What to do if a child has a rash on the face?

A rash on the face in children of different ages appears with enviable regularity. Its types are different, as well as the reasons for the appearance of the rash. To understand what to do in a given situation, you should first try to understand what led to the skin rash. We will talk about the most common causes of a rash on the face in this article.

Age features of the skin

Children's skin, to a greater extent than adult skin, is subject to negative external influences, rashes are much more likely to form on it. At birth, the baby's skin is several times thinner than the skin of adults, they are more intensively supplied with blood, the vessels and capillaries are located close to the surface, which is why the baby's skin looks more red.

Additional protection for the baby's skin is provided by the "lipid mantle" - a fatty layer that covers the skin with a thin invisible film. However, this “mantle” is not given by nature forever, and within a few days or weeks after birth, it becomes thinner and practically disappears. The kid becomes almost defenseless against threats from outside, because his local immunity is still very weak.

The sebaceous glands of the baby and the newborn do not work well, their ducts are narrow, the sweat glands produce sweat, but its passage is also difficult due to the narrow ducts. All this creates suitable conditions for the appearance of a rash of one kind or another.

Only by the age of 5-6 the baby's skin becomes dense enough, similar to an adult in the proportions of layers and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Usually, by this age, the number of sudden and difficult to explain pimples, blisters and redness is significantly reduced.

On the face and head, rashes appear most often at an early age. Indeed, babies whose thermoregulation center has not yet been debugged, intensively give off excess heat through the scalp. That is why prickly heat often begins with the face and scalp. With a rash on the face, babies can react to the introduction of complementary foods if the new food has caused an allergic reaction. The baby is covered with a rash during an infectious disease.

Can provoke the appearance of rashes any external or internal factor. External include dryness or high humidity, heat or hypothermia, pollution, rough, unpleasant linen with which the baby comes into contact. Internal factors are an allergic reaction, childhood infectious disease, dermatological diseases.

The rash itself is also different, and understanding what kind of rashes appeared on the child's face, will help parents guess about the true causes of the symptom:

Erythema... By and large, this is not a rash, just redness of the skin in a certain area. It is characteristic of allergic reactions, burns, toxic lesions.
Tubercles... Such a rash is not superficial, it is only a slight elevation of the skin in a certain place, it may be accompanied by erythema (redness).

Blister... This is a rash that looks like a nettle burn. It represents an eminence, swelling. It does not last long, and, as a rule, disappears as suddenly as it appeared. It is characteristic of some types of burns and contact allergies.
Papules. This is a nodular rash, each element of which resembles a small nodule, different in color from the rest of healthy skin. It can be a symptom of allergies, infections, and hormonal changes.

Vesicles... These are blisters on the skin that can merge. Inside the vesicles there is a serous fluid or serous-hemorrhagic contents. They burst easily, leaving eczema on the skin. Such a rash can appear with infectious diseases, with atopic dermatitis, with some allergic reactions.
Pustules. These are abscesses, which are both superficial and deep. They can also appear with infections, mainly of bacterial origin, can be a complication of an allergic or other rash, often "signal" about a violation of hygiene rules.

Stains... This type of skin change (petechial rash) may be a sign of allergies or metabolic problems.
Hemorrhagic points... This is usually a small-point rash, which is broken small capillaries inside the skin layers. Often accompanies childhood infectious diseases.

Reasons for the appearance

Let's look at the main causes of facial rashes in children.

Non-infectious

The microclimate in which the child lives or stays for a long time can affect the skin condition. If the air is dry, the room is hot, then the skin becomes dehydrated very quickly, the skin becomes dry, microcracks form on it more quickly, through which infection occurs. Such skin is more susceptible to local effects, an allergic reaction develops on it faster.

A child who eats few foods containing vitamins E and A is also at risk, because these two vitamins are responsible for the elasticity of the skin. A small amount of fluid you drink is also a factor that makes the skin drier and more vulnerable.

A violation of the temperature regime often leads to the formation of prickly heat and diaper rash. The hormonal background can also affect the work of the sebaceous and sweat glands, which can lead to the formation of rashes on the baby's face.

Atopic dermatitis

Such a rash appears in children with certain genetic prerequisites for an allergic reaction. Usually there are several factors that lead to body sensitization. It is the simultaneous exposure to heat and allergens, which are part of, for example, washing powder, which is used by parents to wash children's clothes and bed linen.

The rash can have a varied appearance, type and geography of location. If it appears on the face, then you should carefully examine the rest of the skin, since such dermatitis tends to spread to other parts of the body - the folds of the arms and legs, the groin area.

