Facial rash allergy - what could it be?

[KittyMcAllister]

Hi I don't know if I'm posting in the right section!

My DS (2.7) has had a recurrent facial rash for about 6 months. At first the dr thought it was slapped cheek but as it kept coming back we were perscribed some fucidin cream which seemed to help. However it keeps flaring up again, two red rosy patches on his cheeks. It doesn't seem to affect him any other way. Could it be an allergy & if so what could be causing it? It's always worse after he's been at nursery.

TIA!

Sounds like it could possibly be food related, or perhaps related to something else they use at Nursery - colours in play doh, soap or similar

My own DD is intolerant to food chemicals - if she eats anything with certain colours or preservatives, or uses anything such as soap or bubble bath, or when younger playdoh made with the normal food dies, as opposed to additive free ones - it will cause a skin flare up

The flare ups for her have been various places, but for a while when she was tiny, it was her eyelids & cheeks that used to get the rash - more often now (at 9) its her inner elbows, backs of knees, behind ears & chest - when she was very tiny, it showed up as what the GP thought was severe nappy rash & then later diagnosed as eczema

If this sounds likely, then the proper term for it is Urticaria & it can be stopped by cutting out the additives - ask nursery about foods they give & play doh

good luck

Soap or bubble bath THAT CONTAIN THESE ADDITIVES

Sorry, dozy today -

I should have also added - look up Azo Dyes & Benzoate Preservatives you should find lists of the various ones, often labeled as E numbers, that can cause this reaction

My DD3 has a similar issue, we're pretty sure hers is caused by red food colouring (although it did happen once with Johnsons pH5.5 wash)

Lady

That Jonsons wash contains Sodium Benzoate which is one of the things that will cause a flare for my own DD - this chemical aggravates my DDs IBS too -

maybe its that your DD reacts to - its apparently not uncommon

Thanks so much for your replies, sounds like nursery could well be the culprit so I'll have to ask them what they've been using, as we don't do a lot of crafting at home! I think from what you guys have said that it definitely is an allergic reaction. Thanks again xxx

It sounds more like a contact dermatitis which is very common in children from all the things listed above; the rash is always where there has been contact with the food or chemical but doesn't spread around the rest of the body like in allergic reactions.
It's very common with irritants like soaps or food with high histamine content like tomatoes.
Avoiding the culprit or lots of heavy barrier cream in the face like Vaseline should stop it. HTH.

Choca

good point on the histamine rich foods - I'd forgotten about that - my own DD used to get a rash around her mouth if she ate tomatoes - though it never lasted more than a couple of hours- she grew out of it

but I have to disagree, even when ingested, with an intolerance, the rash doesn't spread around the body, that is more likely a true allergy, which can be tested for medically - also it can be localised & the area doesn't need to have had contact with the culprit chemical - my own DD can wash her hands with the wrong sort of soap & get a rash behind her knees or ears, or eat something with the additives in & get a flare up on her arms

watching with interest. My DD is 2 tomorrow and so far has done well in dodging the set of allergy, asthma and eczema genes that myself and DH have passed onto her and our 5 year old DS (who has been nowhere near as lucky). This week she has got what looks very much like eczema on her cheeks and chin and I was quick to blame tree pollen, but she has been ok for the preceding part of spring, albeit I think the rain has greatly damped tree pollen down. I've been putting hydrocortisone 1% on it, which is just about keeping a lid on things but she is a bit bumpy, borderline hivey. More than anything else though it looks like what's been referred to in one of the posts on this thread - contact dermatitis. I need to talk to nursery at it was at its worst after she spend the afternoon there yesterday - wonder if they've changed the brands of wipes they use or what she's been eating. But on the other hand she was playing in the nursery garden under trees when DH arrived to pick her up. Groan, allergies are neverending pieces of detective work IME

Rockin yes you're right it doesn't have to spread with an intolerance. It's just if it's only ever the cheeks which is what I think was in the OP, then to me it sounded like contact dermatitis from something like wipes or tomatoes etc. And especially if it's just at nursery where they may use a different brand of wipes.

Choco yes you are right & its just as likely those things, but I do think its important not to rule out it also possibly down to ingesting additives based on where the OPs DSs rash is :)

The rash my own DD had on her cheeks & eyelids as a toddler turned out to be a result of the preservative in the bagels she was give as a treat at nursery, took us a while to get to the bottom of it as Nursery staff we fully aware of DDs intolerances, but they just hadn't realised that bakery goods, fresh from a bakery section, could still be to blame as they'd bought them elsewhere before without problems, it was just a change of supermarket meant the new bagels weren't safe for my own DD & caused this facial flare up :(

Yes just to clarify it's usually on his cheeks, occasionally on his chin and hands. It seems like it's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack to track down the cause! I'm fairly sure it's not food related though, as the nursery food is on similar lines to ours.