13 month old scratching herself to pieces.

[chillyigloo]

I can't really decide where's best to post this, so excuse me if it's not in the right section!

My daughter is 13 months old and scratches helself until she bleeds. Constantly. Everywhere. All the time!

The doctors have put it down to eczema and prescribed Oilatum, Cetraben emolliant and Aveeno cream but they really don't want to prescribe steroid creams which suits me too.

The problem is, I'm no stranger to eczema having had severe eczema myself from birth until my late teens and it just doesn't look like eczema to me. Her skin in generally soft and smooth (unless she's ripped it to bits) and doesn't have the red, lumpy, inflamed look that I associate with eczema. Also, the scratching is everywhere rather than localised areas. She will scratch any bit of flesh that is uncovered.

I'm certainly no expert in the field but I get the impression that the GP has diagnosed eczema due to my history rather than my daughters.

Can anyone offer advice as to whether eczema can present itself like this and if there's anything I can do to help relieve the itching. I use non-bio washing powder, sensitive conditioner and she only wears cotton clothes.

Thanks in aticipation!

So her skin is only marked by her scratching it you mean? If this is the case i'd demand some blood tests from the gp ithcing can be a sign of liver problems. I don't want to frighten you but you need to rule this out.

*itching

That's right Ledodgy. She has smooth, soft lovely skin until she has a scratching session that we haven't managed to prevent and then she's left with bloody scabs (which obviously itch) as quite she literally scratches until she bleeds.

I might try the GP again, though I've been there about her skin A LOT in the past 13 months!

Sounds a bit odd to me - mine all have eczema and generally have very dry flaky skin. I would push the gp more.

Any ideas for releiving her itching?