Tips For Troubleshooting Eczema Triggers For Your Kids

Posted on: 19 September 2016

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When your child suffers from eczema, there's a good chance that he or she may have some kind of allergy or other sensitivity that's the underlying cause. The sooner you can recognize that trigger, the easier it will be to minimize your child's symptoms. Identifying the source may take a process of elimination, so it could take time. Here are a few tips to help you narrow down what's causing the itchy rash on your child's skin.

Tips For Spotting The Triggers

Once you understand that there could be something external causing your child's reaction, the next step is to determine what he or she is coming into contact with on a regular basis. You'll want to be proactive about keeping track of every potential trigger so that you can log responses and spot trends.

Create a symptom journal. This journal will make it easier for you to look back at the days surrounding each outbreak to determine if there are any common threads. On a daily basis, write down everything your child eats, touches, and is exposed to. This includes things like detergents, lotions, soaps, foods, fabrics, and more. You'll also want a section of each journal page for notating symptoms and changes over time. Fill in both daily for the most comprehensive tracking.

Minimize exposures as much as possible. Eliminate anything that could potentially irritate your child's skin, like harsh detergents, strong perfumes, scented soaps, and even rough fabrics. If your child's skin is sensitive, these things can cause eczema to worsen significantly.

Protect your child from respiratory allergen exposure. Sometimes even respiratory allergens can cause skin rashes like eczema. If your child has an allergy to dust, pollen, or pet hair, these things could trigger eczema as an exposure response. Minimize exposure as much as possible and talk with a doctor about allergy treatments.

Remember that diet can be equally important. For some kids, sensitivities to added colors and flavors, intolerance of grains, or other food allergy issues will often lead to a skin reaction like eczema. Keeping track of everything your child eats will help. You can also have allergy testing done to find any currently unknown allergies.

For situations with persistent eczema or trouble identifying the cause, talk with a local dermatologist. Not only can he or she help with finding the source of the outbreak, the dermatologist will also provide you with tips to help keep eczema at bay and to treat it when it does arise.