Coughing / petechiae/blood spots

[hatebeak]

Hello. Doesn anyone else have a child who gets petechiae (or pinprick bloodspots) around their eyes and face after a bout of coughing or vomiting? DD has had this happen a few times and obviously it has caused panic - non-blanching rash, meningitis etc - and we've had a couple of anxious trips to the doctors, especially as the whole coughing so hard thing tends to happen when she's ill... but it's becoming clear that this might just be something she does...Anyone else's kids the same? Do they grow out of it? If it's just on around their face/eyes, do you just tend to ignore it, happy to make the judgement call it's just from the coughing, or do you mention it to the GP?

Yes my DS gets this -mostly if he has been crying hard/coughing.

I must say that it doesn't seem to have happened recently, so perhaps he has grown out of it.

I like you I took DS to doctor and they said that it is exactly that type of rash to look out for in meningitis/septicaemia , except usually starts on the torso. I have just ignored it since then, as I know what the cause is and it's always in the same place.

But, please don't take my word for it - if you are ever worried, trust your instincts .

My ds used to get this but not happened since last summer. Hes 5.8 now. He would get it after a big tantrum normally and it would be around his eyes or on his neck. He also bruised easily but seems to be growing out of that too. Dr never concerned but it is that rash to watch for but it would normally present in legs and torso in a more worrying situation.

If I have a very bad case of vomiting I get this even now. Not generally for coughing though.

Thank you - it's only ever round her eyes and cheeks and always follows a bout of coughing / vomiting so I feel reasonably confident I can recognise it - especially as we've had it checked by a doctor most times it's happened. Obviously I'll never leave if it's suspicious or different, it just feels weird, leaving something that is always usually accompanied by such grim warnings! Thanks for the reassurance...

Yes, my ds has this too (last showed up when he was seven). He was also once checked out for petechiae under his arms, which we realized later had occurred at points of pressure where he was picked up when ill as a toddler. The first couple of times he was checked out in detail (blood tests), now we don't worry if we can see how it's happened (but we do keep a VERY close eye on the spots and we'd be off like a shot if they were ever different from what's happened before, or there was no obvious vomiting or pressure cause).

It does feel weird ignoring it, I know what you mean. The more times it happened, the less I worried though, because I now have a fairly clear idea what would count as 'different from normal' for ds.

I wouldn't ever extrapolate from him to assuming it was OK for a different child, either - if I saw similar spots in another child I'd always start from scratch with getting them properly checked by a doctor, even if it seemed to be the same as what had happened with ds.

It is very common following vomiting or heavy coughing, it is just tiny burst blood vessels close to the surface of the skin. I had horrendous burst blood vessels on my cheeks and in my eyes from labouring with pre eclampsia. Its just a pressure thing. By the time you get a petechial (non blanching) rash with meningitis the child is terribly sick and at deaths door.

Thanks again for the feedback - feel reassured. They're fading today and she's better, so I guess I just have to wait until next time...