Sunburn in a child

Sun exposure is very beneficial for toddlers. But parents should be extremely careful, because just a few extra minutes in the sun can lead to sunburn in a child... What burns there are, how to help your baby and how to prevent thermal damage to the skin, we will tell you in this article.

What it is

Sunburn is damage to the outer layers of the skin caused by UV rays. In this case, the integrity of the integument is not violated. Sunlight has two components - a visible and invisible spectrum. We see sunlight - this is electromagnetic radiation. And when we feel warmth, we perceive the invisible part, in particular - infrared radiation.

The invisible spectrum contains ultraviolet radiation in addition to infrared radiation. Under its action, the child's body produces vitamin D, melanin. If a person stays in the scorching sun for a long time, the infrared spectrum leads to overheating, heatstroke. And ultraviolet rays can do much more serious harm.

In addition to thermal damage, they can cause photodermatosis, the appearance of age spots and even malignant skin ailments.

To get sunburned, an adult needs to be in the sun without protective equipment for half an hour or more. And for thermal lesions to occur in a child, only 5-10 minutes is enough.

Causes of occurrence

The likelihood of burns is influenced by several factors - external and internal. External include:

season (in summer, when solar activity is higher, the risks are more serious);
Times of Day (the sun is most aggressive between 11 am and 4 pm);
geography of the place of rest - latitude and altitude (the higher the height above sea level, for example, in a mountainous area, the more aggressive the sun's rays, the closer the latitude to the equator, the hotter the sun);
landscape reflectivity (Sand reflects 17% of the sun's light, and water - about 20%, while the ground - only 5%. The record holder is snow. It reflects more than 80% of the sunlight. Therefore, it is more real to get burned on a sandy beach near the water and in snow-capped mountains, than walking in a field or forest).

Internal factors lead to a tendency to solar thermal damage:

skin phototype (in a blue-eyed white-skinned baby, burns will occur faster and will be more severe than in his swarthy peer);
age (the younger the child, the more dangerous the open sun is for him);
skin features (in infants and children under 5 years of age, the skin is very delicate, its protective functions are poorly expressed, and therefore the likelihood of thermal burns is higher).

The burn itself develops due to an imbalance of the ratio provided by nature between the amount of ultraviolet radiation and melanin. The body begins to produce this brown pigment as a protection against UV rays. If there is enough melanin and few rays, then a beautiful and painless tan is formed. If the production of pigment "does not keep up" with the rate of UV irradiation, then a burn develops.

When exposed to UV rays, the skin produces a huge amount of photoradicals, which are toxic metabolic products. They destroy the cells of the outer skin layer - the epidermis. And the work of local immunity, which somehow tries to reduce the effect of photoradicals, explains why the skin turns red in this case.

Almost always, in toddlers, thermal burns are accompanied by heatstroke to one degree or another. This is due to the imperfect system of thermoregulation in the child's body, which is very easy to shake even a slight external influence of the infrared solar spectrum.

Symptoms and signs

It is noteworthy that signs of a burn become noticeable only a few hours later. The very first symptom is redness of the skin. The baby's skin becomes dry, hot, and touching it can be painful for the baby. At this stage, the temperature usually rises, the child feels a strong chill. After expressed anxiety, the child quickly becomes lethargic and apathetic.

The further development of events depends on the stage of sunburn. If she the first, then the symptoms will end there, after a couple of days the baby will feel better, the skin will quickly recover on its own. 2nd degree burn - this is not only redness and fever, but also the gradual development of vesicles and papules. The affected area is covered with blisters filled with aqueous humor. Such bubbles are not often on the face, their favorite place is the skin of the back, arms, legs, neck. Sometimes a slight swelling of the limbs is possible.

For third degree sunburn in a child, symptoms of systemic overheating are added to the above symptoms - headache, nausea, swelling of the hands, feet, face. A face with edema is characterized by severe puffiness in the area of the eyes and lips. 4 degree burn - This is a very severe sunburn that can be fatal. With them, not only the outer layers of the skin are affected, but also the subcutaneous fatty tissue.

Sunburn related symptoms:

sleep disturbance;
violation of appetite;
manifestation of intoxication;
capriciousness;
signs of neurological disorders.

First aid

Even mild stages of sunburn need first aid for the child. The algorithm for parenting actions should be clear, coherent:

Visually assess the degree of thermal injury.
Move the child to the shade as soon as possible.
Be sure to drink plenty of fluids. The water should not be too cold. Carbonated drinks are strictly prohibited.
If the child is under one year old, you should call an ambulance. For older children, calling an "ambulance" is mandatory in case of a large area of burns, with symptoms of heat stroke - loss of consciousness, clouding of consciousness, headache, nausea and vomiting, swelling.
The child should not lie horizontally, he should be placed reclining - the head should be raised.

You need to take off as much clothes as possible from the baby. Leave him only in panties.
You can spray the damaged skin with cool water from the siphon. Do not rub in water, put ice. Normal spraying should be sufficient.
If vomiting appears, even before the arrival of the ambulance, it is imperative that the child be given oral rehydration means, this is Rehydron or Humana Electrolyte.
With a rare increase in temperature above 39.0 degrees, an antipyretic agent should be given in an age-specific dosage. Children under 12 years old - "Paracetamol" "Nurofen", "Ibuprofen", children older - one of these or any other drug.