Allergy

Allergic dermatitis is an external manifestation of an internal process in which the immune system is diligently trying to cope with antigenic proteins (allergens). A rash occurs after contact with an allergen, sometimes the reaction is delayed - rashes appear a few days after eating an allergenic food, medicines, contact with pollen or animal hair.

Allergy rashes can only affect the face area, but can spread to any other part of the body. An allergic rash usually begins with separate scattered elements on the cheeks or forehead, and then the individual elements merge into more extensive formations, the surface of which prone to peeling.

Allergies usually occur without fever, but there are exceptions. However, there is no high fever with an allergic reaction. There may be respiratory symptoms - nasal congestion, cough, allergic conjunctivitis.

An allergic rash itches and gives the child discomfort.

Prickly heat

Rarely, a rash from prickly heat affects only the face. Usually, red rashes are found in the scalp, and on the neck, and in the folds of the arms and legs, as well as in the diaper area. Unlike allergic prickly heat, prickly heat is not prone to expansion of the affected areas, it quickly passes when exposed to fresh air. Like an allergic rash, this rash not accompanied by additional symptomsHowever, sometimes, with the formation of severe diaper rash and weeping eczema, the child may experience pain and anxiety.

Neonatal pustulosis

This phenomenon occurs only in newborns and children in the first two months of life. Whitish or yellowish pimples - pustules appear on the cheeks, forehead, nose, chin, ears, behind the ears under the influence of hormones. After the birth in the baby's body, there remains a fairly impressive amount of the mother's sex hormones - estrogens, which are actively produced in the last weeks of pregnancy to ensure normal labor.

The content of these hormones in the child's body gradually decreases, as the hormonal background normalizes, the skin comes in order, and pimples disappear. In the meantime, estrogens are available, it causes increased work of the sebaceous glands, the ducts of which are quickly clogged.

This is how acne appears. By the way, the mechanism of development of pimples in adolescents is similar to that of the neonatal, only in puberty the sebaceous glands are no longer influenced by maternal hormones, but by the own sex hormones of a boy or girl.

Infectious

There are many diseases that are accompanied by rashes on the face. In childhood, it can be scarlet fever, and chicken pox, and roseola for children, and rubella, and measles, and mononucleosis. The hallmark of an infectious rash is the presence of other symptoms. A rash with infections usually does not appear immediately, a day or more after the onset of the disease.

If a child falls ill, his temperature rises, signs of intoxication appear, and the next day or after a couple of days a rash appears on his face, then there is no doubt about the infectious origin of these rashes. The infectious rash itself has a fairly clear outline, is not prone to fusion, is widespread throughout the body, sometimes covering the entire child.

Meningococcal infection

Against the background of high fever and other symptoms of meningococcal disease, the skin becomes pale, almost salty. The rash never starts off the face. It begins on the buttocks, legs, passes to the torso, and only then can it appear on the face and even affect the eyeballs. Hemorrhagic rash looks like red vascular "stars".

With a non-dangerous course of the disease, dots rarely appear on the face. When it comes to this, it is considered an unfavorable symptom, indicating a severe course of the disease and possible complications.

Rubella

A rash on the face is one of the first symptoms of rubella. Viral rashes begin from this part of the body. Then the rash covers the entire body, bypassing only the palms and feet. Rubella is characterized by pinkish rashes that do not protrude above the level of the skin, almost never merging into a single spot. Usually, such a rash, with the normal course of the disease, disappears after four days and does not leave any marks on the skin.

Chicken pox

With this common childhood disease of an infectious viral nature, the rash simultaneously covers not only the skin of the face, but also the head, neck, arms, chest, abdomen, and legs. The rashes themselves are heterogeneous. Some elements can be vesicles (bubbles with liquid), others are already moving on to another stage - crusts. The disease proceeds against a background of elevated temperature, there may be slight itching, especially at the stage following the bursting vesicles.

The crusts must never be removed and combed, it can leave marks, cosmetic defects on the face for the rest of your life. The type of rash with chickenpox changes daily.

Roseola for children

Sudden children's exanthema usually begins after three days of high temperature. The disease is caused by herpesvirus, which is akin to chickenpox, but has a different type. With roseola, the child's skin all over the body, including the face, eyebrows, scalp, almost simultaneously suddenly becomes covered with pink spots, without purulent heads, without blisters.

The rash disappears as suddenly as it appeared, usually it occurs 5-6 days after its onset.

Measles

A rash with measles appears on the 4-5th day of the disease and it always begins in the area of the ears, behind the ear, on the lateral surfaces of the cheeks. Pink spots without pustules and vesicles spread to the face quickly enough. During the day, the elements cover the skin not only of the neck and face, but also the arms, shoulders and sternum. The spotted rash gradually develops into papules, which can merge with each other.

