Any external effect adversely affects the baby's skin. Newborns are particularly susceptible to such changes. Among similar ailments, prickly heat is the most common. The task of parents is that it is necessary to protect the child from such a disease by all means. If this did not work out, timely treatment measures should be taken. As you know, thermoregulation in the baby’s body is far from perfect. The sweat glands, in response to overheating, produce too much secretion to cool the body as quickly as possible. If something interferes with evaporation, skin irritation occurs and sweating appears in the child.
Young mothers can not always externally distinguish this ailment from others. Often, prickly heat is confused with an infectious rash or an allergic reaction. As a result, they do not go to the doctor, which leads to negative consequences.
Terminology
Before talking about the symptoms and treatment of sweating in children, it is necessary to understand the terminology. Sweating is the result of irritation of the skin resulting from an imbalance between sweat and evaporation. In most cases, the ailment is found in babies up to a year, but there are cases when older children also become ill. As for adults, they are practically not at risk, but sometimes prickly heat affects this age group.
The disease is not contagious, appears mainly in the summer. Heat is considered to be one of the main factors of influence; therefore, prickly heat in a child can also occur in winter if the baby is wrapped too intensely. Therefore, parents need to monitor the maintenance of the temperature balance in children and prevent overheating and hypothermia.
Classification
Sweating in a child is of three main types. We will consider each of them in more detail:
- Red The rash is surrounded by reddened skin, the nodules do not merge with each other. Most often, an ailment of this kind occurs under the armpits and in intimate places. Among the main signs, pain in the touch process and severe itching can be distinguished. Redness usually disappears after a couple of weeks.
- Crystalline. This kind is characterized by small silvery or white vesicles. Localization sites are the trunk, neck and face of the baby. Bubbles can merge, forming easily bursting spots. Then in this area a rash appears on the child’s body. This kind of prickly heat does not itch children, it dries up after a few days.
- Papular. Occurs a few hours after the baby sweats. It is characterized by the appearance of small flesh-colored vesicles, most often such a rash is localized on the skin of the upper and lower extremities. After some time, the bubbles disappear, leaving no traces or scars.
Causes of the disease
Due to the characteristics of an unformed organism, prickly heat is considered a childhood disease. Mainly due to the mistakes of parents related to caring for the baby, the child is at risk. So, the following reasons are distinguished:
- Too high temperature in the room. Most people believe that if a child appears in the house, it is necessary to close the windows tightly to prevent colds. The temperature in the room at the same time reaches thirty degrees, as during a hot summer. It is not surprising that sooner or later, parents will see a rash. Sweating in children occurs as a result of overheating. We remind you that the optimum temperature in the room should be no more than twenty-two degrees Celsius.
- Excessive use of diapers. Despite the fact that manufacturers talk about the ability of this product to “breathe”, you can not leave a child in it throughout the day. The facts are that a rash appears often due to diapers. Also, newly mummies like to use a special cream that does not wash off for several hours, which produces a negative effect. It is recommended to change diapers from six times a day and rinse off the cream every time.
- Wrapping a baby. This method was a necessity in the old days, when people lived in huts, and children were wrapped in blankets to keep warm. Currently, this is not necessary, because the room is warming up evenly. Wrapping up is a direct path to the disease.
- Fever. If we talk about the natural causes of the disease, we can recall the infectious process. Usually in children, the temperature rises sharply, which leads to skin irritation. What does sweating in children look like? This is redness of the skin, accompanied by the presence of bubbles of different colors.
Rash localization
It is worth noting that prickly heat can appear on any area of the skin. In some cases, localization is limited to one area, and in others to an extensive space. In infants, because of this, sleep disorder and anxiety appear. Sweating in children (photo below) can be easily confused with chickenpox and other similar diseases. In any case, before taking action, you should consult a doctor.
Sweating differs in its localization. Let's talk about the most common places for a rash to appear:
- the neck, which is a fairly common site of localization. This is not surprising, because this part of the baby’s body is short and has a large number of folds. Such a place is difficult to treat with drugs due to the concern of the baby;
- sweating on the face of a child often indicates the presence of an allergic reaction;
- upper back - a rash appears due to overheating or wearing clothes made of synthetic materials;
- inguinal folds and buttocks - this area of the skin is poorly ventilated and is almost always covered by a diaper;
- head - this place is very rarely prone to rash, only as a result of prolonged wearing of a hat or other dress.
Key features
As you already understood from our material, the main symptom of sweating is a rash, accompanied by redness of the skin. In some cases, the situation is ordinary and does not require the intervention of a doctor. However, if you find pustules in the baby at elevated temperatures, you can’t do without the help of a doctor.
Parents must respond in a timely manner to the health problems of their child. The main symptoms of sweating in children include:
- swelling of the skin;
- cracks and ulcers, from which an unpleasant odor is observed;
- soreness, itching, and burning;
- fever.
Why are these signs considered dangerous? The fact is that they symbolize the beginning of the inflammatory process, which in the end can lead to irreparable consequences. Parents need to contact a pediatrician, usually he easily diagnoses the problem. If a rash is found in the child, similar to prickly heat, you need to make an appointment with the doctor as soon as possible. Excess consultation with a doctor will not be harmful.
