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Pod in Toddler

Question by Lauren on 10/26/2010

Dear Ted, I came across this thread in a desperate search for help treating POD in a toddler. My son is 18 months old. He has always had sensitive skin. (As an aside, I read recos from people on others sites for California Babies (CB) products to treat POD. His skin cannot tolerate any of their products - I've never used anything but water alone on his face, but we did use the CB body wash/shampoo and it made his skin extremely dry and bumpy.)

Anyway, in August of this year (he was 15/16 months) he developed a red, bumpy rash on the lower part of his left cheek and all around the left side of his mouth. It kept getting worse and worse. I finally took him to a pedi derm two weeks ago and she immediately diagnosed POD. She prescribed topical clindamycin twice a day.

I had been using that for about a week and a half. But it seemed to be making things worse! The bumps did seem to flatten out/disappear, but his face was red, raw and angry looking.

Also, I am convinced there was/is a connection to a sudden onset in severe constipation - this kid did not have constipation issues. Now he has major problems.

We have a follow-up with the derm in a day or two, but I really don't want to put him on an oral antibiotic.

As background - we have only ever used water on his face, we do brush his teeth, but we use Weleda children's toothpaste, which is fluoride-free and SLS free. He's never been on oral antibiotics for anything. And we've never used a steroid cream for any reason. Also, I already give him probiotics in his water every morning. And he eats plain, organic greek yogurt every single day.

I'm at a loss. My poor baby. His verbal skills are not strong enough to tell me if he's in pain. But there are times when he cries when I wash his face after a meal.

I desperate want to try and cure this naturally, but I'm unsure of what products to try in such a young child. I, myself, had clear skin all my life until a sudden outbreak of rosacea-acne in my late 20s. After a derm told me I would be on prescription antibiotics indefinitely, I managed to 'cure' myself by developing a regimen of washing my face with oils (oil cleansing method), and using benzoyl peroxide in the morning, and a combo of mandelic acid and salicylic acid at night. So I have these products in our home. But I m scared to try them on my son. I know I will not get encouragement from the derm - in my experience, they do not encourage anything except scripted meds.

Does anyone have experience or advice in treatment for such a little one I don't know what to try next... Thanks in advance.

Replied by Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) on 11/08/2010

Dear Lauren:

There are other possibilities of your condition that is related such as lupus, morgellons, mange, tick issues that are commonly misdiagnosed.

As for the child there is a few remedies that may work for an unexplained skin problem, that worked quite well here, including the bumpy red skin, However, there is all kinds of causes. As for me there is a couple of remedies that work very well, enough so that I don't ended up finding other remedies. If a person has ticks issue, benzyl benzoate and perhaps benzyl peroxide are commonly used externally, but to apply on the baby is something I won't do either.

Magnesium chloride solution 70%, that is applied on the skin will usually stop the redness in about 30 minutes to an hour. This is applied on the skin and one of the key electrolytes that's missing in human diets. The second remedy is a saturated borax solution in a 1% hydrogen peroxide. This seems to cause skin drying, but not that bad since it is only 1%, but in cold dry weather, that might be another matter as I live in hot humid Bangkok environment. The third solution where the cause is fungus is niacinamide B3. It is prepared by dissolving 500 mg of niacinamide in a tablespoon of water and then is applied on the skin. Niacinamide intereferes with a key enzyme in fungus and kill them, and hence reduces allergic reaction that way. A small baby might take a small amount of B3 niacinamide, whose dose is only 25 mg to help reduce allergic reaction is a possibility. As for the fourth solution, tumeric or curcumin is applied on the skin or a mixture of both is also more cost effective, at 50/50 mix.

In any case there seems to be some sort of this condition of the skin that is currently unidentified, but is usually remedied best with magnesium chloride solution, applied externally on the skin as often as you like. It has warming effect also. Rinsing is not needed for about an hour or so, therafater a person may rinsed unused portion.

Ted

Replied by Lauren on 11/10/2010

Dear Ted,

Thank you so much!

is the Magnesium chloride solution 70% something that can be easily obtained under a specific product name or can i make this

i have no idea where to even start looking for this...

before hearing back from you, i tried using ACV on his face. that seemed to help the first day or so, but it quickly got horribly dry and it remains very red and awful looking. i am now just trying to soothe it with cetaphil.

Thanks again

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