Itchy and Scratchy

[Rhubarb]

No, not the Simpsons cartoon, but my dd! She seems to be very itchy and her back is covered in scratch marks. The other day she scratched her arm so much that it bled and looks quite nasty now. I've checked her bed and can't see anything crawling or hopping in there. I've changed her sheets and we haven't changed our washing powder at all, we use non-bio anyway. So does anyone have any idea as to what it can be?

How old is she? Any chance it might be eczema?

Rhubarb...if she's of school age if could be scabies....sorry I know its one of those yucky things (but like headlice it doesn't mean you're dirty). My ds2 had it last summer and apparently its on the up. A sure sign is itchiness around the wrists and on the hands but it causes allover itchiness too.

Hmmm, thanks for your replies. I don't know if it's excema, there doesn't appear to be a rash apart from the one she causes with her nails. And the itching has mostly been confined to her back, it was just a couple of days ago that she started on her arm just above the wrist. So how would I know if it was scabies? She's 3 by the way and at nursery in the mornings. They haven't mentioned about anything going around.

Rhubarb - my ds just had a few red spots around the creases of his wrist but was generally itchy all over. I'm afraid its one of those things people don't admit to......I told my ds's best friends mum and she said her ds had them but she hadn't said......so that was where he probably got them from!

Also just read on another thread (bedwetting) about waterproof sheets on the bed, a mum says they make her child itch.

It could just be dry skin which my ds and I both tend to get in the winter more than in summer. We both get eczema too, it tends to develop if I don't slap plenty of emollient on at the first sign of the dryness.

She doesn't have waterproof sheets on the bed, but I will check her wrists for spots! Generally her skin does seem clear, but I'll also start moisturising it more often. Trouble is dh bathes her more often now as I'm tied up with the baby, and he's too lazy to even comb her hair let alone moisturise her!