Hi, my daughter is 6 years old, and has been itchy for a few of weeks now just in small areas. I put this down to over-heating at night, as she sweats quite often for the first hour. Unfortunately, over the last couple of days she has had severe itching all over, epecially her back, chest, shoulders and insides of elbows and sides of her legs. I took her to the doctor today, who has given me Lyclear - 5%permethrin (for scabies), Claratyne and Celestone - M Cream 0.02%. After reading up about scabies, I am not sure why the doctor prescribed the Lyclear cream as my daughter does not have any of the following on her skin: "little red bumps, nodules, or pimple like irritations, which are most commonly located on the webbing between children's fingers, on the inner part of their wrist, under their arms, and on their elbows, knees, and along their belt line"

The doctor asked me twice "is she itchy on the fingers?" to which I replied no.
The doctor mentioned she wants to eliminate all possibilities before I send my daughter for an allergy test.

I am concerned I have treated my daughter with the 5% permethrin cream, without knowing for sure if it was scabies, especially when the only systems was the severe itching (no rash etc is visable). I have read the cream can cause severe reactions in children.

Could you shed some light on the situation, and if I should have used the cream without being sure of the cause of the itching in the first place?

Thanks. Ann. Australia

Well it could be eczema if she had red bumps but it would probably not itch, it could be chicken pox, but maybe you should see another doctor and see if they have a different idea

If she's sweating at night too, please also consider lymphoma. It's a stretch but best to rule it out.