Hello all I am new to this forum and am looking for some answers for my step daughter.

I have a 9 year old step daughter who we just recently were able to have for overnight visits and summer visits (she has had chronic lung disease since birth and the judge felt it be best, for her to be close to her mother until she was recently given a clean bill of health). She spent last weekend, with us I picked her up friday night at our meeting point which is 2 and a half hours away, and got home at arround 11:30 pm friday night. All was fine until she came to me Saturday afternoon complaining of a sore on the back of her leg. I looked at it and it was inflamed and red and swollen and looked to be infected I continued to examine some small white blisters arround the inflamed bump and appeared on the other leg as well. I asked her how long she had the blisters on the back of her leg and all she could tell me was a really long time I asked her if her mom has seen them and she said yes. I then noticed small bumps totally covering the surface of her skin on her arms and legs which reminded me of goose bumps because all the hair on the arms and legs stuck out like when someone is cold and had the effect of someone being cold with the bumps and all. So I asked her what all the little bumps were and she said her mom told her they were goose bumps. She then said that they are always there and never go away. I then called her mom to ask her what the blisters were and she said she never knew about any blisters and explained that she always had bumps all over her skin from birth and bought lotions for it but they never went away and then told me that that is just the way her skin is. I then told her mom that I was going to take her to a clinic that is open after hours and weekends to get them looked at. On the way to the doctor's office I explained to her that she should try really hard to remember when the blisters first showed up so when the doctor asked she could give an answer. When we got to the doctor's office the nurse asked us when the blisters appeared and she replied that they had been there since the first grade and she is in the third grade now so they have been there for 2 years, the nurse then got a look of shock on her face. The doctor came in shortly after and he took one look at all the bumps AND the blisters and said she had a staph infection. He gave me some cream and sent us on our way.

When we got home I called her mom and told her what the doctor said and she told me she swore that she had no idea about blisters on the back of her legs and suddenly remembered that she has Eczema. I asked her if she ever got a doctor's opinion of this and she quickly changed the subject so I left it at that.

I have seend Eczema and can almost positively say that this is not Eczema. This really frustrates me that she never bothered to get her looked at but I will not dwell on that. What matters now is getting her the help she needs.

I then urged her to let me take her to a dermatologist because of her living in a small town I knew it would be next to none finding one where she lives. She has agreed to let me take her to a dermatologist where we live but since it is still 1 month away before I can take her (so that she will not miss school to go), I wanted to ask someone here if this sounds like KP so that I can ask the dermatologist how we can make it a little better for her if it is.

The bumps on her arms and legs look exactly like goose bumps but they are everywhere, and they cover all of her arms and legs, both front and back completely. She says they do not itch and dont bother her. They are not red and do not have any hair blockage, every follicle stands out like a goose bump and every hair in the follicle stands up like it were a goose bump. I would rather it be KP than a Staph Infection as I have read that staph, if gone untreated can be very harmful and cause things from toxic shock to kidney failure. It may sound like a cruel thing to wish KP on her but I fear for her safety and dont want this to be something that could be fatal or harmful for her. Expecially if she has had this for 9 years now.

Thank you all in advance, any and all advice will be taken to heart and really apprecaited.

Thank you
Ladyarwen646

Hello ladyarwen,
How wonderful that you want to help your stepdaughter. Please check out the many conversations going on at Parents Corner to read what others are doing to help their children. Feel free to join in on any of the ongoing discussions there. I hope you are able to find a remedy for your stepdaughter.
This sounds like KP, but a doctor will be able to tell if it is.

kebod

Hi Ladyarwen646:

Welcome to our community! Thank you for sharing your situation with us.

I really admire you for the effort you are making to help your stepdaughter. You are a very special stepmom.

Long post below, so be prepared.

While reading your thread I thought more and more that perhaps your stepdaughter suffers two different skin conditions at the same time (of course, I'm not a derm so please take my advice lightly).

The goose bumps on her body may be definitely KP. Sometimes KP appears as goosebumps with no redness associated. This may be a milder form of KP.
Here (@Parent's Corner) you can get advice from other parent's and find more info regarding treatment approaches for milder forms of KP in children.
Did you (or her mom) try the lotion on her?

I have an 8 y.o. nephew. She often says: "Remember that yesterday you took me to the zoo?" ...and I go like...uhumm... "baby, I took you to the Zoo two years ago" (Sometimes kids don't have a very good notion of time LOL).

Perhaps the infection hasn't been there for too long (2 years), it could be less.

Assuming it's a Staph infection, maybe it hasn't yet released many toxins that can affect her. Another thing is that her mother did noticed the bumps, but not the blisters in her legs. Maybe this blisters are relatively new.

