red spots on face

[indub]

My daughter gets red patches on her face, chest, ears, and sometimes arms.  this especially happens when she is in sun, but otherwise too it can happen.  the patches are warm to touch, but no itching.  rarely she has itching in her palms and soles.  becuase of this she is not able to play out when it is hot.  She is 8 years now.  i am worried because her physical activities have drastincally reduced because of this problem. even if she is skipping or runnring for a few minutes, those red spots or patches come over and we make her sit under fan or dab her face with cold water and those spots go away. she has been prescirbed A-derma and desowen cream for 15 days and antibiotic roxithrin, but not helpful. doctor diagnosed this condition as solar urticaria. not sure if this is a correct diagnosis.  please help.

[indub]

Dear Dr. Bhumika

I would also like to know about Porphyria.

[indub]

hello dr. Bhumika,

Thanks for the response, though I have been late to get back to you.  Our doctor, looks like, was a bit impatient listening to her conditions.  We described the same situations to him also, but he directly came to conclusion that it was solar urticaria. Then how about the red patches what she gets when she is inside home too especially if she has danced for max 7-8 mins or if she cries a lot.  After going through may websites regarding this, i felt this could be cholenergic urticaria, though not sure.  I have never got any blood test done on her.  when she was small, she used to get hives with water type material filled and then they used to burst away and resolve.  they used to on any part of the body.  They used to be teriibly itchy.  we used to apply a lot of calamine cream,  that used to sooth her.  Previous doctors have given her mostly atarax and cetrizin.  now they dont come at all, but this new situation has arised since 6 months and become very prominent, almost stopping her from doing any physical activity where her body temp might rise. Is  avoiding sun and heat the only solution or something like blood test or medications may be useful?  please help

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

It appears clearly that your daughter has some kind of sensitivity to the sun or its heat. This is a known phenomenon and is relieved usually by decrease/ stoppage of the stimulating factor, ie the sun.

Solar urticaria may be a possible reason and therefore your doctor may be correct. However, there is a condition called Porphyria which may need investigation in this case. I am also unclear on the fact for waht indication did your doctor prescribe the antibiotic in your daughter's case. Please let me know the answers to these questions. Also let me know if you need more information.