# 6 yr old with red tiny pimply rash around mouth. what is is??



## floiejo2

My 6yo has this rashy looking thing going on around her mouth and nose. They are tiny little almost pimple looking red spots in kind of a rash. They are next to and below her nostrils and all the way around her mouth/chin. She has very dry skin so at first I thought they were just overly dry spots. We've used eucerin cream, soothing balm, badger cream, even some of my origins cream and nothing is helping or improving them at all. She says it itches quite a bit and scratches at the area which doesn't help. I'm wondering if it's some type of allergic reaction? But just on her mouth/nose area? Any ideas of what this could be?


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## nextcommercial

If you've bought new toothpaste recently, it could be that. That one is very common. (try SLS free toothpaste for a while if you think that's it)

It could be a food allergy, but since it's been there for a while, I think it'd be something she's eating often, is there a new food she's been eating a lot?


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## floiejo2

Thank you for the suggestions. We actually have been using the same toothpaste with our girls forever. And it's SLS free. And I have been racking my brain trying to think of anything "new" that she's been eating a lot of lately and can't...She's a very very picky eater.


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## eepster

It may have started out as just dry skin, and the allergic reaction could be to all the lotions you put on the dry patch. Eucerin cream would do it to DS, it has mineral oil, which is one of DS's eczema triggers.


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## no5no5

I hate to say it, but is there any possibility they could be cold sores/fever blisters (a/k/a herpes simplex)? That's the first thing that springs to mind, and it is very, very easy to contract.


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## Holiztic

I do not know how common our experience is, but I have to put it out there every time I see this kind of question--esp. in late summer, because I WISH someone had suggested it to me last year at this time!

DS had a 3 month long peri-oral rash of little red bumps. It came on kind of slow and got worse and worse. Started in August and did not resolve until October. I started a food log to identify an allergy but drove myself crazy, had at least 15 different theories over 2 months, but it never got better.

I finally found, through a google search, some info on Ayurvedic medicine and the topic of overheating (pitta aggravation) which can lead to rashes, hives (he had a few rounds of those on the hottest days), "fast" or loose stool (I only noticed this for him in the mildest sense, most people wouldn't have even noticed). I realized we were taking lots of picnics (daily) and eating salami, pickles, chips, feta and Dubliner cheese, etc. TONS OF SALT, as well as lots of garlic and onion powder in things like turkey bologna. I had played with us going low carb (well, low carb for me and just lower, but not at all "low" carb for him) which means our cooling fruit intake went down--in summer of all times. So basically his diet was very heating, then we were outside in 95 degree heat for 1-3 hours a day. My son's face was getting red from the building heat, just like the trees leaves turn red and dry at the end of summer.

When I learned about a cooling summer diet through Ayurveda and gave him some herbs (Manjistha and Neem) it started to lighten very quickly and was gone in a few weeks.

So far this summer, I have seen the start of it after 2 meals--one was asian dumplings with SOY SAUCE--very salty/heating. The other was a meal with lots of salty feta in it. The spots were localized to one corner of his mouth and disappeared after a glass of apple and aloe juice and an hour or so.

I realize there are tons of possible explanations for your child's rash, and it's an off chance--but had to share just in case!

Good luck!


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## camracrazy

My oldest dd got a rash like that after eating ranch dressing at my mother's house. She had eaten ranch dressing before without any problem (we don't keep it in the house so she didn't eat it regularly). It freaked my mom out because she didn't know what caused it, so she brought her over to the Dr's office where I worked. The Dr said he had seen this several times, even in people that had eaten ranch dressing before with no problems.


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## klt

Holiztic-
That's really interesting, as my son eats very similarly right now (salami) and in the back of my mind I am tracking his salt intake. I want to try the herbs & diet change with him now. He is always scatching his face, I know he has seasonal allergies added, but lately I noticed his face looking heated and swollen. Thanks for suggesting this!


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## [email protected]

Quote:


Originally Posted by *no5no5* 
I hate to say it, but is there any possibility they could be cold sores/fever blisters (a/k/a herpes simplex)? That's the first thing that springs to mind, and it is very, very easy to contract.

W/ herpes you would see blisters or lesions, not a mass of pimply lesions. However, oral herpes is common & often acquired in childhood.

My son had impetigo a few times when younger. I didn't recognize the yellow crusting until a doctor pointed it out. It's very common. Anyway, great resource about pediatric rashes:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/11/T082900.asp

A quote:
"Facial rashes - virtually all infants and young children will get a rash around the mouth and cheeks at some point during their childhood. It usually appears as flat patches, or slightly raised patches, with tiny red bumps scattered around the mouth and chin. This type of rash can be cause by drooling, pacifiers, allowing smeared food to remain too long on the face, or rubbing face against parent's clothes. This rash will often remain for weeks at a time. Just when it seems to finally clear up, something irritates it again and it returns for another few weeks. In time, this will clear up for good, and no treatment is really necessary. If its appearance bothers you, you can try applying Aquaphor healing ointment, lanolin ointment (used for sore nipples during breastfeeding), or hydrocortisone 1% cream twice a day until clear. But be warned, it will probably come back."


