Mandy Moore is bringing awareness to a skin condition named Gianotti-Crosti syndrome.
The This Is Us actress noticed a rash emerging on her two-year-old son, Gus, last July and, like many parents, took to the internet to identify the condition, its causes, and what treatments were available to remedy it.
After trialling a number of lotions and creams, the mum-of-two began to wonder if her eldest son had contracted a form of dermatitis and even went as far as to investigate her garden for potential triggers, which, unfortunately, yielded no explanation for her son’s rash.
Speaking with E! News, Mandy said she and her husband, Taylor Goldsmith, found it difficult to pinpoint where their son’s skin rash was coming from.
“Taylor and I were like, no, he didn’t get into anything. We’re always watching him, and it’s just on his legs; it’s not on his stomach; it wasn’t on his hands,” she explained.
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This prompted trips to urgent care and the paediatrician, as well as a dermatologist, which finally shone a light on the skin condition she and her husband were trying to figure out.
The paediatric dermatologist was immediately able to diagnose their toddler with Gianotti-Crosti syndrome, a rash that covered his legs, feet, and the back of his arms.
What is Gianotti-Crosti syndrome?
The National Institutes of Health describes Gianotti-Crosti syndrome (GCS) as a ‘self-limited condition, mainly affecting children younger than 6 years, less common in adolescents and adults’.
Speaking on finally getting a diagnosis, Mandy said, “It was strange. It’s a virus, so it normally comes on the heels of him being sick. And I’m like, ‘No, he’s not been sick. He hasn’t gotten a vaccine.’ There was no sort of reaction—nothing. It was just a random thing.”
“It was a great lesson in having to just roll with the punches as parents and recognise, Okay, now we know what it is, which is everything. Having the knowledge of what something is, how you can help him find relief, and then you just move on with your life.”
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Mandy Moore said the first week following her son’s diagnosis wasn’t easy
Moore said it was so hard to see her little boy in discomfort, but he has since recovered.
“He was just really uncomfortable. He wasn’t sleeping because he was so itchy. And that is just the worst as a parent. He’s in the car, and he’s like, ‘Itchy Mom, itchy.'”
While she sought the help of various parenting messaging boards and employed the use of creams, and Benadryl, she said it was all about letting it ‘run its course’.
Gus, now recovered, still has faint remnants of the redness on his body where the rash once was, but it’s ‘not raised anymore’.
Following his recovery, the advice from the Crush singer is to recognise that ‘it’s all fleeting’.
“Knowing, okay, plenty of people have been in this position. We’re all going to get through it. There are some uncomfortable days, but there will be so many more of those in every different aspect of life.
“Just breathing and trying to look at the bigger picture of this is just one more experience to have under your belt that will help you the next time you encounter something like this.”
Mandy welcomed her second child with her husband, a son named Ozzie, last October.
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