It’s very easy for kids with eczema to develop skin infections, and it’s just as easily missed by parents. And eczema patch and a patch with skin infection both look red and inflamed. There are a few ways you can tell if your child has a skin infection related to eczema.
Odd Odor!
In our early days of battling with eczema and not knowing what I was doing no matter how many times I gave my kid a bath, she would have this weird stench coming from parts of her body that I wasn’t sure what it was initially. It mainly came from the back of her ear or the back of her knee. At first, I thought I was doing a bad job bathing her, little did I know that the smell was a of a developing skin infection. Moral of the story, smell your child after bath-time! If they smell like rotten eggs even after bath-time you need to make an appointment with your pediatrician/dermatologist. These types of infection can only be treated with topical Anti-Bacterial ointments/creams prescribed by your pediatrician.
Funky Fluids!
Sometimes the area that tend to get infected also starts oozing clear-yellow liquid. The skin around and at the site will look raw, inflamed and shiny. I do the tissue test to see if the area is constantly getting wet. I take a thin piece of tissue and gently pat that area dry, I then wait for a while and try it again, if the area is wet again it means that area is oozing liquid (not the same as sweat). In kids with eczema when the skin barrier gets compromised the natural bacterial flora that is found on top of your skin causes these infections to happen. Assess your child’s skin on a daily basis, you are the expert on your own child’s skin, you will know if something is off. Consult your pediatrician when in doubt.
Appearance of the skin!
Daily assessment of the skin is very important to tell the difference between a new skin infection vs your child’s normal eczema. There are two types of skin infections that kids with eczema can get, fungal and/or bacterial. In my case, my kid had a fungal rash super-imposed with a bacterial infection. It can often be challenging to distinguish between them. If your child’s skin is oozing, red, inflamed, smells funny, and feels warms – get it checked out!
This blog is really helpful, my first child has eczema, she had it soon after birth but the allergy kicked in later. Handling this is really stressful, have to take so much care what to feed her. I see in your blog, there is receipe section that is going to come in, looking for good tips and recipes.
Also as you suggested it’s good to know what precaution or care to take in terms of controlling allergy when having a second one, as we are planning for our second one. Really thankful for this blog, was not aware of all those datails.
Thank you! I am glad i could provide some insight, and good luck with your second child!