Complications
Ignoring the symptoms almost always leads to unpleasant consequences, sweating in this case is no exception. A small rash causes diseases such as diaper dermatitis, infection of places of damage to the skin (pyoderma), vesiculopustulosis, etc.
Particular attention should be paid to the following signs:
- high body temperature, which is very difficult to bring down;
- loss of appetite, the baby does not want to eat anything;
- anxiety of the child, poor health;
- bubbles turn yellow, easily burst. The skin area around them is subject to severe swelling;
- in rare cases, the infection spreads beyond the skin. If at the same time the baby has weak immunity, dangerous diseases develop like pneumonia, otitis media, etc.
Diagnostics
It must be said that it is rather difficult to determine prickly heat without medical knowledge. But you can easily identify the first symptoms. Parents should remember that measles, chickenpox, prickly heat, and other skin diseases begin with a rash. Determining the nature of the rashes is best provided to the attending doctor.
In addition to the pediatrician, the child can be taken to a dermatologist. It is recommended that two experts conduct a study at once, so that the risk of errors is reduced. As a rule, after a visual examination, an experienced doctor can already name the diagnosis. If the presence of a fungal or bacterial infection is detected in children, pustules and puffiness appear on the skin. With more complex forms, ulcers with a putrid odor can be observed, poorly amenable to therapy. How to treat prickly heat in a child? Let's talk below.
General recommendations
First you need to highlight a few rules that all parents must adhere to. Recommendations include the following:
- dress the baby in the weather, do not allow overheating and hypothermia;
- clothing size is very important. The skin often sweats in places where the fabric adheres tightly to the body. In addition, you need to monitor the diaper, change it more often;
- bathe and wash your baby several times a day, cleanliness is simply necessary to avoid skin problems;
- after water procedures, thoroughly wipe the baby's body so that it is dry, and only then put on the baby;
- the apartment should provide fresh air, but do not allow drafts;
- you need to let the baby’s skin breathe, without the need to use creams, take air baths.
Treatment of sweating in children is individual, it is prescribed by the attending physician in each case. Combined therapy, including the use of drugs and traditional medicine, is especially effective.
Drug treatment
Pharmacy products are not the key to a positive outcome. But in some cases they are actively used to combat the rash. Photos of sweating in a child do not look very attractive.
To disinfect redness, doctors recommend using boric or salicylic acid. With this tool, you need to treat the skin around the bubbles to avoid getting burned. Direct redness can be treated with solutions like Fucorcin.
If you need to reduce the level of sweating in a child, use talcum powder, which absorbs excess moisture. An analog in this case is baby powder. This tool is very easy to find, because it is sold in every pharmacy and is inexpensive. Among the preparations with a drying effect, salicylic-zinc ointment can be distinguished. The method of application is to apply it to the inflamed area of the skin several times a day.
ethnoscience
As already noted, the complex treatment of sweating in a child is considered the most effective. In addition to medicines, traditional medicine can also be used. However, before use, you need to consult a doctor and check for allergies.
The best recipes for treating a rash are:
- Chamomile broth. This tool reduces redness and soothes. Chamomile can be bought at a pharmacy, pour boiling water and wait for cooling. After decanting, you need to moisten a swab with a decoction and apply it to the baby's skin.
- Water with vodka plus tincture of calendula. All these funds should be mixed in equal amounts, the resulting liquid should be moistened with a swab and the affected area treated.
- Soap from a child helps laundry soap. You just need to lather your hand while bathing and walk through the inflamed areas of the skin.
- Soda. Pour half a glass and pour boiling water. In the resulting liquid, moisten a cotton swab and treat the inflamed areas.
- Potato starch. Pour half a glass of the product with hot water and stir. All this is added to a bucket of warm water, put the baby in the bathroom and doused. It is worth noting that flushing is not recommended. Water temperature should be within thirty degrees.
What do not need to do?
During treatment, due to ignorance, you can greatly harm the patient. When you are struggling with prickly heat in a child, do not do the following:
- the inflamed areas of the skin do not need to be smeared with cream, this will only aggravate the situation;
- when the ailment is already manifested, it is recommended to bathe the baby three times a day, and use soap only once;
- change diapers as often as possible, it is recommended about seven times a day;
- if the baby has pustules, do not self-medicate. Symptom indicates that an infection has appeared in the body. The only right decision will be to contact a specialist and take the necessary tests.
Prevention
In order to prevent skin diseases, first of all, you need to follow the rules of hygiene. In addition, parents should be careful and attentive.
Recommendations to prevent baby sweating:
- do not need to wrap the baby too much, if the room is more than twenty degrees, it will not freeze;
- care must be taken to care for the skin of a child. Use water-based hypoallergenic products best;
- carefully choose baby creams. For example, fatty preparations are preferably used in the cold season;
- proper nutrition is also important, you should not overfeed the baby;
- you need to make sure that the baby’s skin is constantly breathing. Bathe your baby more often, add soothing herbs to the water;
- It is recommended to use clothing made from fabrics of natural origin (linen, cotton).
Sweating is a fairly common disease and can occur in everyone. This is not a big deal, most mothers successfully cope with the disease. It is worth remembering only that this disease is not treated by itself, it is necessary to take specific measures.