Nuts & eczema

[AngelDog]

DS has eczema around his face which gets irritated by acidic things like tomatoes / citrus. I recently gave him some hazelnut butter which made it flare up badly. Is that likely to have been just a contact irritation, or could it suggest he has a mild nut allergy?

I've taken him off both nuts & dairy and his eczema has improved loads, although in the same timescale he's had steroid antibiotics (Fucidin) and I've changed the emollient I used on him so they might be having an effect.

I had very bad eczema as a child and know there's a big link with dairy intolerance. All I'd suggest is that whilst he's good try reintroducing each item slowly and see if the eczema gets any worse. If it does then you need to cut them totally for a while. I'm now absolutely fine with dairy and don't get eczema flare ups at all. With regards to the nut thing all I can recommend is asking your gp for a nut sensitivity test as nut allergies can be very serious and may need an epi pen. It's quite possible the steroid antibiotics have cleared it up or could be the change in diet. You'll never know unless you try reintroducing the food.

Sorry I can't be much help hopefully someone better qualified will be along soon. Good luck.

I'd ask your GP. DS has had contact irritation in the past from pineapple and tomatoes, but never had any problem with nuts.

(He had bad eczema as a baby, but now he's a toddler it's pretty much completely controlled by moisturiser)

Thanks. We've been seeing the GP and are due to go back in a week or two. I'm keeping him off nuts & dairy for the time being in case that is why his face has improved. Certainly using Fucidin didn't improve it that much when we used it before.