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## Crafty

Glad someone else suggested impetigo- we had a run-in with that a few years ago and it's NASTY. Ds's was on his legs, and the doc said she would've thought it was a burn (it was that blistery and nasty) if I hadn't mentioned that it started out as a tiny cut on his leg and then the blisters came up. *shudder* A few days worth of antibiotics and it was gone, except for some- it's like the skin on his leg was bleached a little where the blisters were, and that stayed for about a year or so. Be careful with it on her face- that's not a place you want to have any kind of scarring if at all possible.

We tried a few different things with his impetigo (I didn't know what it was), but nothing worked and my ds was pretty freaked out by it. Hope your dd heals up quickly.


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## floiejo2

Thank you all for the ideas and suggestions! I'm pretty sure it's not cold sores or impetigo. I looked up both of those and it's nothing like either. Holiztic your post was very interesting to me and sounded just like my dd, with her face getting beat red when she gets hot and we have been eating probably too many salty type of foods lately for her. I was very interested to look up the ayurvedic treatment for pitta aggravation. We pretty much eat quite a bit that is not good for her. And she fits the mold on that one. So I will try a cooling diet and lanolin cream for now seems to be helping with the dryness and itching. Hopefully that will help it go away. Once again thanks for the advice all!


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## meemee

fresh mangoes.

sometimes the gum/sap from the mango does that to me.

or anything with sticky sap.


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## Anna Mosley

This help me a lot , my 2 year old son has this right now and when you said food allergies, I knew right then and there when I give him a Drink of Juice he gets this Pimply Rash, Let me see what happens when I stop giving him the 100% Juice, do you have and suggestions what I can put in its Place Thanks

Thanks Mom of 7


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## A&A

My son used to get that from eating tomatoes.


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## mamazee

I had a family member who had recurring sores/rashy stuff around her mouth, and it turned out to be celiac disease. Just throwing that out as another possibility.


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## Mylie

My L gets that around her mouth when she eats apples and dairy...She also is gluten intolerant..My son used to get that from certain toothepastes also.I would keep a food diary and find out what is causing it...


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## kayleesmom

How are things going?


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## mindymom3

My daughter is 6 and has same type of rash. She has had it before, lasted for a few months. Currently she has teeth coming in and a runny nose. She also drools a lot when she sleeps. Same scenario as the first time she had the rash. I just try and keep her face clean and cortisone cream helps when it's irritating her. The saliva becomes very acidic when children are getting teeth and can irritate sensitive skin. Coconut oil at night soothes and protects the skin from drool. Hope this helps.


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## mindymom3

My daughter is 6 and has same type of rash. She has had it before, lasted for a few months. Currently she has teeth coming in and a runny nose. She also drools a lot when she sleeps. Same scenario as the first time she had the rash. I just try and keep her face clean and cortisone cream helps when it's irritating her. The saliva becomes very acidic when children are getting teeth and can irritate sensitive skin. Coconut oil at night soothes and protects the skin from drool. Hope this helps.


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## sandyintn

do you have an answer yet?
our 2 yo has this type of rash and doctor said it was hand/foot/mouth disease (which is his 2nd time) and a type of staph infection...

(the rash is also mild in his diaper area as well)


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## neeron

Perioral dermatitis? That's what my 7 y/o daughter has and it sounds very similar! See http://www.crutchfielddermatology.com/treatments/perioraldermatitis/ or
http://dermnetnz.org/acne/perioral-dermatitis.html
Hope that helps!


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## amomlikeyou

Hi, I know you posted this a few years ago. My 8 year old daughter has the same thing. When I put cream on it she says it hurts. She also has dry skin so I thought it was dry skin rash, but they are like small pimples with tiny white heads. Did you ever find out what it was? How did you help your daughter or son clear it up? No one else online seems to have the same problem as I do.


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## sandyintn

I was also going to suggest "hand, foot, mouth" disease, because my grandbabies have had that.
Also, one of them has had thrush/yeast infection - there's always something new to learn about, isn't there?
Good luck with it.


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## amomlikeyou

I looked up impetigo and it didn't really look as bad as the pictures I had seen, but it couldn't really have been anything else I could think of so I finally took her to see a doctor and she prescribed her some antibiotics. I can see it settling down already and it is only day 2 out of a 7 day course. Thanks!


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