Prickly heat in young children is a common phenomenon. No matter how well the baby is looked after, characteristic rashes may appear on his skin from time to time. There is nothing wrong with prickly heat itself if parents know how to distinguish it from other skin and infectious diseases, as well as how to help the little one. We will tell you how to recognize prickly sweat in this article.
Causes of occurrence
If the human body experiences overheating, then the cooling mechanism starts. Sweat performs this function. However, in young children, sweat glands work under conditions physiological overloadbecause the sweat ducts through which sweat is released to the outside are narrow, and the skin itself is very delicate and thin.
In response to the heat, the glands begin to produce sweat, and its discharge is difficult. A blockage of the ducts may occur, and at this point an inflammatory process will begin, in which both the gland and the outer layer of the epidermis will be involved.
Even the inflamed gland does not stop the production of sweat, and this physiologically active fluid additionally irritates the inflamed skin.
A child can overheat quite quickly, this is due to imperfect work of the thermoregulation center. Overheating is often caused by too warm clothes in which caring parents dress the baby, a large amount of clothing, heat in the room where the baby sleeps, as well as diseases that occur with high temperatures. During a fever, sweating increases, and taking antipyretic drugs only intensifies the process of sweating.
To a greater extent than others, prone to allergic reactions, overweight chubby toddlers, children suffering from rickets, premature babies and artificial crumbs are prone to prickly heat.
Types and signs
There are several types of prickly heat, which differ from each other externally, but not in the mechanisms of development. Any of these types can be observed both in children under one year old, and in babies after a year:
Crystalline prickly heat
This type of disease is most common in children; crystal prickly heat is considered the simplest of all types. It can be recognized by small bubbles that appear in the place of increased sweating - on the neck, on the buttocks, inside the skin folds on the arms and legs. The rash is not accompanied by inflammation, there is no redness, erosion.
The bubbles themselves are no more than 1 mm in diameter, they burst quite easily, they can merge with neighboring bubbles and create rashes that are large enough in area. After the bubble bursts, a crust forms, which peels off strongly.
Often, such prickly heat is observed in newborns on the face, especially between the eyebrows and on the nose.
Red prickly heat
This prickly heat has a brighter color. It looks like red or dark pink bumps, which are usually formed in places of prolonged heat exposure, where evaporation of sweat is difficult, for example, on the bottom under a diaper. It can also be accompanied by the formation of bubbles, which, in contrast to the crystalline form, do not tend to merge.
Red prickly heat is characterized by swelling of the skin that surrounds bumps or blisters, pronounced redness, itching and even pain.
White prickly heat
This type of skin rash is very similar to crystalline prickly heat, however, inside the bubbles, there is not a transparent liquid that resembles sweat droplets on the skin, but a white, almost milky liquid. Such prickly heat is often enough complicated by general inflammation of the affected skin. However, swelling of the outer layer of the skin with white prickly heat is not extensive. After the white bubbles burst, a whitish or slightly yellowish crust remains, which quickly dries up and disappears.
Deep prickly heat
Deep prickly heat is also called papular for the formation of characteristic papules. They are not formed superficially, but in the deeper skin layers... Such prickly heat is considered more severe than all of the above.
Papules are quite solid in diameter - about 2 mm, the rash is accompanied by severe itching, pain. Such prickly heat is formed in any part of the body, in babies it can often be seen in the groin, on the back, on the stomach.
Intertrigo
It is not very difficult to recognize diaper rash, since they are weeping eczema, which used to be a type of prickly heat. Any type of prickly rash turns into diaper rash, if it was not noticed in time or the factors of overheating and sweating were not eliminated. "Running" prickly heat on the body requires long-term treatment.
It is manifested by large lesions, severe redness, a combination of superficial and deeper formations of the elements of the rash, weeping surfaces. In a child, diaper rash causes pain, the behavior of the baby changes, he may even have a fever.
Infected prickly heat
Any prickly heat can also become infected. If the integrity of the bubbles is violated, then this creates the prerequisites for the penetration of bacteria and fungi into the body. Moreover, the danger is much closer than it seems to adults, because opportunistic microorganisms live on people's skin all the time. As soon as such "entrance gates" such as wounds are formed, bacteria can stop being a peaceful neighbor and turn into a dangerous and insidious enemy.
You can talk about infection when pustules begin to form at the site of prickly heat. Any suppuration is a sure sign of the onset of bacterial inflammation. Most often, this effect is caused by Staphylococcus aureus.
If prickly heat not only does not go away, but also manifests itself in the formation of extensive flaky whitish skin fragments, we can talk about a fungal secondary infection.
Infected prickly heat can be located on any part of the body, quite often it can be observed even in children of preschool and school age, for example, on the feet, if the legs sweat in improperly selected shoes, in the space between the heel and metatarsal bones, in the arch of the foot and between the toes.
How to distinguish from disease
Any type of prickly heat, except for the infected, can be cured at home without much difficulty. However, to begin with, parents must be able to distinguish it from an allergy or an infectious disease, which requires mandatory medical advice.
With allergies, the rash is almost not prone to merging, they are characterized by increased itching, may be accompanied by food disorders or allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and deterioration of health. Miliaria does not cause such changes. It can be distinguished from an allergic reaction using the so-called air test. A child with prickly heat should be stripped naked and leave to take air baths for a couple of hours.
During this time, prickly heat will turn pale and visually decrease. The air will not have any effect on an allergic rash, the lesion will remain the same as it was originally. Prickly heat can be distinguished from infection by accompanying symptoms.
A rash that covers the body of a child with an infectious disease, in 99.9% of cases, appears against a background of high fever, cough, sore throat, and intoxication. Such symptoms are not typical for prickly heat.
What to do when detected
First of all, parents should assess the area of spread of prickly heat, its degree, type. Then, measures should be taken to eliminate factors overheating the child's body. For this:
- The air temperature in the room where the child sleeps is brought to optimal values - 18-21 degrees Celsius with a relative humidity of 50-70%.
- The child is bathed in warm, but not hot, water without soap and other detergents. You can add a decoction of chamomile, calendula, string to the bathing water.
- In summer, it is better to leave the baby undressed, since prickly heat passes faster when exposed to fresh air. If it is winter outside and there is no opportunity to undress the child, you should dress the baby in clothes made of natural fabrics, do not entangle him, make sure that the seams of the clothes do not come into contact with the places of diaper rash and prickly heat, do not rub the skin.
- Prickly heat can be treated with "Bepanten", "Sudokrem". It is forbidden to lubricate it with baby cream and other ointments with a greasy base, as this will intensify the rash. Do not lubricate children's prickly sweat with alcohol or vodka.
- With extensive and deep prickly heat, you can give your child a dose of an antihistamine (Suprastin, Tavegil and others) to reduce swelling and reduce itching. Also, with extensive prickly heat, you can use ointments with glucocorticosteroids - "Advantan" and "Triderm".
- Infected prickly heat may require treatment with antiseptics - brilliant green or "Fukortsin", the use of ointment with antibiotics, antifungal drugs.
To choose the right remedies, you need to consult a doctor who can determine which microbe or fungus caused the secondary inflammation. With such prickly heat, a visit to a doctor is mandatory.
For how prickly heat looks in children and how to deal with it, see the next video.
