Daughter with Rash on Face, Anybody Know What It Is?

What area do you live in, cause if you live in the San Diego area, I would say her skin is chapped, I had a little girl in my daycare and everytime it was hot like this, her cheeks looked like someone slapped her, but it was chapness. J.

It sounds like 5th disease..you can read more about it on webmd.com. My daughter got it last year. It's no big deal. But while she has the rash she is contagious. And she probably got exposed a week before the symptoms showed up.

Dear M.,
My daughter had something similar not too long ago. Like you, I thought it could have been heat rash or an allergic reaction. My daughter had never had any allergies, so I just put on some caladryl, the next morning, the rash was all over her face and behind her ears. I immediately took her to the doctor and she diagnosed it with the eczema family. She gave me the lightest cordizone cream, and she's been fine since.

Sometimes my son gets a rash there if he's been rubbing his upper lip with dirty hands.

If it is 5th disease, make sure to tell any pregnant friends of yours or teachers or her friends' parents (if they are pregnant) and have had contact with your daughter in the last month.

5th disease can be harmful to a developing fetus, if the mother contracts it and passes it along to her wee one.

It's not dangerous to your daughter in any way if she is in otherwise good health. The March of Dimes likely has info on this virus online.

KInd regards,
S

Hi,
The appearance of a 'slapped face' look is the single most distinctive characteristic of a virus called FIFTH DISEASE, also known, as Slapped Face Disease. The rash spreads down the body (including the back of the neck) to the arms and legs. Common among school-age children and their younger siblings, it's not a huge worry. It's a virus, it's not serious, and it's treatable with a simple regimen of tylenol, time and cuddles. I noticed that most of your responses pointed to allergies and eczema. But what you described just shouts Fifth Disease. Go to the doctor and breathe easy; your baby should be just fine -- and immune to FIfth Disease after this! (Scary name, not-so-scary illness.) :-)

Here are some links to get you up to speed:

Centers for Disease Control:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/parvo_b19...

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_disease (includes photo)

Sounds like "slapped face" disease--a really common childhood ailment. My kids had it as well.

Could be Fifths disease aka slapping disease. It's called that becaust its the fifth most common childhood ailment (which was a surprise to me because I've never heard of it until my son was diagnosed with it on Monday). It's also called slapping disease because it looks like they've been slapped. The redness will come and go depending on her acitvity and/or emotional level. If that is what she has, she is not contagious now, she would have been contagious about 2 weeks ago when she may have not had any symptoms at all or possibly a low grade fever. That would have been the first phase of the illness. The second phase is the two week period when there's nothing at all and the last phase is the redness. My son also had it on his torso, arms and back. He went to the school nurse on Monday and she didn't feel that he needed to be sent home. I also checked with his pediatrician he is fine.

Hi,
Same exact thing happened to my 5 year old son. It started behind his ears and it itched. We went to the Dr. and she gave us hydracortizone cream. The rash started moving onto his face, arms, chest and neck. It looked like he was sunburned on his cheeks. It itched like crazy. Then around his mustache area. It looked like he had a grapejuice mustache. It was bruises from scrathing. One day 9 we went back to the Dr. This time we got prescription itch medicine. Dr. never really said what it was. We though it was from the sunscreen we used on him, then we treated it like ezema. Day 13 we went to a dermatolgist. She gave us different itch medicine and said it was viral. He had a cough and stuffy nose at the beginning of all this. Now it has been 20+ days and it is better, but he still has a few itches here and there. Good Luck.

Sounds more like rosacia or along those lines. A mild thick lotion or antibiotic ointment will help if it is. My son used to get chapped cheeks a lot - I used to put triple antibiotic ointment on it (or bacitracin from the Dr - it is in the OTC antibiotic ointment) and not rub it in all the way so it keeps a barrier between his skin & the elements causing it. It would clear in a couple of days but look better within a few hours. God Bless!

Hello i know this is going to sound weird but it sounds just like what my son had two years ago i took him to the doctors and get this he said my son had scarlet fever. My son did not itch did not have a fever nor did he feel sick. Sounds strange but thats what the doc said it was. Good luck let us know how it turns out.
M. arizona

It might be the hives. That is what my 9-yr-old has and when I took her to see the pediatrician, I was told it's the hives. My daughter has the rash on her cheeks,arms and legs

it's probably Fifth Disease aka "Slapped Face Disease". My daughter who is 6 just had it. Has she had a cough or any kind of cold symptoms? It usually comes after that. It isn't contagious once it shows...It's harmless and there isn't really a treatment, but you can ask your doctor to be sure

It's probably Eczema.

I am going to agree with the other mom's sounds like 5th disease, my son did the same thing around 1 1/2. His doctor told us that was what it was. Should go away in a couple of days.

Maybe hand foot and mouth, go see her doctor

Hi
I am a Nanny and have seen this before..it could be something called Roseola. This starts as a slight rash with no side affects but can develop later with a minor temperature../This can happen from 3 mnths to 10 years old.

It could be Fifth disease. Check the symptoms on the internet, but I think it's harmless and it's only problematic if your daughter exposes a pregnant woman.

Sounds like it might be 5th disease. It is harmless, unless she is around someone who is pregnant or has cancer. Google it and you should be able to found photos of the rash.

Hello, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I recently had something like that with my 5 year old daughter,(now 6). I took her to the walk-in, thinking it was chicken pox. Thats what my daughters rash progressed into looking like. The doctors office ended up diagnosing her with impetigo. (spelling error I'm sure!) Anyways, not so good, a skin infection from a bacterial infection. If your daughters looks possibly like chicken pox, take her in. I know my daughters needed to be treated with antibiotics. It started out in her nose, and then migrated to her cheeks. Only on her face though.... nowhere else.
Have you tried to give her benadryl? Both of my kids don't really have allergies, but especially my daughter gets pink cheeks, a little rash-y and its a reaction to something.

