For a while, I thought and believed that the skin problem of my son is a simple case of skin asthma. We actually ignored it until the rashes covered his whole face. I felt very guilty for not bringing him to the dermatologist immediately.
When the derma saw my son, she immediately pronounced he’s infected with the skin disorder called Pityriasis Alba (or P. Alba or PA). The derma gave me the correct spelling so I can google the term online. I was really at a lost with this skin disorder so the derma explained that it’s along the family of skin asthma and eczema. She gave my son some pills for the itching, special soap for his face and body to moisturize the dryness, and two (2) creams which shall be applied generously to the lesions and rashes all over his face and arms.
photo from www.huidinfo.nl/witwang.html
After more than a week, the effect of the soap and face cream were already visible. The rashes and scalings were contained and although the blotches will fade
after a long period, I’m pleased that the medications worked.
According to my Internet research, prevalence of PA occurs to children between 6-16 years of age who live in tropical regions. Although pityriasis alba is not seasonal, its dry and slightly scaling appearance tends to worsen during cold months. My son’s condition started when we went to Baguio last December. Children with PA should not also be exposed under the sun as sun exposure may make the lesions more obvious.
Among the factors for acquiring PA is family history of asthma, hay fever, or eczema. My husband’s family has a long history of asthma so I’m not surprised that my son acquired this skin disorder. Here are tips on how to treat pityriasis alba (source: http://www.articlesbase.com/)
1. Use non-soap cleansers or moisturizing soaps.
2. Avoid sun exposure and wear sunscreen.
3. Apply over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream sparingly for 3–7 days.
4. Certain lotions and moisturizers cream may help to improve the dry appearance.
5. The hydrocortisone cream may also help to make the patches go away more quickly.
6. Apply moisturizers such as petroleum jelly or fragrance-free ointments and creams.
7. The use of Pragmatar ointment, Lac-Hydrin, 2% Zetar in Cordran cream gives the effective results.
8. Pimecrolimus cream has also been reported to be effective.
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