Hi, I have a 15 month old boy that was collodian baby at birth then diag with mild non bullious CIE Ichthyosis. He now gets red pumps mostly on his legs that are since of a penny to a bit smaller than a nickel. Very tender to the touch, and hard. Filled with puss. What can I do for that? Concerned of infection setting in. Do I try to pop it? Does he need to be seen at the doctor?

Hi there,

Those really sound like he's getting little cellulitises, which are usually some form of staph. I'd get him into the doctor, as you don't want them to get deeper into the tissue, if that is in fact what they are. Do they look a bit bruised at all? Our whole family have fought these infections, and have had to use oral antibiotics, along with topical treatments. Please look at the "Freaking Out...MRSA infection" post on here, and also, any older posts on MRSA. You may get some helpful information. We battled this quite a bit. And having a skin condition makes all of these children so much more prone to picking up these skin infections. I could be wrong, but the fact that they're pusing and that they're tender sounds very suspicious! Don't lose sleep over this tonight, but truly go get them cultured tomorrow if you can. In the meantime, bathe your little guy in a bleach bath (1/8 cup in a half bath) and try to put any antibiotic cream on them until you can get seen. Definitely draining these helps. Also, dial soap (the foaming kitchen hand soap) has triclosan in it, which helps fight the bacteria. This was recommended to us from UCSF dermatology clinic and the infectious disease dept. He may also need an antibiotic.

Good luck, and please keep us posted!

Sincerely,
Suzanne

One more thing....

Although my son's came in the form of little pustules, the rest of the family got them in the form of red hard bumps, like you're describing. Dane also did get a few that were bigger like this on his head. I used a warm, wet cloth to break them open, and then I'd clean with the bleach bath water or the triclosan soap. He also needed antibiotics when they got bigger or when he started getting too many pustules all over his head, back and upper thighs.

Thank you for the reply's! They were in fact MRSA and he has been on oral antibiotics and creams. They have gone down but still looks bruised and feels like bumps underneath. Is that normal? Or does that mean its still there?