Cranky babies may be crying themselves red in the face for a very
painful reason. Your precious bundle of joy may have a case of atopic
dermatitis but not the words to tell you about it.
Atopic
dermatitis is a somewhat catch-all term for dermatological skin
disorders of undetermined origin that usually involve a food
intolerance or full-blown allergy. It’s most often babies and small
children diagnosed with atopic dermatitis and, luckily, they will
likely outgrow it in a year or two but, in the meantime, they’re likely
to be quite miserable.
Patches of rough scaly skin that may
feel warm to the touch and be swollen and tender are a telltale signs
of atopic dermatitis. So are oozing patches of tiny blisters on baby’s
torso, upper extremities, and face.
Skin lesions associated
with atopic dermatitis, a form of eczema, are often limited to the
upper body and may vary from day to day. One characteristic of this
diagnosis is that the lesions are often symmetrical; if the inside of
one elbow (a very likely spot) is inflamed, the other arm will exhibit
similar symptoms.
Your baby can’t describe the symptoms or the agonies of this ailment but the few adults who get it certainly can.
Some
say atopic dermatitis burns like rubbing jalapeno pepper juice all over
your body. That a cool shower helps a lot but when the water on the
skin evaporates after the shower, it’s like a million tiny pinpricks
tormenting the body with an entirely different sensation of pain.
Others
say the itch is unimaginable and no amount of scratching relieves it.
In fact, the scratching can go on until the skin bleeds and there is
still no relief available. Others fantasize being a snake with the good
fortune to shed old, painful skin and start fresh with raw, painless
skin again.
The obvious treatment is to identify the
offending food and remove it from the child’s diet. The most common
triggers for food allergies that babies are likely to encounter are
wheat gluten, soy, and dairy products.
Other foods that
trigger atopic dermatitis are more suited to the tastes of older
children and adults. If you child eats shellfish or nuts, especially
peanuts, consider altering his or her diet to eliminate these items for
a year or two.
To get instant relief from the agonies of
atopic dermatitis, your child’s pediatrician may prescribe
hydrocortisone or other steroidal ointments or creams. If symptoms
prove resistant to this treatment, immunosuppressant medications may be
in order.
When your baby seems consistently listless, out of
sorts, and cranky, consider his or her diet. The redness in your
precious baby’s face may not be due to anger or distress. It is one
very obvious sign of painful atopic dermatitis.