Eczema

The Allergy Specialist concluded that Kiki does not have any allergy to food and he insisted that I re-introduce fish to her diet. In fact, he said give three different types of fish and he wants me to report to him in three months' time (is it three-month-time, three month's time, three months' time or just three months time?)

Much to my hesistence, he assured me that her skin rashes and irritation has nothing to do with the food she's been given. He could sense my confusion and guilt about my conception of the food giving her the rashes; he looked me in the eye to repeat that I've done a good job and it has nothing to do with the pork or even fish.

And so, this was after doing the skin test, where the laboratary nurse drew a grid on Kiki's back and prick-scratch the skin with some tube / straw thingy, all 13 straws and waited for 15 minutes for the result to show. If there's any reaction, it will appear as a hive / hives on the skin. And so the result was 2 over 3, meaning Kiki has Eczema but it is just a mild case.

I thought Eczema was to do with beans or nuts but it was not so.

It is to do with -- dry skin.

(Below is from Wikipedia--
I don't wanna put the link here because the pictures are a tad disturbing {for me})

Terminology
The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions. These include dryness and recurring skin rashes that are characterized by one or more of these symptoms: redness, skin edema (swelling), itching and dryness, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing, or bleeding. Areas of temporary skin discoloration may appear and are sometimes due to healed lesions. Scratching open a healing lesion may result in scarring and may enlarge the rash.

Treatment
Avoiding dry skin ie, Moisturizing
Eczema can be exacerbated by dryness of the skin. Moisturizing is one of the most important self-care treatments for sufferers of eczema. Keeping the affected area moistened can promote skin healing and relief of symptoms.
Soaps and harsh detergents should not be used on affected skin because they can strip natural skin oils and lead to excessive dryness. Instead, the use of moisturizing body wash, or an emollient like aqueous cream, will maintain natural skin oils and may reduce some of the need to moisturize the skin. Another option is to try bathing using colloidal oatmeal bath treatments. In addition to avoiding soap, other products that may dry the skin such as powders or perfume should also be avoided.
End quote**

So, there are a few practices we have to correct.

Firstly, the temperature of the Bathwater need only to be luke warm.
Me being kiasu before, I used to give her rather hot water to bathe in.
This actually triggers the rashes and DRIES THE SKIN........ (sorry!)
So, ok, luke warm will do.

Secondly, keep bathtime under 10 minutes.
So, no more of extra-time in the bathtub my baby.
(the Doc said that prolonged water contact actually dries the skin and not hydrates)

Lastly, change of soaps to non-scent, non-foam, Ph balanced and what nots, and moisturize 4 times a day. This is not said by me, this is the doctor's prescription!
***

So, after about a week of this new routine, her skin does show improvement and somehow, I am beginning to believe that it is really not the food, although I still have to brace myself for the fish. I really HOPE that the next time we have fish,,,,,, she will be fine.