Milia, School Nurses, and Frustration

Aidan has two spots of milia on his face.  For those of you who don't know what those are, they are very common little bumps, often found in babies but just as often found in adults.  They are frequently the result of blocked pores and, in his case, overactive sweat glands (very common in Asian children).  In children, they usually resolve themselves.

Two days ago his school nurse called to ask what the spots on his face were and I told her.  She asked how I knew, and I told her.  She then said that a staff member was concerned that they were something viral.  I told her that they weren't, that they either go away or have to be surgically removed, and that they had been on his face for months.

Today she called again (yesterday was a snow day, so no call then).  This time she wanted to know, again, if I was sure what they were.  This staff member again suggested that they were something else-molloscum.  I said that they weren't and the nurse told me that she had put a bandage over each one.  I asked if the staff member had any medical training-no.  I asked if Aidan's classroom teacher had noticed them-she hadn't.  The nurse then told me that since bringing them to his teacher's attention, he had been seen to pick at them.  Well, duh.  One day you call him in and wash them, then you call him in and bandage them the next.  Now he's paying attention to them.  She tells me that she wants them bandaged from now until April when he has his annual physical.  I tell her that this is ridiculous, that I'm both angry and frustrated, and pretty much end the call with that.

So I pick my kid up from school and take him to the doctor's office where they are just as angry and frustrated as I am.  When I tell them that the nurse expected him to wear bandages on his face for two months-one right at the corner of his lip and the other at the side of his temple-they can't believe it.  I leave with a note saying that he has non-contagious postules on his face.