As the temperature rises, it’s time for kids to get prickly heat again.
Prickly heat, commonly known as sweat rash or heat rash, is a skin disease caused by hot weather or a humid and hot environment. Children and adults are at risk of developing the disease if they stay in such an environment for a long time.
Infants, especially newborns, are more likely to induce prickly heat in a humid and hot environment because of underdeveloped sweat ducts.
There are the following types of prickly heat, depending on the damage to the sweat ducts, the site of sweat spillage, and the appearance of the patient’s skin:
White prickly heat
Sweat duct extravasation occurs in the stratum corneum or under the stratum corneum, causing white prickly heat. When white prickly heat develops, small bright blisters can be seen on the affected skin. These small blisters have thin walls and are easily scratched.
White prickly heat is self-limiting and does not require treatment. Children are generally asymptomatic. The course of the disease is about a week. After the disease subsides, small scales will fall off.
Red prickly heat
If the sweat duct overflows or even has spinous layers on the skin, it can cause red prickly heat. At onset, round, sharp red papules appear in groups of affected skin, which are more severe in skin folds. Red prickly heat will have a tingling sensation and a mild burning sensation, which requires intensive care. After the red prickly heat subsides, there will also be mild dandruff shedding.
Abscess
Abscesses usually develop from red prickly heat. At the onset, dense papules can be seen on the skin, and the tips of the papules have superficial pustules the size of needles.
Deep prickly heat
Profound prickly heat can occur when sweat ducts spill out into the upper dermis or where the dermis joins the epidermis. At the onset, dense small blisters can be seen on the skin, and the size of the blisters changes with the amount of sweat. Patients may experience systemic symptoms such as weakness, drowsiness, dizziness, and headache. Deep prickly heat is relatively rare, and if it occurs, seek medical attention immediately.
What should I do if my child has prickly heat?
Everything is “pre-planned, and failure to predict”. Prickly heat is still mainly based on prevention.
In hot summer, adjusting the room temperature is the best way to prevent prickly heat. Under normal circumstances, the room temperature should be 23-26 degrees, and if it exceeds 26 degrees, fans and air conditioners are needed to cool down the children. Prevent excessive sweating and cause prickly heat.
Wearing sweat-absorbing and breathable clothes for children can also effectively prevent prickly heat. At the same time, taking a bath frequently and washing the sweat from the skin in time is also more effective for preventing prickly heat.
The most important point is that talcum powder does not prevent prickly heat, it must be remembered. Because talcum powder can’t make the baby sweat less, it can’t clean the skin, but it may have the risk of inhalation of the respiratory tract for the child, especially if the child has asthma and other conditions, it will increase the risk of recurrence.
And if you buy talcum powder that contains talc, there is a risk of cancer, so don’t give it to children.
If the child has had prickly heat, don’t be too worried and anxious, just deal with it according to the type of prickly heat. White prickly heat is self-limiting and generally does not require treatment. The focus is on improving the damp-heat environment. Red prickly heat and white prickly heat generally do not need treatment. The focus is still to improve the humid and hot environment. Calamine can be applied to relieve itching.
If your child repeatedly develops red prickly heat accompanied by itching, or develops pus prickly heat, seek medical attention immediately to prevent infection caused by itching and scratching.
What if I can’t tell the difference between prickly heat and eczema?
Before there were no air conditioners, heaters, and humidifiers, prickly heat was more common in summer with high temperatures, while eczema was more common in autumn and winter when it was relatively dry. Now that the conditions are better, prickly heat and eczema are not seasonal, and sometimes even superimpose, so that mothers can’t tell the difference.
The following three points make it easy to differentiate between the two.
Look at the pattern
The cause of prickly heat is that the sweat glands are blocked, and sweat penetrates into the surrounding skin tissue, causing a rash. Therefore, although the color of prickly heat is different, they are all granular.
The cause of eczema is that the function of the skin itself is not good, and it cannot block various external stimuli, causing bacteria, allergens, and chemicals to invade the skin, and then form skin inflammation, so wetThe rash is usually patchy.
See where it appears
From the cause of prickly heat, it can be seen that prickly heat mostly occurs in hot, airtight and sweaty places. The neck, back, armpit, and groin are the hardest hit areas. The butt is also more prone to prickly heat.
From the causes of eczema, eczema is more likely to appear on exposed skin, such as cheeks, elbows, knees, etc.
See changes after processing
Prickly heat will improve immediately as long as you get rid of the humid and hot environment. Therefore, most of the rashes that can be improved if you turn on the air conditioner at home are mostly prickly heat.
And eczema needs moisturizing treatment to get better, if the rash is relieved by moisturizing treatment, then it may be eczema.
How to deal with the superimposition of prickly heat and eczema?
If you find that your child’s eczema has not healed yet, and has prickly heat again, the first thing to do is to cool down. On this basis, considering the great harm of eczema, the treatment of eczema is the first priority.
May this summer, mothers will no longer worry about the baby’s prickly heat problem, and the babies will no longer be troubled by prickly heat.