Hello everyone. I'm Candy Padilla, and new to the group. I have a 2-yr old boy with EHK. Since he turned 2, he's been having infected blisters. We've been on-off cefalexin, an oral antibiotic, for over a month now. He'd take it for 7 days, rest for a day or two, and then we'd see infected blisters erupting again. I'm quite worried about how his body will react to dependence on oral antibiotics.

Can anyone please share on how it has been like for you with regard to skin infection?
1. Aside from being immune to this antibiotic, what could be other side effects of prolonged use?
2. Will this skin infection last throughout his lifetime? Our pediatric derm said he'll eventually outgrow it. Is this true?
3. Is there a way to prevent these skin infections?
4. Finally, what regimen do you follow when you/your child has skin infection?

I have been reading the postings here and they have all been very helpful--mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. So thank you so much to everyone.

Regards,
Candy Padilla
(ehk free, mom to matti w/ ehk)

Hi Candy I am 42 years of age, and have EHK.

I can reassure you that your doctor is right about your son growing out of these severe skin infections with age.

I had lots and lots of them as a baby and child, and they became lest frequent as the years went by...By the time I was about 10 years of age, i was able to fight them off pretty much on my own (with the help of antibiotics), without ending up in hospital for 10 days...

The key is to get the antibiotics into him before the infection gets out of hand...as soon as you notice the eruptions as you say...that is exactly what my mum used to call an 'outbreak'.

I personally have found antibiotics to be my life saviour...I was permanently on them from birth to about age 16. Like yourself, everytime they attempted to take me off them, bang was back in hospital with infections again.

but eventually I only took them as necessary, and only sarted taking them on a permanent basis again 7 years ago, as they have been very helpful at preventing my severe daily blisters from too much walking around at University...so far no complications from them...they work beautifully.
AND I AM NOT AMMUNED TO THEM EITHER

I have learned with age, that fluid retention seems to be a big problem for me, and I consider that to be responsible for increasd blistering. I feel that the fluid build up puts pressure on our skin, and hence blistering occurs...

so I take a fluid tablet and 1 antibitic every single morning...and I know about it if i miss a dose for just one day.

Try bathing your son using some salt, it shopild help kill any lurking bacteria on his skin, and during infections it should really clean his skin up, and clear it up very fast.

Regards Pauline

[This message has been edited by pauline5 (edited August 14, 2006).]

Many people here have started putting a capful of bleach in the bathwater to cut down on the infections. Perhaps that might make a difference for your family.

Jennifer

Hi Candy,

Ditto on the mild bleach solution in your little guy's bath water. Our 1 year old Evan has palmar plantar EHK. We use about 2 Tablespoons of bleach per 4 gallons of water and we have done this since he came home from the NICU at 6 weeks old. He is bathed every other day, unless we suspect an infection and then it is daily.

When Evan gets a visible skin infection, we dab it with triple antibiotic ointment. If it is quite gruesome looking we cover it in triple anti-biotic and wrap it with vaseline gauze and tubular elastic bandage. We also are quite strict about anyone touching Evan's skin. They have to wash their hands first. We glove when we moisturize his diaper area. When we are finished lotioning him, we wipe down all of his lotion bottles with lysol disinfecting bathroom wipes. We are also careful of grocery store & playground surfaces etc. We usually will put a blanket underneath him rather than let his skin be in direct contact with potentially germy surfaces. Evan blisters quite frequently. We lance these blisters with sterile needles and extract the fluid onto gauze pads, this prevents the blisters from getting huge. As our derm and home nurse explained, not all of the blisters are infected. Honestly, I think that the mild bleach solution in his bath water has the greatest effect.

Regarding the antibiotics, try to encourage your little guy to eat yogurt or attempt to give him a nutritional supplement like a pro- or pre-biotic found in most health food stores. This will help his colon regain some balance and boost his little immune system after the antibiotics wipe everything else out.

Best Wishes.
Kimberly

Hi,
Not much time to post now but I wanted to let you know that my 14 year old son's infections definitely improved over the years. For the first time in nearly two years, he had his first infection in early May this year. That was the longest he had ever gone without one. His worst year was when he was in first grade. I am still sure it was "Mitch's" fault. Evan really liked the kid but he was always dirty and always had a runny nose. Yuck. He was doing like your son. On a 10 day course of antibiotics, off a day or two and then another infection popped up. From Thanksgiving to almost the end of school. That is when he always gets the worst infections. Winter.
We have realized that we have to do something immediately when he gets a blister that appears infected. We put triple antibiotic on it and watch him for more. He has always needed oral antibiotic when we got to that point.
Good Luck and it does get better.
Deidra

My infections were so bad growing up that when I see a blister now, I just about freak out and am terrified of re-living all of that. I had them well into my 30's although I had always been told that you pretty much outgrew them in your late teens and twenties.
My last doctor came up with an excellent regime for the really bad ones. Not only did I get an antibiotic, I got prescription Benadryl for the itching and fluid, Vioxx (no longer available) for the swelling and a mild pain killer to make it more bearable.
Strangely enough, Benadryl had never occurred to me before but it does help during that time period because it does help with the swelling and the fluid. My blisters were so deep that they were rock-hard and could not be drained and that was very painful!
I would imagine even OTC Benadryl would help during an infection.