Newborn children react very strongly to a variety of stimuli, unlike adults. Particularly pronounced is the reaction in the first months of a child's life. The main sign of damage to the skin with an allergen is considered seborrheic dermatitis in infants.
At the very beginning, an allergic reaction manifests itself on the baby's head. Almost always, newborn babies have a milk crust, which has a high density. She does not pose any threat and does not need treatment, which, as a rule, is warned by the doctor even in the hospital.
The causes of the disease
Several different causes can cause the development of seborrheic dermatitis in infants. The main experts include the following.
- Very often, doctors say that infants develop seborrheic dermatitis due to excess maternal hormones, from which he has not yet managed to free himself after birth. In this case, due to the large number of hormones, the sebaceous glands are activated. They produce several times more than the usual secret and provoke the formation of crusts in the child.
- Seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp in children can begin to appear in those children who have a hereditary predisposition to pathologies of allergic origin. In this case, an individual treatment regimen is selected. This should be done exclusively by an experienced specialist.
- Seborrheic dermatitis in infants occurs in the event of infection of the child's body with an infection. Some medications that are undesirable to take at too early an age have a bad effect.
- Dysbacteriosis can provoke changes in the condition of the skin of the face and head of the baby. The pathology of the digestive system is also affected. Because of this, seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp in children develops.
- Experts also call the most common reason for the development of this pathology in children - the influence of the yeast fungus Malassezia furfur on the weak body of a child. This fungus has the ability to very actively multiply directly on the surface of the skin.
In most cases, all signs of seborrheic dermatitis disappear on their own about 2–3 months after the onset. But in more severe cases, this pathology can proceed very hard and not disappear for several years. In this regard, treatment should begin immediately after the appearance of the slightest symptoms, even if you consider that seborrheic dermatitis is not considered a serious disease.
Factors affecting the development of pathology
The main factors that can enhance the activity of the fungus include the following:
- sebaceous glands secrete too much secret, which is often found in newborns;
- there is increased sweating;
- there are too many maternal hormones in the baby’s body;
- the baby has weak immunity;
- there are diseases of the digestive system that provoke malfunctioning of some organs;
- hereditary predisposition in the newborn.
Symptoms of the disease
Symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis are manifested in most of all newborn children. Pathology has its own characteristic features, which include the following:
- In the case of seborrheic dermatitis in infants of the scalp, small scales begin to appear on the baby's head. As a rule, they are localized initially in the parietal zone. In the same place, a shell-like layer forms, which in its appearance can resemble a hat. The scales that appeared due to seborrheic dermatitis on the head of the baby can have a gray or yellow color.
- After the head, the crusts begin to gradually move to other parts of the body. You can notice their appearance in the neck, face and behind the ears. Such formations are rare enough, but still it is worth remembering about them. It is worth noting that seborrheic dermatitis can begin to develop in the armpits, groin, buttocks.
- Inflammation may or may not be present on the skin. Scaly formations do not blush, which, as a rule, happens with the development of atopic dermatitis. A photo of seborrheic dermatitis in infants will allow you to roughly determine this disease.
- Affected areas of the skin do not itch. This is another difference from atopic dermatitis. Despite the fact that the child has seborrheic dermatitis on the head and other parts of the body, the sight is not pleasant, but still it does not bring any discomfort to the baby.
Disease manifestation period
Formations in the form of crusts begin to appear in the baby two or three weeks after his birth. The peak of the development of the disease occurs in the period from one to three months after the birth of the crumbs. If you do not deal with the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis in infants, then the crusts should disappear on their own by about the year of the child's life, but this is at best. If the disease has a neglected form, then the scalp can heal even up to 4 years.
How to get rid of signs of pathology
In infants, seborrheic dermatitis on the face and other parts of the body is treated in two different directions. First of all, you need to provide proper and regular care for the skin of the child. The second stage of treatment is the use of special medications for medical therapy.
How to care for the skin of a child
Care for the skin of the baby needs to be very carefully and accurately. There are some rules that must be followed every day, especially if the child suffers from seborrheic dermatitis.
- A newborn needs to choose clothes only from natural fabric. Synthetics should be avoided.
- If diapers are used, it is necessary to keep a certain distance between the body and the surface of the diaper. It is important to ensure that there is no tightness.
- To prevent the development of seborrheic dermatitis, it is necessary to regularly arrange the baby with air baths.
- Closely monitor the temperature in the room where the child is. The maximum temperature should not exceed 23 degrees.