I suggest to follow Dr's directions and test the cream on her and see what results does she gets.
If nothing happens, then it is NOT a bacterial infection.

Maybe it is a fungi infection that can be related to children her age. They play and sweat a lot in school. Then they get home and if not supervised or monitored during bath or shower time they don't clean their body very well. As their arms are so small they can't reach some body parts like the back of the legs. This can lead to fungi infection because of the moisture/humidity that accumulates there.
Fungi infections can manifest like this if it itches and she scratches a lot it can also be infected by bacteria under her nails.

If the Staph cream don't work for her maybe you can try this milder treatment for fungal infections that can be easily found at drug stores:
Creams for vaginal fungi can be applied to the affected area as they contain the active ingredients that kill fungi effectively: Miconazole, Clotrimazole, Ketoconazole
You can also try: Selenium shampoo (Selsun Blue, Head and Shoulders Dark Blue Bottle or any other generic brand that contains Selenium Sulfide as the main active ingredient)
(Apply to affected area twice day. If you see an improvement in the first week of usage, continue the treatment for 21 consecutive days). As any other treatment, if you see that the skin is redder than usual, irritated (more than usual) discontinue the use immediately.

For the shampoo, don't apply it pure- dilute it 1/2 part of shampoo to 1/2 part of water, then after 2 minutes rinse it off completely.

Sorry, my English is not so good as it is not my first language.

Great advice- Elsa. Staph infection (Im a nurse but not a doc) would not have lasted 9 or even 2 years- your stepdaughter would have become septic by now which is very bad and would require a hospital stay. I would try dandruff shampoo on her and see what happens. The blistering is stumping me unless she is picking and it is getting enflamed and irritated. You could try antibiotic ointment like Bacitracin which is OTC on the affected areas 3 times a day. Her Kp sounds like mine- I don't get blisters but sometimes I get trapped hair with a white plug at the end and if I pull it out I bleed and it kind of looks like a blister. It does sound like irritated kp and I'm wondering if mom is maybe using a lotion with a chemical she is allergic too- sounds like a skin burn. Without seeing it its hard to say! Sounds like she needs unscented and gentle everything. Those blisters regardless of what they are need to be cleaned out though- hydrogen peroxide (won't burn) ot Bactine and then an anti fungal or if you are using the dandruff shampoo- the antibiotic cream. Best I can give ya without seeing it!
Danni

Hello again everybody, and thank you all for the wonderful welcomes and advice.



I wanted to respond to your question, Elsa. I did put the cream on her the day I got it, on Saturday and put it on her in the morning after her shower on Sunday, but I had to take her back home on sunday morning as well. I gave verbal instructions to her mom to continue the treatment and have spoken to her last night about it and she says she is still continuing the treatment and that it is getting better ( the red and white blisters ) I had already told her not to cover the small bumps, on most of her body with the cream as I am assuming it can probabbly do more harm than good because it said on the label not to use in large quantities or over large areas.The ointment or cream the doc gave me was Bactracin (not sure of the spelling) Which I believe is supposed to help for Staph infection. I am still trying to research this and would also like to thank you Dannigirl as I am sure you are right when you said that she would probabbly be in the hospital right now if the staph infection had been there that long (9 years is a very long time) I just dont see that it can be any other than KP I can not find any skin conditions that could be there from birth affecting over 50% of her body with no other symptoms other than the bumps. I feel reassured and relieved that this is not something that has done her any harm.

I do have a couple more questions, if this is a hereditary condition how could she have gotten KP without it running in the family of either side? I was not told by her mom that she or her family has this condition and did breifly discuss KP with her after reading about it. Also when the follicles clog with the keritin does it prohibit the hair from exiting the follicle in most cases?

Thank you all again.

P.S. I will continue with my research on this wonderfully informative site. And look forward to reading all the great information and ideas on how to help lessen the effects of KP.

Ladyarwen646

Hello again everybody, and thank you all for the wonderful welcomes and advice.



I wanted to respond to your question, Elsa. I did put the cream on her the day I got it, on Saturday and put it on her in the morning after her shower on Sunday, but I had to take her back home on sunday morning as well. I gave verbal instructions to her mom to continue the treatment and have spoken to her last night about it and she says she is still continuing the treatment and that it is getting better ( the red and white blisters ) I had already told her not to cover the small bumps, on most of her body with the cream as I am assuming it can probabbly do more harm than good because it said on the label not to use in large quantities or over large areas.The ointment or cream the doc gave me was Bactracin (not sure of the spelling) Which I believe is supposed to help for Staph infection. I am still trying to research this and would also like to thank you Dannigirl as I am sure you are right when you said that she would probabbly be in the hospital right now if the staph infection had been there that long (9 years is a very long time) I just dont see that it can be any other than KP I can not find any skin conditions that could be there from birth affecting over 50% of her body with no other symptoms other than the bumps. I feel reassured and relieved that this is not something that has done her any harm.

