white patches/ skin discoloration.

Hello , my 3 year old daughter had eczeme that has been treated by cortizone cream. there were over 10 red flammed red patches on her legs and now they are all gone. The problem is that all the patches now are white and she kindda have a dark skin. Is there anyway we can get rid of this dicoloration.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Basically what your daughter is having is post inflammatory hypopigmentation which is common after using high potency steroid creams. Post inflammatory hypopigmentation is very difficult to treat but sometimes it goes away on its own after exposure to the sun. Creams like  Elidel cream or Protropic can be used on these hypopigmented  areas but at such a young age it is not advisable to use them . If the symptoms still persist then  you can talk to your dermatologist about laser-assisted chemabrasion(LACA).It has provided excellent results in such hypopigmentation.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.