How can we safely soothe our young child's itchy skin?

Q Our two-year-old daughter is suffering from what we think is a dust mite allergy. Her back is in a terrible state and she's also scratching her legs, which are bleeding. It all began in November, when all the old carpets upstairs from the house we moved into were removed, we suspect creating an upheaval of mites.

- Dr Rosemary Leonard

Bacterial infection has already been ruled out, so we want to relieve the lesions on her back by natural methods. Can you suggest anything?

A House dust mites are tiny insects, about a quarter of a millimetre long, that do not live on humans, but near us, feeding on the dead skin cells that we shed naturally all the time. They prefer warm and humid environments, and are found in bedding, carpets, soft furnishings, toys and clothing.

They are a common cause of allergic reactions, including asthma, a persistent runny nose and eczema. But it's usually not the mite itself that causes the problem, but rather the droppings they shed - each mite produces about 20 each day, and they continue to cause allergic symptoms even after the mite has died.

Symptoms can become worse when mites are disturbed, for instance after changing bedding or doing housework, and lifting those old carpets may well have triggered your daughter's skin problem.

Mildly inflamed skin can often be treated by regular applications of moisturiser, but areas of bleeding suggest the skin is very itchy, and she is scratching a lot. This is likely to need a steroid cream or ointments to reduce the inflammation.

I note you prefer natural methods, but I doubt these will be effective and the longer the skin stays so itchy, the more she will scratch, and the more likely it is it will become infected, making the inflammation worse.