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WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW
A young Hawaiian boy suffered a severe skin reaction that included painful, oozing and sometimes bloody red scabs after his parents used a steroid-based cream that was prescribed to treat his eczema.
Kristi and Matt Chun, parents to 20-month-old Colby, applied the cream to a patch of eczema that was initially found on the toddler’s ear. Eczema is a skin condition that can cause scaly patches — which are usually itchy and red — to form on the body.
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When the condition cleared, the boy’s parents said they stopped applying the cream to their son. Soon after, he turned “red from head to toe like a lobster,” Kristi Chun, of Honolulu told the U.K-based publication The Sun.
They then reapplied the cream, which caused the boy’s condition to reportedly heal. Each time the parents stopped applying the cream to Colby, they said his skin would erupt in scabs. That cycle continued for two months and worsened each time, The Sun reported.
“After the red portions, it started to dry out and crack in large thick patches, then he went through the oozing stage which was the worst,” Kristi Chun, 36, said. “Every time we increased the steroids to a higher dosage it would work and then stop, followed by it coming back with a vengeance.”
The Hawaii couple eventually determined their son was suffering from topical steroid addiction.
(Caters News Agency)
The couple — distressed and hoping to find relief for their son who would scream in pain — consulted various doctors in an attempt to discover what was causing the boy’s skin to have such a horrific reaction.
“It was the worst kind of torture. Most parents can relate to seeing their child in pain but this was 24/7, with no relief,” Kristi Chun said, adding Colby had trouble eating and sleeping due to the condition.
It was eventually determined the culprit was the steroid-based cream itself.
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The Chuns told The Sun that Colby was suffering from topical steroid withdrawal. The condition, also known as “topical steroid addiction,” is a “clinical adverse effect that can occur when topical corticosteroids are inappropriately used or overused, then stopped. It can result from prolonged, frequent and inappropriate use of moderate to high potency topical corticosteroids, especially on the face and genital area, but is not limited to these criteria,” the National Eczema Association reported.
The couple said the International Topical Steroid Addiction Network helped them to identify the toddler’s condition.
“It was the worst kind of torture. Most parents can relate to seeing their child in pain but this was 24-7, with no relief.”
Eventually, Colby was taken off the topical cream entirely — but had to endure a series of flare-ups which, according to The Sun, left his skin “red, raw and oozing” before it scabbed over and flaked.
Months later, the Chuns claim their son is “75 percent healed,” noting he now sleeps through the night, walks and laughs, among other improvements.
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“He laughs and sleeps through the night, his hair has grown back and he’s gaining weight like any normal baby,” Kristi Chun said.
Matt Chun told The Sun he believes his son “could have died” had they not found a solution.
“He was completely swollen, missing milestones, unable to focus and eat because he was so red, swollen and bleeding,” the 37-year-old said.
Kristi Chun did not immediately return Fox News’ request for additional comment Tuesday.
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