Large Sores On Scalp?

[Crystal]

No other areas of her body are affected. Her mother pretty much refused to make an appt and miss work to take her to the doctors for 'dandruff'. I may call my health plan consultant and have her make a visit and then tell dcg's Mom that they recommend it since apparantly my concerns aren't valid.

I would NOT let it be up to her. I would NOT give her a choice. In fact, I would seriously consider reporting her for neglect. This is not only having serious complications for the child, but is also putting every one in your home at risk. If it is impetigo, or mange, or something of the sort, you risk others catching it and losing other clients for failing to exclude her from care until she has been treated.

This makes me very angry with mom....who lets their child suffer like that???? :confused:

[cheerfuldom]

My youngest had cradle cap REALLY bad....I have seen multiple babies with cradle cap (even older babies) but when it gets really bad.....its like you described, red and crusty and flaky and all of that. So it could be something like this but either way, it has to be addressed. This baby is suffering....my poor little daughter was scratching and uncomfortable constantly.

[Blackcat31]

Sounds to me like this child has Scalp psoriasis and the patches you are descibing are exactly what psoriasis is. The body produces skin cells quicker than it is shed leading to massive patches of build up.

It isn't contagious and it isn't something you should exclude for. It is itchy, uncomfortable and can bleed and be sore at times. They do make specific shampoos for this as it is NOT dandruff and cannot be treated or cured with dandruff shampoo. They make OTC shampoos as well as presciption ones too, depending on the severity of it.

I would suggest to the mom that if she wants thelp her child out, seeing a dermatologist would be best since her child is at the age where she will start becoming embarrassed by this condition. It can flare up due to weather, other hair products and the foods she eats but unless mom is working super closely with a dermatologist and an allergist, it is almost impossible to narrow down the exact cause of this. It also is often a combination of things.

My youngest brother suffered with Scalp psoriasis from early toddlerhood on. He saw a multitude of specialists and nothing really worked. He is able to control it a lot more now but it doesnt just go away.

http://www.psoriasis.org/page.aspx?pid=442

[Crystal]

Blackcat...you are right, it COULD be that. But what if it isn't? What if it IS contagious?

Not a chance I would be willing to take. It won't kill Mom to take her child to the doctor to find out.....and regardless of what it is, she needs to see a doctor anyway.

[Country Kids]

Does this child wash her own hair? My dd had a something like this (not this severe) but I figured out they weren't gettting all the shampoo out when rinsing their hair and it was sticking to their scalp.

Might ask if she does her washes her own hair.

[familyschoolcare]

what does the school say?

[Blackcat31]

Blackcat...you are right, it COULD be that. But what if it isn't? What if it IS contagious?

Not a chance I would be willing to take. It won't kill Mom to take her child to the doctor to find out.....and regardless of what it is, she needs to see a doctor anyway.

Oh, I agree...I definitely think mom should bring the child in to be 100% sure. I kind of wonder what type of parent WOULDN'T want to bring their child in since they are suffering like that?

You are correct too that "what if it isn't psiorasis.." is too big of a possibility that I would make sure she has a written doctors diagnosis before allowing her back in daycare as the group of children's health is much more important than one parents issue with taking a day off to address HER child's needs.

[Willow]

Does this child wash her own hair? My dd had a something like this (not this severe) but I figured out they weren't gettting all the shampoo out when rinsing their hair and it was sticking to their scalp.

Might ask if she does her washes her own hair.

So did my daughter.

She's also 9 and simply wasn't scrubbing her scalp hard enough or rinsing well enough. Add to that we have well water that's iron heavy so when I finally realized what was going on the scaley/soapy patches were near bright orange. Of course I panicked and brought her in.

Doc said it's a pretty common occurrence when kids start becoming more independent with caring for their own bodies. Because she was was becoming more confident in doing her hair on her own and it was summer time I let her. Doc said it doesn't take long for the scalp to build accumulations and start to itch, which leads to scratches. She didn't have many of those but I can see how quickly a deal like that could get out of hand.





OP - I would let mom start with the dandruff shampoo and helping her scrub her head and see if it helps before talking exclusion and demanding doctors notes, but that's just me. You need to decide what YOU'RE most comfortable with though. Go with your gut. If it tells you this is something to be worried about then you need to require mom to take action that'll ease those concerns. Tough beans if that's not the course of action she prefers to take, it's your home, your daycare. The worry wouldn't be worth the stress it would cause holding out if you really think this is an urgent health concern.

[daycarediva]

I did call my health care consultant and she called me back right away. Nothing is going around, but she said she would give it a week and see if it improves, then require a drs note.

DCG is almost 9, Mom helps her in the shower and she is VERY self conscious about this, she actually mentioned it to me today since she is starting 3rd grade.

She doesn't wear hats, and she does get a bath a few times a week that Mom assists with, and this is brand new. I wonder if psoriasis can just suddenly develop like that?

It looks exactly like this:


which is scalp psoriasis, but again, I didn't think that would develop within a week at her age?

[Willow]

Yeah that's not dandruff or just from not scrubbing or leaving soap in.

Did your consultant see the picture?


I wouldn't wait. I'd demand mom bring her in TODAY. I would not admit her back until she got a doctors note. That's poor girl.....

[countrymom]

ewww, you need to tell mom to bring her in and don't let her back until she has a drs note. Its like really bad cradle cap. The poor girl doens't want to go to school like this, can you imagine, all the kids will make fun of her, dont let the kids make fun of her, make her mother take her to the dr.

[Sugar Magnolia]

In my state, we must send any child home that has "open sores", and if this is bleeding, those would qualify as excludable open wounds.

[Kaddidle Care]

It looks similar to what I thought was cradle crud that my son gets. His isn't itchy and it doesn't get that bad. When it acts up I use baby oil on his head, let is sit a while and then use the really fine toothed baby comb to remove it. Unfortunately it takes a few shampoos to really get the oil out.

He takes allergy meds a good 6 months out of the year (3-4 months in Spring and 2 months in Fall) and this condition worsens when he's on his meds.

His pediatrician said to try the dandruff shampoo but it didn't do much. I'm also leary of it as it tends to make my head break out when I use it too often.

I've also found that it isn't as bad now that he's washing his hair daily or every other day. I used to think it was dry scalp but nope!