Proper use of cosmetics
- Depending on the type of skin of the child, you need to individually select all cosmetics. It is best to choose those products that have a hypoallergenic basis.
- You can not use shampoos, bath foams and other detergents that have fragrance.
- After completing water procedures, it is important to ensure that the skin is completely dry. But at the same time, in no case should you rub the baby. Drying the skin can be done exclusively with the help of accurate soaking movements.
- With seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp in a child, special attention must be paid to eliminating the manifestations of pathology. In order for the flakes to be removed easily and leave no traces on the surface of the skin of the head, you must first lubricate them gently with oil that has a vegetable or mineral composition. After about ten minutes, you can start washing your hair. It is important to massage the scalp of the baby with light movements. For such a massage, you can use a brush.
Means for treating the disease
As a rule, medications for the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis are used very rarely. This can be explained by the fact that if the irritant is initially eliminated, then there are chances that the pathology will soon pass without any intervention. If there is too much damage, the doctor should choose medications that will help:
- eliminate the inflammatory process;
- eliminate fat, keratinized areas, peeling;
- restore the skin of the baby;
- prevent the development of a variety of skin diseases.
How treatment affects the degree of skin damage
The treatment of seborrheic dermatitis will be affected by the degree of damage to the skin of the child. Depending on this, the specialist will pick up gels, shampoos or creams. With their help, it will be possible to eliminate the inflammatory process on the skin, dry it and kill the fungus.
After the primary lesions of the skin are eliminated, special cosmetics called emollients will be used for treatment.
Types of medicines to treat the disease
During therapy, the following types of medications can be used:
- Baby oils that make the scales softer. Such oils include peach, almond, olive, jojoba oil and primrose.
- To eliminate the crusts, you can use special cleansing gels, creams, foams. You can not use them for long. After applying the scales do not need to comb out. They are easily washed while swimming under running water. Some remedies of this type help to tidy up the sebaceous glands, and they begin to produce less secret.
- The pharmacy sells special shampoos against seborrhea. You need to rub them into wet hair until the shampoo turns into a thick foam. Leave the product on your hair for five minutes, then rinse. The experts consider Frederma to be the most effective shampoo and most often prescribe it.
- It is possible to treat seborrheic dermatitis in a child by applying a cream. It is applied to the baby's head and body twice a day. Rinse off the cream is not necessary. Such funds are aimed at normalizing the work of the sebaceous glands of the baby. They also help kill pathogenic microbes.
Use the above funds for the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis in a newborn baby can be done no more than twice a week. In each individual case, the doctor determines the duration of the course, taking into account exactly what degree of damage in the child.
Folk remedies
In order to eliminate the unpleasant signs of this disease, after consulting a doctor, you can use some of the remedies that traditional medicine offers. They must be applied exclusively to the surface of the scalp with seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp at the baby, and then covered with a special hat or cap. Leave the product for thirty minutes. Then the head is carefully combed with a comb with rounded teeth. After such a procedure, it is advisable to wash the baby’s head thoroughly to remove the remnants of the remedy and combed scales.
For the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis, some medicinal plants can be used. For the treatment of children, it is allowed to use sage, calendula, oak bark, a variety of herbal preparations. With their help, you can easily remove the crusts not only from the surface of the head, but also from the face.
What can not be done with crusts
In no case should you remove, or, even worse, peel off the formed crust on your own, without the use of special tools. Such a procedure will not help to eliminate them, and they will appear again very quickly. In addition, there is too much risk of infection in open wounds. Before using any drugs or traditional medicine against seborrheic dermatitis, it is imperative to consult with a specialist.
Possible complications
This disease can cause serious complications:
- Crusts can begin to spread not only on the head, but also far beyond. The child becomes very moody, constantly crying due to the fact that the crusts itch, there is also redness, burning and rash. In this case, seborrheic dermatitis can go into an atopic form.
- An infection can get into the affected areas of the skin. This process is very dangerous, because the inflammatory process begins to develop rapidly. Soon, a secondary infection may join dermatitis. Affected areas of the skin begin to become covered with pus. In most cases, this is observed exclusively in the inguinal, axillary or gluteal regions. In this situation, it is impossible to get rid of the disease without using a variety of medicines.
Although seborrheic dermatitis in most cases is considered a non-serious disease, you should still not delay visiting a doctor after the first signs of a pathology appear. The sooner the use of special tools to eliminate crusts begins, the higher the chances that the disease will disappear soon, complications will not occur and the child will feel normal.