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Original poster

Allergic reaction? Picture included

16 replies

MoreEqualPig · 16/05/2023 15:34

My DS's nursery rang me yesterday and said he had been rolling in nettles and now had an itchy rash. When he got home I saw he was covered in this rash. It is literally on his face down to his toes. It is very itchy and causing him a lot of distress. I spoke to the nursery head today who said there are no stinging nettles there and it must be an allergic reaction.
Does this loom like an allergic reaction? Should I try and take him to the GP to check?

OP posts:
ChocHotolate · 16/05/2023 15:39

Yep, that looks like hives which are typically caused by an allergy. You can buy antihistamine medicines over the counter for children aged over 12 months

Original poster
MoreEqualPig · 16/05/2023 15:51

Thanks I did buy some yday after the phonecard. He is very resistant to taking medicine though so difficult to get him to take it.

OP posts:
ChocHotolate · 16/05/2023 15:59

You could try an antihistamine cream such as Eurex which can help with local itching but of course this won't work with a big rash all over

Alloveragain3 · 16/05/2023 16:03

They can also be viral.

Check if he aye anything new yesterday e.g lentils, prawns or maybe sesame in hummus?

LookOutBandits · 16/05/2023 16:07

They said he had been rolling in nettles but also they said there are no nettles?

Whatever it is I'd be giving him antihistamine syrup. Squirt it into his mouth with a syringe if he won't have it. I've had to do that before because my dd has anaphylaxis so I can't have reluctance.

Original poster
MoreEqualPig · 16/05/2023 16:25

Yes I have syringe he will hit and kick and try to spit the medicine out so I never know how much he has had. My dh bought an allergy cream but it says 6+ and ds is 5 so not sure its safe to use

OP posts:
Original poster
MoreEqualPig · 16/05/2023 16:27

The school nurse said he had been rolling in nettles when she called yday, I spoke to the headteacher today who said there aren't any nettles and she doesn't know why I was told that.

OP posts:
LookOutBandits · 16/05/2023 16:41

That's so ridiculous of them to contradict themselves like that. Do you think the head is trying to cover themselves on the basis that there shouldn't be nettles?

I'd email the head back and tell her that you absolutely need to know if it was nettles as if it isn't he's going to have to have allergy testing. (probably privately as the waiting lists where I am are two years.)

I'd much rather it was nettles!

PollyPut · 16/05/2023 23:36

@MoreEqualPig can you just go and see whether there are nettles there?

I would be very surprised if there are nettles in a nursery. But he might be allergic to something else there.

Have the hives gone now?

AtrociousCircumstance · 16/05/2023 23:39

He needs the antihistamine (force it down, if he spits half out go back with more) and an anti itch cream. There are ones available for little ones, I remember using them for mine when they had chicken pox.

Colinorpercy · 16/05/2023 23:39

I had an allergic reaction all over my body just like that years ago and never did find out what caused it! Got some cream which calmed the itch and went away quite quickly.

miniegg3 · 16/05/2023 23:42

My son used to get it on his legs when he had been on cut grass in shorts when he was a toddler

AlantheDog · 16/05/2023 23:48

Hives (urticaria) is really common in young children as their immune systems can be a bit frisky. They appear head to toe after a minor virus that may well have been barely noticeable, but the immune system gets a bit overexcited and over-reacts, causing hives. Typically they will appear and disappear over different bits of the body over several days or even a week or two. Unless there's evidence of tongue swelling, breathing difficulties, excessive drooling etc it's not an allergic reaction that you need to panic about.

https://www.seattlechildrens.org/conditions/a-z/hives/

Hives

Learn more about hives including symptoms of hives and causes of widespread hives, as well as when to seek care.

https://www.seattlechildrens.org/conditions/a-z/hives

watcherintherye · 16/05/2023 23:51

The school nurse said he had been rolling in nettles when she called yday

That sounds really strange. Could she have said something else that you misheard? Or she got the name wrong of whichever plants he’d been in contact with? I can’t imagine a child ‘rolling in nettles’. Usually brushing against them is a painful enough sting. Very odd thing to say.

AlantheDog · 16/05/2023 23:53

LookOutBandits · 16/05/2023 16:41

That's so ridiculous of them to contradict themselves like that. Do you think the head is trying to cover themselves on the basis that there shouldn't be nettles?

I'd email the head back and tell her that you absolutely need to know if it was nettles as if it isn't he's going to have to have allergy testing. (probably privately as the waiting lists where I am are two years.)

I'd much rather it was nettles!

He doesn't need allergy testing for a single episode of widespread hives, if he didn't present with localised hives accompanied by breathing difficulties within a short period of eating a trigger food. Only 3percent of hives are caused by food - post viral hives are much more common.

MissSmiley · 17/05/2023 06:44

It's a classic nettle rash, it'll go on it's own

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