Last year we went to Greece for a week. My 10 year old son had a reaction to something which caused his feet to itch uncontrollably and he was very distressed. The pools available were freshwater, saltwater and then the sea. He had the same reaction in whatever water he was in. It continued out of the water. We religiously washed his feet after.
His feet were not burnt and nothing relieved it (we tried piriton, tomatoes, aftersun, greek yoghurt, aloe vera). There were no bites.
We went to Turkey this year and before going my son (now 11) took an antihistamine every day for a month and we got some hydrocortisone from the GP. All was fine for a couple of days and then the itch came back. The hydrocortisone didn't really relieve it.
It is not constant but comes in waves and is only on certain point of the foot - like a patch at the back of the ankle, or a small patch at the bottom of the ankle - so its not the whole foot and is confined to two or three areas. Scratching doesn't relieve it.
There is no rash, or marks at all on his foot. I thought it might be prickly heat or something but there is nothing to see.
He was in the pool for the majority of the time. It was a chlorinated, freshwater pool. I thought maybe it was a chlorine allergy but then why only on certain bits of his foot? And no visible rash/reaction.
I have spent hours and hours Googling. I thought I had found out it was something called Hell's Itch but his symptoms don't really match it (he wasn't burnt, it is not the most intense pain of his life, it didn't stop after 48 hrs)
I'm going to book a GP appointment next week but its hard as the symptoms have obviously subsided now we're in the UK. I want to get him referred to someone but not sure who.
He's quite a fair skinned boy who tans but would burn also. His Dad is ginger.
Does anyone at all recognise this?!
No other known allergies but does have a patch of ezcema on elbows (I am prone to ezcema and psorasis)