Dry skin or something else?

[isabel]

DS1 has always had sort of sensitive skin and sometimes gets rough patches, usually on his hands or the back of his legs/butt. Does this look like anything beyond really dry skin? He’s being a champ, but I know the lotion I’m putting on stings. This seemingly came out of nowhere. I didn’t notice it yesterday and he wasn’t complaining about it then. It’s on both hands.

[tripleshot]

It just looks like really dry skin. Can you put aquaphor or Vaseline on his hands (on top of lotion) and then cover with socks for bedtime? DS had some spots like that and it worked. It also helped a lot with eczema spots.

[isabel]

Oct 17, 2019 20:54:34 GMT -5 tripleshot said:

It just looks like really dry skin. Can you put aquaphor or Vaseline on his hands (on top of lotion) and then cover with socks for bedtime? DS had some spots like that and it worked. It also helped a lot with eczema spots.

I'm going to do vaseline and socks after he falls asleep. I think he'll object if I try to do it while he's still awake. It's a good idea. Thanks!

[Patsy Baloney]

Ugh, I know that awful redness. I go through this on my hands during the winter. It’s a combo of the industrial-strength soap at work, super hot water, trying to wash well to avoid the winter germs, and just the general dryness of the air everywhere. I would see if daycare would allow you to bring in a milder hand soap and hand cream to use after every hand washing. When I get a little crazy with hand sanitizer the dryness gets even worse, so maybe ask daycare to avoid that, too, if they use it.

Poor kiddo! I hope the patches get better soon!

[isabel]

Oct 17, 2019 21:27:37 GMT -5 Patsy Baloney said:

Ugh, I know that awful redness. I go through this on my hands during the winter. It’s a combo of the industrial-strength soap at work, super hot water, trying to wash well to avoid the winter germs, and just the general dryness of the air everywhere. I would see if daycare would allow you to bring in a milder hand soap and hand cream to use after every hand washing. When I get a little crazy with hand sanitizer the dryness gets even worse, so maybe ask daycare to avoid that, too, if they use it.

Poor kiddo! I hope the patches get better soon!

They do wash hands a lot (you wouldn't know it by the look of his nails, lol). I have lotion on the counter to bring in tomorrow and they'll apply during the day for him.

I just went up there and he was done reading, so we put on vaseline and socks with no objections. Fingers crossed it looks better in the morning.

[steamboat185]

I’m in CO too and my older one gets this every winter. Definitely try the socks and try a few different creams. We haven’t found one that works great but layering a hydrocortisone and Aquafor seems to make the biggest difference. Definitely push for him to dry his hands throughly my oldest doesn’t do a great job with the hand drying and it shows.

[kath16]

definitely try the Vaseline

ugh, that looks like it hurts... poor guy

[pandora89]

That looks so painful, poor guy.

I would ask if you can use/bring in a gentler soap to use at daycare and ask them to moisturize after every hand wash.

[dcn]

Hope it looks better today!

I would bring some cetaphil soap for him to use at daycare. We did that for ds1 and it did help a lot with his excema.

[nicolewi]

My daughter's hands look just like that, too! It started last year when she went to kindergarten. They are raw and red from her wrist (right where her sleeve goes) up. I don't know if she's not rinsing all the soap off, or what. It's so bad. We do Vaseline with socks on her hands many nights, and/or have a variety of creams. I have the Gold Bond extra dry skin one and we've been trying to do that every night. We also have something called "No Crack" (get the unscented) which is also really great.

If we forget for a couple of nights, her hands look terrible right away again.

[kdubs923]

DD's skin gets like that during the winter.

For the really rough patches like that, I put a hydrocortisone ointment. We have an RX strength 2.5% from her pedi, but the OTC ointment should be fine to start. Then top with either cerave moisturizing cream or cetaphil moisturizing cream (the ones in a tub). When it's that red, most lotions, even unscented stuff will sting. The creams go on a bit thicker and don't seem to hurt.

Once it's under control, just the moisturizing cream daily after a bath is usually enough.

[pooh8402]

Mine look like that in the winter (nurse plus dry air). It is painful. The only thing that helps is really staying on top of keeping my hands moisturized. I agree with vaseline/aquaphor at night, and avoiding scents. The lotion I like is Shea Moisture Black African Soap lotion (I get it from walmart; it's really thick and ought to be in a tub like a cream). It's really rich and is intended for eczema. It's what my sister uses on my nephew's eczema too.

[isabel]

Thanks, guys. His hands look a little better today, but not great. We did bring in lotion and his teacher said they would apply it before nap today. We'll do more vaseline and socks tonight. I'm also going to look at the store to try to find a more heavy duty lotion. Hydrocortisone is a good call too. We have some, so I'll give that a shot tonight as well.


virginiaham, I will keep that in mind. Thank you!

[dcn]

We use vanicream for ds1’s hands and it works well. And then mix hydrocortisone and aquaphor when it flares.