Skin reaction from contact?

I think it could be allergies to just about anything. I have eczema on my arms and have been told as a kid it was allergies to my desk in school, as I got older to the sugar in the donut store where I worked, to the fabric softener in my clothes. Well, none of these are factors in my life anymore, but I still have eczema on my arms. I think some people just have certain areas where they will break out. I notice it get worse when it's hot outside and I sweat, to certain soaps, when I'm stressed, if I eat something i am allergic to (I'm not PA, but have a ton of other allergies).

My PA son also has eczema, and his is also on his wrists and behind his knees, and his is basically the same thing. Some days it's good, other days it's bad. I really couldn't pinpoint it to just after he's been outside or not.

My almost 3 year old PA daughter DOES react from contact with peanut oils at playgrounds, chairs, etc. But her "hives" look more like bug bites that increasingly get bigger and bigger. I am not sure they look the same as excema (spelling?) does. My pediatric allergist has confirmed that some of her unexplained hives are from contact with peanut/nut oils or residue. Her hives go away within 30min of her dose of Benadryl and do not return until she is exposed again.

Good luck in finding out what is making your son break out. Maybe it is your laundry detergent, grass, or some other allergic reaction. Allergies make parents turn into detectives-we have to "solve" all of these mysteries in our children.

Best of luck.
Shandra (mom to PA and TA allergic child, Madeline)

My daughter breaks out in hives immediatly if she has had contact with peanuts. (my brother kissed her on the face after eating a handful of peanuts and she broke out that instant)She gets eczema a lot also that will go in stages. Right now she is free and clear but earlier in the month she was covered and we happened to be at the beach at the time and she got some sun through her sun screen and where the eczema was there was not sun. Now that the eczema has cleared she has white spots all over her and I am sure strangers think she has some sort of disease. It makes me sad to see how much exzema was on her body. Anyway to make a long story short I still don't know the source of the bad exzema breakouts and then why sometimes they go away. We eat and do the same things pretty much all the time.

Good luck determining the source. If I come up with anything I will let you know.

Brooke

PS After reading over this it makes me wonder if my brother's kiss and her reaction could have caused her eczema to be so bad earlier this month. It got bad right after that incident so maybe coming in contact on the skin it gives the rest of the body a breakout. Who knows?

There is an article SOMEWHERE on this huge site of ours that talks about how excema is an allergic reaction. That it takes some time for the body to basically break down the skin. Reactions in the form of excema can take as much as two weeks to play out.

I wish I could remember where the article is. Probably somewhere in the media section...

I'll try to locate it again.
C&N's Mom
Alisa

I most definitely get eczema from airborne peanut exposures! I teach one day a week and break out from the kids eating their pb at lunch - I never touch any of it or them after lunch. During the winter when I'm wearing long sleeves it's not so bad, but now that it's summer my neck, arms, and face are covered! I'll usually get almost healed by the next week and then it gets bad again, so I know that's what's causing it.

Rebekah

My daughter, Bridget, had severe exema when she was small. She is now ten and never gets it. It seemed to stop around the age of 4 or 5. She had a sensitivity to wheat in addition to a severe peanut allergy. We took her off of wheat for about 6 months when she was three. After that the exema improved and eventually went away. She reacts with hives the minute her skin comes in contact with peanuts. Airborne peanut stuff, like at school doesn't seem to bother her at all.

I just read on another web site about peanut byproducts in laundry soap, skin soap, shampoos, skin moisturizers and makeup. Perhaps the laundry soap or skin soap might be the cause.