Off Topic Just out of curiosity........

[Iwannabemargo]

This has been raised on one of the boards but I though as we have a pretty large membership I would ask the question on the open forum.

I was told by a dermatologist that 75% of children with eczema have a birthmark on the nape of their neck, I checked and sure enough my scaly child does, but her brothers don't. After talking about this we wondered if this was true for those without skin problems too.

Please could you answer whether you have skin problems or not.

Thanks

'Margo

 

[Shooosh]

Lol. All three of my alligators have the back of the head/neck birthmark. My husband also has the birthmark but never had any type of dry skin! His is the complete opposite.

 

[COz]

Could you possibly add "other allergies" as an option?

 

[Iwannabemargo]

okeykokey

 

[Iwannabemargo]

um, no - edit button seems to have dissappeared

 

[Faith]

Dd1 has that birthmark or "stork bite".

She had one on her eye too. That one's gone, I haven't checked her neck one since her hair covered it.

She has no skin issues at all.

Although I was told by a little old Spanish lady in a shop that the nape of the neck birthmark meant my next child would be a boy. Also wrong.

Where did the dermatologist get his figures from? Has there been actual studies? I'd want to know if it was in his experience or a proper peer reviewed study.

Off to search pubmed

Also, have you looked into Chinese herbal medicine? I'm your original sceptic but it does work

 

[COz]

I couldn't look at the back of my head so had to call my mother to confirm, but I have both a flat red birthmark and a large raised mole at the nape of my neck and allergies but not eczema.
My sister with awful eczema and allergies doesn't have one.
My daughter who does have eczema and allergies has a large flat mole at the same spot.
My son doesn't have eczema and has no birthmarks.

I just asked a doctor and they said that it's certainly not common for the general population to have a birthmark there (but did ask did moles count?).

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I have her scaliness under control through diet (no artificial colours or flavours) and no chemicals on the skin, so no bio washing powder, no softner, no shampoo, no soap ( apart from home-made)

 

[COz]

Also, have you looked into Chinese herbal medicine? I'm your original sceptic but it does work

Only if you survive the smell!

 

[COz]

I can't work out how to do multiple votes.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

hmm, I think you can't do more than one in each category - bit new to this poll business

 

[Faith]

It also depends on the prevalence of this type of birthmarks vs. eczema in the general population.

If the birthmarks are common then it's not going to be unusual to have a birthmark & exczema.

I need to see this dermatologists sources and if there's any statistical significance.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Sorry @Faith it was 6 years ago and I don't know if it was researched or anecdotal, just thought it was interesting

 

[Iwannabemargo]

so a bit of digging found this

Two common capillary vascular malformations are the salmon patch (naevus simplex) and port wine stain (naevus flammeus).

Salmon patch

These are very common and occur in about 40% of all newborns. They are usually small flat patches of pink or red skin with poorly defined borders. They are commonly found at the nape of the neck (stork bite), on the forehead between the eyebrows (angel's kiss) or on the eyelids. They become more intense in colour and noticeable when the child is crying. Most lesions will spontaneously disappear within the first year of life. Stork bites tend to be more persistent and may remain unchanged into adult life in 50% of cases.

So Pink has a "Stork bite" amongst others and this is what she was talking about. They are also due to genetic abnormality, so its not a great leap to say there could be a link as eczema has a genetic element.

 

[Faith]

You've triggered my geek gene though

Even if they're both genetic abnormalities, where's the evidence to say they are linked and one is likely to be inherited with the other?

i can't find any studies but not looked properly yet. Although if 40-50% of the population have stork bites then quite a few people with excema will have them too.

 

[thefellowsmom]

DD has stork bite, but no skin issues. DS had eczema pretty bad as a baby/toddler but has grown out of it, no stork bite.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

absolutely, genetics is so fascinating, especially to me as a mutant

Well, Boots reckon its up to 1/3 have stork bite, so they don't agree.

I was also told by my GP that psoriasis lowered your risk of cancer !

 

[Vivianflips]

I have terrible eczema but no birthmark. I do have a lone freckle on the nape of my neck though . Fortunately my eczema is only bad up in the northern US where I no longer live, the plants I'm allergic to are more prevalent here. The young gymmies sure wonder what's wrong with me when I'm up north visiting my grandparents for a month during the summer!

 

[lovemygymnast]

I have 2 with eczema and neither have a neck birthmark...both have the red scalp birthmark though, it's like a red wine color. Does that count?

 

[MILgymFAM]

YDD has eczema and has no birthmarks at all.