Possible new skin problems

Toot's eczema seems to have gotten worse lately, and we have been attributing it to more skin being exposed as the weather has warmed, more pollen in the air, being outside more often, etc. But, it's just different somehow. He'll be outside for no more than 20 minutes and come back inside and will be red, bumpy, and severely itchy all over his exposed skin. It's just not the normal pattern of eczema. He still has the eczema hotspots, but this extra irritation just seemed different to me.

He has had red "raccoon" eyes a lot lately. His little face just gets so red and irritated. And the only thing that seems to help is being inside a lot. Not being outside for several days in a row. BUT, that's not a doable thing during the warmer weather.

So, I got to thinking that we might be dealing with something else in addition to eczema. My dad has a severe sun allergy, and I developed some less serious problems when I hit adulthood. (And, according to my mom, after she read this, my paternal grandmother Honey also had issues later in her life with sun allergies). I went to looking to self-diagnose as so many of us are wont to do these days, and I may have found Toot's issue with the sun. PMLE.

Here's a description of it.

Here are some pictures of what it does. I think Jmk will discover some of the pictures of the smaller children look very much like Toot when he comes in from playing outside. These aren't pleasant pictures, so don't feel like you have to go look at them.

They say this is more common in women, somewhat less common with children, and not as common with males. ::shrug:: So, who knows if this is a real issue with Toot. The descriptions seem to be spot on. I sort of hope that this IS the problem right now, because it's not a major thing. It's certainly major to his comfort, but not his health. Except for the problem of mixing it with his eczema. When he gets the open sores from scratching hot spots, and that gets mixed with a PMLE breakout, then the risk of infection increases. Because the area of broken skin increases.

Anyway, we'll just need to stock up on some quality broad spectrum sunscreen, maybe with the Helioplex formula, and see if that helps. He is so very hot natured, that I don't know if he can handle being in long shirts and pants during the summer, like my dad is able to do. Plus, I don't want him to feel different. I don't want going out to play to be the world's biggest hassle. And, it won't be. This is just his thing. He could have much worse problems, and I'm grateful that this is the worst that we have to deal with.