Parent Tip #103

Be proactive with your children's healthcare. 

Ask questions. Do your own research. Trust your gut.

The sunshine on this soy milk was perfect for my #febphotoaday challenge!!

My Riley Bear developed a rash on his mouth shortly before his 4th birthday last December. At first, I treated at home with Aveeno Eczema Cream and Vaseline. It would get better and worse, but never completely went away. When it got way worse, I took him to the dermatologist and the doctor said it was infected and prescribed a few creams. It got better again, but still never completely went away.

One of those creams was a strong steroid which clearly stated in the literature NOT for use on children. I questioned this with the pharmacist, the pediatrician and the dermatologist. After many many phone calls and days of waiting, I was ultimately convinced by the dermatologist that this was the only way to treat his rash.

I remained skeptical, but the cream did help. Again, the rash never completely went away. I decided to put faith in the scary cream and let it do it's job.

Then I had a conversation with my sister who has had a similar rash/problem since childhood warning me to stay away from steroid creams on the face because she is now having major problems from using these scary creams on her own face for years.

She scared me into being more proactive. Thanks, T!!!

I scheduled an allergy test, because I read that eczema is an allergic reaction. Instead of treating the symptoms, let's find out the cause! The results came back yesterday. My Bear is allergic to dust and milk!!! I was floored. It makes so much sense. He eats his cereal every morning and gets it all over his face, and he's allergic to the stuff.

Anyways, long story short. If I had never requested an allergy test, his allergy would probably have caused him more problems to be treated with more creams and/or more scary drugs. Hopefully, this new knowledge will nip the problem in the bud. My fingers are crossed.

And without getting into conspiracy theories and problems with the system, etc, etc. Christopher pointed out that doctors don't diagnose allergies first off because there are no prescription drugs to treat allergies. And many doctors are basically drug salesmen. (Just think about that for a moment.)

<3, Tabi :D

For past Parent Tips, click here and here.