Good luck, and hopefully you are able to figure it out.

Thanks

My daughter has recently battled the same rash. However she does have allergies and my doctor and the dermatologist he consulted both said it was a contact allergy to mango. I googled the fifth disease because that seemed likely and the rash does fit the description on the face but the fifth spreads to the rest of the body. (I had it as a kid and remember the way it looked on my arms.) My daughter's rash hasn't spread. Has yours?

It probably is allergies. People can develop allergies at any stage in life especially if something has happened to reduce their immune system like shots or illness.

Sometimes when my kids ate spaghetti or anything with a tomatoe sauce, they developed a rash around their mouth. It was from the acid in the tomatoes. When I was a kid if I ate too many apricots or citrus fruit, I would also develope a rash on my face.

Just recently my 12 was helping with some yard work in spreading out cedar chips. Next day she had a rash from head to toe. She had jumped in the pool after the work so we really didn't think it was an allergic reaction since she would have washed anything off of her skin. But she inhaled the cedar and that set off the reaction

It Looked like heat rash. I took her to the doctor because we were afraid she was having chicken pox. She had received a booster in the last couple of weeks. Doctor assured us not the pox and suggested Zycor- cold medicine and slowly it cleared up, exactly how it showed up slowly starting in the face and slowly working its way down her body. It took about a week to clear up.

Wind burn can also give a child rosy checks and if they were licking their lips alot then a rash around the mouth!

I would write down everything she ate in the last 24 hours and where she was and what was playing with. She could be develping an allergy to something.

Good Luck!

S. Chase

hi i wrote you a message a few days ago asking if she had the sores on her hands and feet. i read that a lot of people said she may have 5ths disease, eczema, or chapness. my daughter (who is 14mo) had the similar symptoms your child is having. i would take her to her peditricain because she could have hand foot mouth disease. its a ver contagious viral infection. most er drs will say its 5ths disease or another viral infection because they dont reconize that hand foot mouth can also cause the slap cheek appearance. hand foot mouth can be very painful to your child because the sores can get into the mouth. i would take her to her dr to find out whats going on.

take your child to the dr. it could be many things but there is an out break of measles in Los Angeles ca, i could be as simple as a rash due to allergic reaction to laundry soap.
have you tried any new foods or changed laundry soap? or any plants blooming that have different type of pollen , playing in the grass?
like i said it can be many things.
L. m

Hi there, you all may call it whatever you like, but you need to get to the root of the problem. Many soaps, and Laundry detergents have fillers in them that our skin doesn't like as it's like a sponge and what we where and put on it causes irritation. Many products ou there has an ingredient in them called Quaternium 15 (q-15)which is formaldehyde releaser and young children react. There are available natural products so start looking at your ingredience and if you can't pronounce it you know we're in trouble with all the chemicals out there. I have a link to Q-15 if interested

Yep, sounds like 5ths. My son had it while I was pregnant & I had to leave home for a few days. He was fine & although I did not want to leave home it turned out to be a very restful break for me (I was already sick myself). My blood tests showed that I had already had it so I was immune after all but didn't get the results until after I had left home. Lots of us grown ups have 5ths & never know it because most of the time we don't get the "slapped face" rash that distinguishes this virus, just a feeling like we're fighting something.

So be sure & keep your daughter away from anyone who might be pregnant just in case & let the nurses know if you take her into see your pediatrician. There were 2 pregnant nurses in the office when my husband took my son in & they had him leave by the back door! Again, my son was totally fine - didn't even feel that sick, just need to be cautious around pregnant moms.

Hi Many M's

You might try using Cetaphil cleanser and lotion. You can buy it at the drugstore. I use it as does my 2 year old. I't very gentle. I have rosacea and my dermatologist recommeded it.

If it doesn't clear up, you should see your ped.

M.

look into fifth disease very common in kids it is viral and it is also known as slapped cheek disease because of the redness on the cheeks. only pregnant moms around a contagous child needs to let her dr. know. Hopefully that is what it is good luck and God Bless

I'm wondering if it could be Fifth's disease. My 3rd daughter just had it last week. It's characterized by bright red, "slapped"-looking, or sunburned-looking cheeks. It's usually harmless to the child, but is contagious. Over the next couple of days, the redness may disappear slowly leaving a lacey-looking appearance. A pregnant woman in her 1st trimester exposed to Fifth's disease, who herself has not had it, may have problems with her pregnancy. (I lost an early pregnancy this way). To be sure about the rash, though, contact your pediatrician and discuss it with him/her. Good luck!

sounds like it might be Fifth's disease... it also is called the "slapped cheek" disease.

Could it be a sunburn? It's been pretty hot.

google in www.skinhelp.couk/rosycheeks.html it was very informative. I have the same problem with my grandson....thanks

My 6 year old son had a virus last year, as harmless as the common cold that is commonly known as "slap cheek" because of the rossy cheeks, and sometimes also around the lips, but it shouldn't spread beyond that. if that is it expect a little crankiness or sluggishness, and it should go away in a week or two, then again it could be something entirely different, so you may want to check with your doctor.

If the rash progresses to include little blisters that look yellow and become crusty when they pop it could be impetigo. Impetigo is common in children and is contagious. So you should call your doctor is the little blisters show up. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it goes away and is nothing! Good luck!