/antibiotic qualities. Haven't had a chance to try it on anything yet, though.

 

[Plaid Leopard]

There's a lot of studies being done on honey as well.
unfortunately dd freaks out when I come near her with it.

 

[DharmaDisciple]

I can so understand how you feel about the antibiotics. Ds was diagnosed with this on Friday, he was given oral anti-b's and I trawled through the boards at the weekend looking for alternatives, the alternatives may have been working I don't know, but not quick enough.

I caved on Monday night and gave him them. His excema patches were raw, his wounds are so severe his clothes stick to them, he has to go again to the Drs so we can see the best course of action for his wound care. His legs are just raw and it goes all the way up his body to his ears. He was bleeding from his ears and I thought he had an internal bleed. This was from Friday to Monday, it was so quick it was scary.

I intend to give him the antib course then work on boosting his immune system. I wonder if had we have caught it early enough alternatives might have had a fighting chance. But everywhere I read, people gave their kids the antibitoics or cream, I didn't find anywhere that treated it successfully naturally.

Which for me is frustrating as I can't believe there isn't a natural cure for it.

I did make a herbal tincture for skin infections. Be warned neat it stings like hell (I tried it on a sore I had) but you can dilute 1 tablespoon to 1 cup (boiled cooled water) Or maybe even more dilute if you need to.

It was 1/2 ounce of the following tinctures stored in an amber jar-
Echinacea, Thyme, Plantain, Calendula and burdock root ( I left the thyme ot as couldn't get it)

Wash bed wear/linen daily, disinfect bath after use and have separate towels. Also don't share baths.

Hope you make the right decision, I realised when I no longer felt gulit in my stomach after I gave him the first dose of the antibi that I had done the right thing. Listen to your heart, you will make the right choice. xxxx