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heat rash

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I keep getting really itchy little red dots on my elbows (the inside of them that is... elbow-pits or whatever...), and sometimes on my legs too after a hot bath or shower. It gets worse when I'm outside in the sun.

I think it's just heat rash, but am worried it could be exzcema (sp??) :confused: - but either way, does anyone know how I can either get rid of it or else stop it itching? Eg creams etc...

Thanks people :)

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hi ya. I used to get this quite bad in the summer. Does it look like a stinging nettle rash? It's called prickle heat so try useing E45 cream or CP cream??The stuff u use for stinging nettle rashes and bee stings...Smells like root beer.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    try pure (99%) aloe vera gel for heat rash.
    lavender essential oil can be good as well, say 10 drops in the bath and don't have it so hot
    some homeopathic remedies work quite well
    if it eczema than its a different story
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks Felix, yep it does look a bit like nettle stings... might try E45 cream.

    And hobbs how do I tell if it's eczema? I doubt it is but you never know...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Oh Perfect Day..If you bath with bubble bath stuff then try somthing a little more mild as normal stuff gives me a rash in hot water. Me and my mate had in near our crown jewels and boy did that hurt...Got well sore :(:(
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *is now sitting at computer with aloe vera gel all over arms and legs*

    Ooh, it's all cold! :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If it was eczema your skin would probably be really dry as well. When my eczema flares up, its a patch of really, really dry skin that won't feel un-dry (!) no matter how much moisturiser I put on it. And it really really itches, which makes you scratch it, which makes it go scabby! But I don't think little dots on your skin are a typical eczema symptom (although don't quote me on it!), sounds more like some kind of heat rash. But if it doesn't clear up, go and see your g.p, and they'll soon sort you out!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Re: heat rash
    Originally posted by perfect***day
    I keep getting really itchy little red dots on my elbows (the inside of them that is... elbow-pits or whatever...), and sometimes on my legs too after a hot bath or shower. It gets worse when I'm outside in the sun.

    I think it's just heat rash, but am worried it could be exzcema (sp??) :confused: - but either way, does anyone know how I can either get rid of it or else stop it itching? Eg creams etc...

    Thanks people :)


    I get a rash every summer from the ehat increase - however it gets much worse when I have the sun on my skin - once I went to Canada and the people I was stayigwith lived on a lake and had a row boat - I spent the whole day rowing inthe sun - the very next day I was covered everywhere in a red rash - they made me see a doctor and he said I'm allergic to bright sunlight - like a vampire I guess!!!

    Anyway covering up and using good sunblock helps a lot.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Im on some antibiotics after my operation for a week just so i dont get an infection or whatever, and you're not supposed to expose yourself to loads of sunlight.
    I ohnly went shopping for a couple of hours, but i didnt half have a bad rash on my arms.

    Lucky it didnt all blister, thats what the tablet box said it would do.

    anyway... E45 always helps.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I get heat rash. I find that it leads to eczema cos you end up scratching it. In Boots you can get these homeopathic tablets that cool your blood down and stop you from getting the heat rash, go and ask cos they work very well!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thanks everyone for your help :)

    From what people have said I don't think it's eczema, just heat rash... I'll try all your various methods of solving it :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i always come out in heat rashes in the summer. the doc told me to take an antihistamine and that clears it up
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by perfect***day
    Thanks Felix, yep it does look a bit like nettle stings... might try E45 cream.

    And hobbs how do I tell if it's eczema? I doubt it is but you never know...

    this has been answered by tates - red, to see pics put eczema in to google and image search (get the sick bag ready)

    Homoeopathic remedy Urtica can be good and try the tissue salts recommended by Faith. if you can avoid antihistamine/steroid creams then that is better. best to make sure you use "kind" toiletries
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If it flares up in sunshine and feels like thousands of needles on your skin then most likely it's prickly heat. I've had it twice on my last two holidays and it's not amusing. I ended up at the docs last time with a needle in my arm of some sort of painkiller or something.

    Best thing is to go to the docs as you don't know that it's not an allergy, prickly heat, heat rash or anything else. If it was prickly heat then the docs willl probably give you anti-histamines and anti-Inflammatory tablets.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Some medicines, like some contraceptive pills for example, can make you more sensitive to sunlight.

    Don't know if that would have this affect though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Wow,

    I was actually getting on the boards to ask the same type of question. I've had problems with heat rash over the past year or so, and now that I think about it, I used to only have it rarely, but since I've been on birth control, it seems to be much more often. It was so bad on Friday that I decided to stay in on Saturday when all of my friends went to the beach. :(

    I don't think it would be eczema. My best friend's got it and hers doesn't seem to flame up for any particular reason, such as sun or a hot shower...it just bugs the shit out of her all the time.
    I'm not 100% sure, but Faith said heat rash and scratching can lead to eczema....I disagree! Isn't it a genetic disease? Something that's written in your genes? I could be wrong.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think scratching causes eczema - eczema causes scratching! But some things can bring certain types of eczema on (I think it's called atopic eczema?), such as soap powders etc. But other types of eczema seem to start for no particular reason. It can also be affected by stuff like stress. But it's normally pretty obvious, and I could never mistake mine for heat rash.
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