QUESTIONS about Red Dot rash
We are from Hong Kong. My son is 3.5 months old now. When he was 1.5 months old, his face started to develop
some red dots and rashes. Our paediatrician said it's mild eczema and gave us some 1% Hydro cortisone to
apply to his face. The rashes and redness and roughness went away after applying this steroid, but then this
doesn't cure his condition forever since these redness, itchiness and rashes keep coming back and forth.
And we also found out that his face is getting dryer each day (some wrinkles
too) when we applied the Hydrocortisone to his face.
We went to another paediatrician and he gave us steroids again, this time it's called "Perderm Cream".
After seeing 6 paediatricians and keep getting steroids, we don't want to use steroids anymore,
so we tried a dermatologist instead . He gave us Sodium Fusidate (Foban) Cream. He said it's milder than steroids.
He told us to use i t for 5-6 days (2 times a day) to see how it goes.
Well, my son's skin condition on the face is bett er, but when we stopped using the Foban Cream,
the itchiness and redness and rashes seems to come back , and then my son scratches his face every night
and then the next morning, his face and eyelids will have some blood because of his scratching!!
(By the way, we tried Aqueous Cream on my son's face but it's not helping so we changed to use vaseline
on his face instead. We are also using Aqueous Cream to bath our son (using it like a soap) as per doctor's advice.)
Now about my son's head. He didn't have cradle cap when he was born.
But now his head is full of flakes on different areas (some areas are super dry but some areas are ok).
There are also some redness at the back of his head...it's like an allergy of something and it's definitely itchy
because my son is rubbing his head against the bed sheet every day to calm the itchiness.
Is this cradle cap?? This happened when he was about
2.5 months (seems started when we changed to use Dermaveen Bathing Oil). Do you know how to cure this?
Now, we are using Olive Oil and leave it on his head for 15 mins before washing his hair with Johnson 's
Top-To-Toe Bath to wash his hair (we didn't use Johnson's Baby Shampoo because it seems to have more
fragrance than the Top-To-Toe Bath). Our baby takes his bath in the morning or during lunch hours (not at night).
I am feeling so helpless because we have taken our baby to see 6 paediatricians and 1 dermatologist already
and nobody can help us find out the root cause and how to cure the condition permanently.
And then we end us trying all sorts of creams and methods by learning from other mommies' experience.
Seeing my baby suffer each night because of itchiness and lack of sleep makes us so anxious and sad.
Will you be able to help us?
Really appreciate your help.
Thank you very much.
ANSWERS(S) about Red Dot rash
Unfortunately about a third of children will develop eczema but the good news is their immune system
develops with age and it will eventually clear up. Usually within the first one to two years of life
but in very rare cases up to 5 years of age.
The good news is your son sounds like he has sensitive skin now but you can improve his skin a lot
while waiting for his body to naturally overcome it.
The Foban Cream is an antibiotic so should be used if his skin is showing any signs of brown crusts or
open sores and continue to use it for about 7 days after these clear.
Eczema causes the skin to allow bacteria to cause infection which must have been present for the Foban to work.
You can use the Foban with our Hypo-allergenic balm.
I would start with our
Hypoallergenic Face and Body balm
which is safe to apply anywhere on the body even his eyelids.
For areas that need Foban apply the Foban first then the Hypo-allergenic Balm over the top to protect the skin.
The right amount leaves just a slight shine on the skin and you will need to reapply it 4-6 times a day before and after a feed and at bedtime.
Just use the Foban as Doctor directed, probably once or twice a day is usual.
Our Hypo-allergenic face and body balm contains the safe antiseptic chlorhexidine so should stop any infections returning when you finish the Foban (we call it Fucidin in Australia)
I suggest using the aqueous cream as a body soap substitute as you are doing and stop the Dermaveen.
Instead of using olive oil on his scalp, apply the hypo-allergenic balm about 1 hour before his bath to
all the scaly patches on his head.
Then when bathing him do not wet his hair. First apply a small amount of the top-to-toe bath liquid straight onto
the scalp without water and massage it into the oily areas of the scalp until the Balm and bath liquid form a
creamy mix.
Then add water from the bath and massage his scalp using firm pressure on the crust but not hard enough that he
doesn't like it.
Massage as firmly as you can and add more water then wash the hair completely clean with water.
After drying his hair use a fine comb to remove any loose flakes.
Repeat this everyday and the
cradle cap will soon disappear.
When the
craddle cap has gone wash his hair every day just
with the bath product and massage his scalp. This should fix the
craddle cap problem within
14 days.
The eczema will take longer and you may occasionally need to use the Hydrocortisone before bed for his itch
while the Hypo-allergenic Balm will help his skin stop drying out and recover.
The back of his neck is probably related to the cradle cap so I would treat it the same.
You will get steady improvement but expect the occasional setback if he gets a cold or is teething
as these things can temporarily flare up the eczema.
I think you will find this will help greatly.
Kind Regards,
David Hosking.