How to figure out what causes a rash?

[misspriss]

DD has a rash, I just realized she has had it for 4 months. It doesn't itch, there is no fever, it spreads very slowly. I know she's had it for so long because it showed up right before her 2 year checkup in early June. I mentioned it to her doctor, he looked at it and we agreed it was probably either a viral rash or related to detergent. It was just a few little small bumps on her chest, no redness. It did not get worse until a few weeks ago, then it started spreading to her stomach and the bumps got redder, and now they have spread to her back. There is no fever, no itching, no recent illness, the bumps seem rather benign.

I keep trying to pin it down - the bumps showed up when I quit treating her seasonal allergies daily, and seem to have worsened when her allergies flared in the fall. I have used several different detergents in the past four months (trying to find one that works good for cloth diapers) although I'd say I QUIT using the brand I'd been using for a while.

Can detergents cause a non-itchy rash? I don't think it's allergy related, histamine (and thus stopping antihistamines) itch, by definition. I think it's detergent related or bath product related, but why only on the back and stomach? She has been more sensitive to products int he past, and she fairly bad seasonal allergies.

Anyone know anything else it could be? It doesn't seem emergent for calling the doctor as it's causing her no distress and I already showed it to him and it's appearance was not alarming.

Before I had kids, I never knew kids got so many rashes.

 

[misspriss]

It doesn't look like pictures of rashes from laundry detergents, it's way milder!

Maybe viral? Maybe a mild detergent rash? Ugh.

 

[Zephram]

Do you have a pic?

I have eczema and it is not always itchy. I've also had allergic skin rashes that haven't been itchy. You can't rule things out by the fact she's not scratching it.

 

[whatwillbex]

Sounds like eczema to me. My dd gets it. Try some E45 may help or sudacream on a small patch where there are some and see if it clears x

 

[misspriss]

 

[misspriss]

It shows up well in the flash, not as noticeable to the naked eye. The spots get red after a warm bath and go to flesh color the rest of the time.

 

[Zephram]

Yep, that looks like eczema. My DS1 gets the same - it always looks redder after the bath as the warm water makes the blood come to the surface. He also only gets it on the back and stomach. To treat it - stop using soap of any kind, no bath bubbles, etc, and moisturise daily and especially after a bath. Don't give hot baths as it dries out the skin, keep them lukewarm and short.

Whenever my son's flares up I just be diligent about these things and moisturising and it calms down in a few days. Sounds like you're already using a sensitive laundry powder, which is good, but another good thing to do is add an extra rinse or long rinse to each cycle if your washing machine has the option.

 

[misspriss]

Yep, that looks like eczema. My DS1 gets the same - it always looks redder after the bath as the warm water makes the blood come to the surface. He also only gets it on the back and stomach. To treat it - stop using soap of any kind, no bath bubbles, etc, and moisturise daily and especially after a bath. Don't give hot baths as it dries out the skin, keep them lukewarm and short.

Whenever my son's flares up I just be diligent about these things and moisturising and it calms down in a few days. Sounds like you're already using a sensitive laundry powder, which is good, but another good thing to do is add an extra rinse or long rinse to each cycle if your washing machine has the option.

Thanks! It just seems to have gotten worse in the past few weeks, I switched from Seventh Generation laundry to Tide Free and Gentle, which is a free & clear but it is full strength Tide too (I was using one on laundry and one diapers, but decided to use one total) I used it on her diapers without much issue, but we use liners for her. We've switched to disposables for other reasons for diapers so we don't need a "diaper" detergent.

We also started using Baby Dove around the time we started noticing it, so I told DH to stop using it on her (he does 75% of the baths and I do the newborn's bath) and we will use the newborn's California Baby fragrance free stuff on the rest of her body and just water on her rashy areas and start using a moisturizer.

We also resumed her antihistamines as it is fall allergy season and we've noticed some allergy symptoms as well, it might help.

I hate to change a lot of things at once and then I won't know if one helped, but I'd rather try everything! I'm fine using different soap and going back to the seventh generation laundry detergent, and she is having nasal allergy symptoms so the meds I'd do anyway.

 

[lau86]

Is it molluscum?! It looks like little spots from the picture but it's not too clear

 

[misspriss]

Is it molluscum?! It looks like little spots from the picture but it's not too clear

I don't think so, it looks nothing like the pictures. The bumps are smaller, no fluid, and not dimpled.

 

[sevenofnine]

It looks like eczema. I have sensitive skin and get it sometimes, and so does my dd. Maybe try switching to a different detergent?