Hi, New here - 7 month baby nail psoriasis

[LibbyNBabyT]

Hi, We live in mid California and are traveling to Stanford Childrens Hospital tomarrow. My baby is Trevor he is 7 months old and both of his middle fingers have turned brown/yellow/white and now one of them is lifting off. I can't find ANY information on infants with nail psoriasis.
The derm in our area said to just wait it out, but that is a bunch of BS as far as I am concerned and I am determined to try and find something to help him. He is only 7 months old I can't sit by and watch his nails fall off. Just so you all know I can't spell very well but it isn't because I am an idiot I just never learned to spell. I really am so glad to have found your board. I don't know if anyone on here has babies as young as mine but I am desperate for information if you guys have any.
Like i said we are leaving soon for a few days but I will respond as soon as I get back if not before then. I REALLY like the way this website is designed and am so glad to have found it.
Thanks, Libby

[kkellogg]

Hi Libby:

I just wanted to say hello and welcome to the boards. Someone will be along soon with more info. Hang in there.

[SandraJean]

Hi Libby,

Nice to meet you but so sorry to hear about your little one's nails. I have both p and pa, but it hasn't affected my nails. Some one will be along shortly to help. It is a little slower on the boards over the weekends.

One thing I did think might help in finding out more information is going to the top of this page and where is says search, click it and write in fingernails and they should show up a bunch of posts about nails psoriasis. Hope this might help til some others come on.

Take care,

Sandy

[MikeK]

Hi Libby,

Welcome to the Board! :cool: Nice to you meet you. I'm sorry to hear that your son has issues with nail psoriasis. :( Your description of his finger nails sound like my toenails. Unfortunately, from what my dermatologist tells me (and from what I've read here) nail psoriasis is very difficult to treat. The fact that your son is so young is also worrisome because many of the medications that are used on adults either have not been tested on children or cannot safely be used by children. :( I'm glad that you're bringing him to Stanford Children's Hospital. That's one of the best children's hospitals in the county, so hopefully they'll have some answers for you.

I've was first diagnosed with psoriasis way back in 1964. My dermatologist shocked me a couple of years ago by telling me that the problems that I was having with my nails was psoriasis. I knew that they were in bad shape, but I had no idea that it was psoriasis. As I mentioned, she also told me that nail psoriasis was very hard to treat and that the best that she could offer was to inject steroids into the nails beds. She also told me that that was very painful and may or may not be effective so I decided to live with the problem. Several months later, the subject of nail psoriasis came up during the question and answer session of a National Psoriasis Foundation Community Education Meeting that I attended in New York. The dermatologist who answered the question said that nail psoriasis was hard to treat but that she was pleased with the results that some of her patients had seen by using a prescription ointment called Tazorac on their nails. I've tried it with mixed results. It's helped the psoriasis on my fingernails but it's done absolutely nothing for the psoriasis on my toenails. Unfortunately, Tazorac is one of those medications that's probably not safe for use on children. That being said, here's a link to some additional information about Tazorac: http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic2/tazarotene_pi.htm.

Finally, I don't want to alarm you by nail psoriasis can sometimes be an indication of a form of arthritis called psoriatic arthritis. I hope and pray that your son doesn't have it, but it's something that you need to be aware of. Here's a link to the NPF's discussion of psoriatic arthritis: http://www.psoriasis.org/about/psa/.

I'm sorry that I can't be more helpful. :( Hang in there. I hope and pray that the doctors at Stanford can offer you something that help. Keep us posted and please don't be a stranger.

Mike

[PJ Leary]

hi Libby,

I am sorry to hear about your son's nail psoriasis. It is very hard to have a small infant with psoriasis of any type, as many othe parents on this board know all too well.

Mike gave you some great information, but he made on point I would like to stress to you. Without causing undue alarm, you need to pay attention to the possibility of psoriatic arthritis, which can present in infants and very young children, though it is rare. In the event that there may be pa involvement, early dignosis is extremely important.

The good news is that there are many more and very effective treatments available today for small children than ever before, in the event that your son may be in need. I hope that is not the case, but since you are looking to walk in the door as well informed as possible, I wanted to make sure that you were fully aware of the concern.

Please let us all know if and whenyou have any further questions.

[LibbyNBabyT]

Thank you for your replies. We just got back from Stanford. Could be good news, the doctor is hoping his nails will grow back in their original condition and she is not certain that it is psoriasis. I obviously hope that she is right.

I am so ****** at the derm here who said it was psoriasis and that there would be no treatment for him. She said there would be creams he could use is it was psoriasis.

Stanford was good to us so far. We saw Dr. Anna Bruckner.

Will update as we know more.