I do have a couple more questions, if this is a hereditary condition how could she have gotten KP without it running in the family of either side? I was not told by her mom that she or her family has this condition and did breifly discuss KP with her after reading about it. Also when the follicles clog with the keritin does it prohibit the hair from exiting the follicle in most cases?

Thank you all again.

P.S. I will continue with my research on this wonderfully informative site. And look forward to reading all the great information and ideas on how to help lessen the effects of KP.

Ladyarwen646

Hi lady,
I guess some people can carry this but not have symptoms- noone in my family has it or has had it- but my son and I do. Yes when they clog it creates an ingrown hair type thing. But mr son has itty bitty hair on his legs and his don't clog. This is where light exfoliation comes in and I do it on my son with a very soft washcloth or even better a soap bag that is very soft with some mild soap- i like Kirk's Coco castile soap unscented, shea soap, or if you can't find these- Aveeno moisturizing bar. Kirk's is worth the hunt though- it's cheap as well. Many people are having great success with Extra Virgin Organic Olive Oil as well after baths. If you have a Whole Foods around you or a health food store like GNC or the Vitamin Shoppe- that's your best bet for finding these and some other great KP items that will not make her KP worse. Bacitracin is going to fight off any infection but it has to go on and be diligent about it. Gentle exfoliation is the best bet for letting any trapped hairs loose. Also, sometimes there may not be any hair at all but a white plug that feels like hard plastic and sometimes these are at the end of hairs. It's yucky but that is the keratin build up! It will take some time to clear her up and it may not totally go away but it can become alot better and more liveable- just tell her she is not alone and we are all pulling for her!! Please mail some more if you have any questions- I can email you options that I have used on my 2 year old son and they are easy to find usually- I have also have an extra bar of Kirk's I would be happy to send it to you to try! This little girl- her self esteem has to be already affected and I have a daughter as well so I know what you are going through!! Your an awesome stepmomma!! By the way, Bacitracin is just an antibiotic ointment- can even get it over the counter- so the doc is treating the infection with that. Good call on his part!! It's used for preventing infection in wounds and curing them. We use it widely for care of cuts and when we have to stitch someone back up they always take this home with them. Hope that helps on the bacitracin issue!
Danni

Hello again everyone,

I just wanted to post an update, in case anyone was wondering what ever happened at the appointment. I took her in to be seen last month (sorry I could not get back any sooner, but with 5 children it's hard to get on the comp) Anyhow, I took her in and the Drematologist has come to the conclusion that she does infact have KP though she did not give any options for treatment, but with use of resources on this site I'm quite sure we can find something that will work to keep it at bay. The Dermatologist also diagnosted her with having Ichthyosis vulgaris as to which she was more concerned about and has prescribed her a lotion that will help to treat her condition of severe dryness of her skin. The blisters on the back of her legs were something called Mulluscum Contagiosum, which was treated with a blistering agent in the office. The lotion is working great for the Ichthyosis, from what we hear (as we have not seen her since the last stay) but I can vouch for the great results in the severity in the dryness of her skin as I was a witness to the results the morning after her first treatment and for several days afterwards. Boy was there ever an Improvement! I have suggested light exfoliation for the KP to mom but if she has tried it or not I am not yet aware. I hope you have enjoyed reading this update and I am quite certain we can definately make her life a whole lot easier. I look forward to continuing reading all the wonderful posts here and want to thank everyone for all the wonderful insight. A strong and caring community can acomplish so many wonderful things! CHEERS!

Ladyarwen646

So glad to hear she is doing better!

HI

I'm so glad that you posted an update. You are great with your stepdaughter. I hope more people were like you

I'm pleased to have you here contributing and participating in the forums.

My eight year old had KP badly. I used KP Lotion and exfoliating scrub. You can get it at dermadoctor.com. It took two weeks and it was gone from his face, arms, back, butt, abdomen and sides. I keep him moisturized daily now with the lotion to keep it away.

I hope for your sons sake that you put sunscreen on him every day as those lotions are full of Alpha Hydroxy which thins the skin and makes you more susceptible to bad sunburns and skin cancer. Hope getting rid of kp is worth ruining a kid's skin over...