ds9 getting suddenly red hurty itchy legs - agonisingly so

[thekingfisher]

He does have very dry skin ( not helped by his lynx addiction and very long hot showers) however twice now in the recent cold weather he has got incredibly itchy and sore legs - it all comes on very suddenly - he was crying with it this evening on both his shins/lower legs - last time it was inside thighs. I managed to get some diprobase on him tonight which was painful for him to have applied but its calmed it down.

Is it a cold/hot reaction? compounded by dry skin???

bump?

could be. I get dry itchy skin in winter.
try body lotion mornings and evenings (do lynx do one?). maybe a pits-and-bits wash with a flannel would be good for a few days.
is get growing a lot atm? that can stretch the skin and make it itchy as well.

I (and my siblings) all used to get burning sore rashes in cold spells at the back of our knees (in the days before long trousers were standard winter wear for girls) caused by the cold. I don't know what it was called but it hurt - especially once in the warm.

I would try putting an emollient on his skin that is unperfumed, like epaderm or Aveeno and see if that helps. If he uses it morning and night that could help protect his skin from the Lynx!

Chilblains? But that'sore common on extremities (toes, fingers). There is also a form of urticaria that is triggered by cold - I have a mild form of it, but again it is usually exposed skin that's affected (at least in my case - maybe google to check?), and I presume he's not wearing shorts. Or does it come on after playing football/rugby?

I get this, ridiculous itching on my legs that has sometimes just reduced me in a heap of tears. Things that have helped are

• very mild toiletries, I try not to rub anything into my legs in particular.
• very mild washing powder. I was allergic to bio powder for ages.
• washing less frequently - so shower only every other day. Too frequent and its likely to set them off again
• if it's really bad, piriton helps but its obviously not a long term solution.

I would ditch the lynx!

Sorry for not coming back to this sooner.

I have ditched the lynx ( anyone would think I were cutting a limb off) We have some cetraban so using that on his skin. I will also go back to non bio. I always used to use it but have gone more bio in last few months - so may well be compounding problem.

Thanks for all these comments!

The first time he had been out in the cold all be it in a track suit but got very cold legs then came into warm of the car - yesterday not so much but obv he could have had cold legs as it was chuffing cold and he had walked right across school campus to get to me (this was at 6pm so V cold then)

Urticaria

I have suffered from this all my life. I used to cry as a child when my parents dragged me up mountains in the cold...my legs would itch agonisingly and when scratched these huge red, swollen weals would come up.

I haven't grown out of it unfortunately.

My son has inherited it from me

I have found the solution though...anti histamines

It is thought the small blood vessels in the skin react to the cold and release histamine as part of an inflammatory response. If I take anti-histamines (your bog standard hayfever tabs you can get from the supermarket) before a hill walk or going out in the cold, it prevents the symptoms.

It could well be itching from dry skin which is common this time of year with the heating on and the tendency to have baths or showers which are too hot.

If he has red marks which don't look particularly dry, then it could well be chilblains. All we had for a while when I was growing up was a real fire and log burner. I had one winter when I used to sit in front of them a lot as it was so cold elsewhere in the house and ended up covered in chilblains.

A compromise for the shower, might be turning the temperature on that down a little but upping the heating themostat for 30 mins so the air is warmer around him and he might not need the comfort of a hot shower so much. Also, give him a limit of 5/7 mins. I know someone's daughter who suffers from ecezma and she literally stands under the shower and washes under her arms and private parts and that's it. The water rinses any other muck off.