If you understand eczema, please can you look at these pictures

[purplearmadillo]

DD is 5. She has consistently had eczema in small patches, generally back of knees, nape of neck or inside her elbows. I have never been able to identify any particular trigger.

At the moment, one elbow has had 3 patches and it is really sore. I took her to GP last week because we had been using eumovate and it had run out. We also use cetreban as an emollient. New GP saw both DD and DS at same time for similar eczema. He looked at DS first and said he thought it was an infected molluscum. He then thought DD might have the same. He gave us fucidin cream to use for 7 days for both.

The first two pictures are DD"s elbow after 5/6 days of using the cream. I think it is worse. However I find it so hard to identify and understand / treat eczema. Can anyone take a look and tell me if this does look like eczema or a molluscum outbreak? (I do think she has a couple of very small molluscum spots elsewhere having looked). I am very confused. I want to go back to doctor but feel like I don't understand and that we are getting nowhere.

Separately, the third photo is of a new rash which came up on her wrist where she had been wearing a metal watch. I think it is also eczema - could this be caused be an allergic reaction to her watch?

Please help, I am struggling.

[purplearmadillo]

Sorry, meant to say I have put the pictures under my profile.

[DinahRod]

You need to make your profile public I think

[Mistymoo]

Your profile is blocked

[DinahRod]

Without seeing the pictures, it could be both. We treated the infected molluscum first then the eczema

[purplearmadillo]

Argg. Stupid pictures. Took me forever to load them and its still wrong. Am opening them now...

[purplearmadillo]

Bumping, sorry.

[DinahRod]

The underlying itchy redness looks like eczema imo but the spots/scabs look like mollescum:

"The skin develops small lumps which are pearly-white or slightly pink. Each lump ('molluscum') looks like a small wart and is round, firm, and about 1-5 mm across. A tiny dimple often develops on the top of each molluscum. If you squeeze a molluscum, a white cheesy fluid comes out."

pictures

It's certainly possible to have both and I would guess treating the infection first is more important. Itching the eczema helps spread the molluscum. After a bath dh popped the dcs' molluscum and then applied the antibiotic cream.

[HappySeven]

Don't know about molluscum but it certainly looks like the eczema I get.

[purplearmadillo]

Thanks. Given that she does seem to have molluscum elsewhere perhaps the molluscum has ended up coming up in the area that was already vulnerable to eczema. Poor DD, I feel really sad, it seems so sore and I just don't seem to be able to get rid of it. Both DD and DS appear to have inherited DH's eczema, whereas I have oily skin and really struggle to understand it.

[DinahRod]

Have every sympathy with your dd.

You could drive yourself batty trying to find a trigger. Ime there is no single cause for persistent eczema but a combination - i.e. worse at extremes of temperature, times of stress, certain foods (dairy (but not all), wheat, potato/tomato family) and then externals like washing powder/shampoo/certain fabrics. No one single source but also working in consort against the skin.

And in the same vein there isn't one cure but a combination, ideally a cream that kills the itch and a cream that soothes and forms a barrier to keep moisture in. Took me years to find the combination for me (eumovate for the barrier/soothing and calmurid for the itch - both are steroid-based so it can take a confident and informed GP to prescribe)

[MegBusset]

DS1 has eczema and also has had molluscum on top, it did look quite similar to your pics. I didn't treat the molluscum as it had cleared up by the time I realised what it was, just carried on treating the eczema.

[TiraMissYou]

Worth asking your GP if there is a paediatric eczema nurse in your locality. DS1 saw one regualrly when his eczema was at its worst, and like DinahRod says, it was a matter of trial and error to find the right combo of treatments.

Think about a white soft parafin based oitnment for broken or scratched skin, less stingy than Cetraban. We use Hydromol on prescription, with short bursts of moderate potent steroid on stubborn flare up areas. Use cetraban for washing/bathing.

Plus the usual eczema management advice I'm sure you know - keep fingernails supershort to minimise nocturnal scratching; and a dose of anti-histamine at bedtime (GP can prescribe) to help keep her more comfortable at night.

For my DS, overtiredness and growthspurts always trigger a flare up, so I go for extra emoillient applications at those times.

No specific molluscum advice to give, sorry, but I hope she feels beter soon. Its horrible to see them so sore isn't it? Our worst was seeing chicken pox blisters crop through broken eczema skin. Miserable time, happily he is much better now (nearly 7).

HTH.

[purplearmadillo]

Thanks everyone. Back to GP I think.