To avoid putting your child's health and life at risk, it is important not to make common mistakes. It is strongly not recommended to use alcohol-based products on scalded skin areas for children. Do not smear your skin with fatty cream, oil, fatty sour cream.

It is forbidden to send the child into a cool shower or cold bath - this can cause a sharp spasm of blood vessels with the occurrence of seizures.

Treatment

Not all sunburns will be treated at home by your doctor. If the child has a burn of the second or higher degree, if he has symptoms of heatstroke, hospitalization will be offered. You should not refuse it. In a hospital, the child's skin will be treated locally, in parallel with the introduction of drugs to relieve symptoms of intoxication, replenishing the water-salt balance in the body.

However, in most cases, it is allowed to treat thermal damage received in the open sun at home, because children actually rarely have severe sunburn. The first day will be the most difficult. It is during 24 hours that the pain sensations increase.

Treatment is mostly symptomatic. At temperatures above 39.0 degrees - give antipyretics ("Paracetamol», «Ibuprofen"). With regard to a newborn child, such a fever is not expected, and they give him medicine to lower the temperature after the thermometer exceeds 38.0 degrees.

It is important to give your child more to drink. If he refuses water or cool tea, you need to drink with a teaspoon or a disposable syringe without a needle. Burns at an early stage are lubricated with healing anti-inflammatory drugs. A cream will do.Bepanten"Or spray"Panthenol". They should be applied to burns 4-5 times a day. At the next stage, when the skin begins to peel off and itch, you can lubricate it with baby cream.

The ointment and cream should be applied carefully, trying not to injure the skin, especially not to violate the integrity of the blisters, if any. Otherwise, the likelihood of infection increases dramatically. For the same reasons, you should not bathe your child during treatment with sponges and brushes.

From folk remedies for sunburn, aloe juice helps a lot. Freshly squeezed juice is applied to the affected area and left to dry completely 3-4 times a day.

If the child has edema, it is possible, with the permission of the doctor, to give antihistamines (“Fenkarol», «Suprastin», «Loratadin") In the age dosage. They will help reduce swelling and prevent the development of photodermatosis (allergy to sunlight). The best remedy for pain relief if inflamed skin prevents a child from falling asleep is a spray "Amprovisol"Or an anesthetic spray with lidocaine.

There is no universal cure for sunburn. All funds are intended only to temporarily alleviate the condition of the baby. The cure, in the full sense of the word, will take place spontaneously. It is important that during the recovery period the child does not burn in the sun again, because repeated burns are harder and more difficult than primary ones.

Effects

Light sunburn usually goes away without consequences. More serious ones may have negative echoes in the future. Complications of thermal sun damage include:

violation of skin pigmentation;
the addition of a bacterial or fungal infection (more often than others, staphylococcus aureus "takes root" on the affected skin areas);
the development of allergies to sunlight;
the emergence and development of moles at the site of burns;
the development of large and dangerous nevi, which can degenerate into malignant formations and cause skin cancer - melanoma.

Prevention

In order not to overshadow neither yourself nor your child's outdoor recreation, by the sea, at a ski resort, it is important to take care of the child's safety in advance. Taking sunburn prevention seriously will help keep the whole family healthy:

A child up to six months should not be in the open sun at all. On the beach, such a baby must be kept under an umbrella or awning. After six months, you should strictly limit the time spent in the open sun - depending on the type of skin, it should be from 5 to 10 minutes.
It is best to go with a child to sunbathe in the morning from 8.00 to 11.00, and then after 15 hours. During these periods, the sun's rays are not as aggressive.
Be sure to use high-quality and safe children's sunscreen - creams, sprays, foams. For a light-skinned baby with blue eyes and blond hair, you should choose a product with UV protection from 30 to 50. On the package, this parameter is indicated by the Latin letters SPF. For a dark-skinned child with dark eyes and dark hair, you can buy a cream with protection from 15 to 30.

Such funds are relevant if the child is relaxing on the beach or goes with his parents to the mountains. For a regular walk in urban or suburban conditions, away from water bodies and sand, it is better to use creams and sprays with SPF from 15 to 20 units. For a picnic by a river in a wooded area, a product with UV protection of 20-25 units is most suitable.

Any means for protecting from the sun "works" and protects the baby's skin for no more than three hours, and you should not believe the advertising inscriptions on the packaging, which promise almost round-the-clock protection. If the baby is swimming, the protection time is rapidly decreasing.

Some components of sunscreens begin to react aggressively with the skin when bathing in chlorinated and tinted water. Therefore, with great care, you should resort to such cosmetics if you plan to swim in an outdoor pool with blue water. According to parental reviews, the following brands are the most popular and reliable: NiveaSunCare, Biocon, GarnierAmbre Solaire, Vichy, Bioderma, Our Mom, Clinique.

It should be remembered that the open aggressive sun can cause not only skin burns, but also burns to the eyes of a child. Therefore, you should definitely use a panama hat or a brimmed hat so that the child's organs of vision are closed from the sun.

Why do sunburns occur, what factors increase their likelihood, how to help and what remedies can be applied? Dr. Komarovsky will answer all the questions in the next video.