By the way, only this symptom allows you to distinguish measles rash from rubella. The spread of the rash lasts about three days. By the end of this period, the first elements of it that have arisen on the face begin to fade, it begins to peel off and gradually disappears.

Diagnostics

If a rash on the face appears in a child under one year old, it must be urgently shown to a doctor, since all infectious diseases in children of this age are more severe, and an allergic rash also needs treatment.

In children over a year old, the diagnosis should also be started with a visit to the doctor. The doctor will carefully study the child's anamnesis, find out what ailments he was sick, from what diseases he was vaccinated. The mother will need to remember in as much detail as possible what the baby ate and drank over the past three days, what new complementary foods were introduced.

Sometimes the cause of an allergic rash can even be a new toy, bought by parents, if it is made of low-quality materials.

In most cases, by the nature and type of the rash, the doctor quickly determines its origin. In doubtful cases, additional tests are prescribed - blood, urine, feces. Sometimes, if a bacterial infection is suspected, they can take samples of the contents of pustules for bacterial culture in order to establish the type of pathogen and its resistance to certain types of antibiotics.

What to do when detected?

When detecting a rash on a child's face, it is important to correctly assess the situation. To do this, parents must understand whether the baby has an infectious or non-infectious rash in order to choose a tactic of action. With an infectious disease, you should call a doctor from the clinic. If it is accompanied by a temperature above 39.0 degrees, then an ambulance should be called. If the rash is suspected to be non-infectious, you can see your doctor yourself.

To assess the situation, it is important to know:

What the child ate or drank. We need to remember all the new foods that the baby has tried, all the drinks. If the baby is breastfed, it is important to remember everything that the nursing mother ate. It is important to understand which allergen an inadequate reaction of the body might have.
What the child played with, what he had contact with. If the baby has a new toy, clothes, mother used a new brand of washing powder or detergents, and a few days later a rash appeared on her face, it is quite possible that the reason lies in this “new” one.

In what conditions the child lives. You should find out what is the air temperature in the apartment where the baby is growing, and what is the relative humidity of the air. The optimal values are as follows: temperature - 18-21 degrees Celsius, humidity - 50-70%. The hotter it is in the room, the drier the air in it.
How a child is dressed. If the baby is wrapped up, if he is hot, then sweating increases and the risk of developing prickly heat, and atopic dermatitis, and an allergic reaction increases. You can check the back of your baby's head in a dream - if he does not sweat, then the baby is dressed correctly.

Is the baby's skin properly cared for? Rarely washing is harmful.But washing often is no less dangerous, especially if parents use soap every time for washing. Detergents dry out the skin, so excessive hygiene can also lead to skin rashes.
Is the baby sick? Having found a rash on the face, you need to examine the rest of the body, measure the child's body temperature, examine his throat, and understand if the nose is breathing. If the temperature is elevated and there are other symptoms of the disease, then there is a possibility that the rash is associated with an infection.

Treatment

Despite a fairly large list of possible causes of a rash on the face, treating cases unrelated to the infection can be much easier than it seems to parents. First you need to eliminate the cause that caused the rash.

If it is an allergy, then the child should be protected from contact with the allergen. All his clothes and bedding should be washed only with special hypoallergenic products for children, and after washing, be sure to additionally rinse with clean water. Particular attention should be paid to the child's diet, it shouldn't contain anything potentially dangerous.

If the child is taking any medications at this moment, it is imperative to inform the doctor about this and, if it is impossible to cancel the drugs and choose analogues.

Humidification of the air, maintaining the correct temperature will help relieve the child not only of prickly heat, but also of most types of rashes, because the allergic reaction develops faster and is more difficult if the simple rules for maintaining the correct indoor climate are not followed.

You should not bathe and wash a child with a rash on the face with hot water; it is better to do this with warm water without soap. You can wash your child with a decoction of chamomile.

In 80% of cases, these measures are more than enough for the non-infectious rash to fade at first, and then completely disappear without a trace.

However, sometimes treatment is indispensable. Allergic rash may need treatment antihistamines ("Suprastin", "Tavegil", "Loratadin", "Tsetrin" and others), as well as hormonal ointments ("Advantanom", "Triderm"). Such treatment is not always prescribed and not for everyone; the decision on the use of such drugs should be made by a doctor.

Neonatal rash in newborns does not need treatment at all, as it goes away on its own as maternal hormone levels decrease. With prickly heat, correction of both the microclimate in the apartment and the hygienic principles and approaches that exist in the family are required. Air baths, bathing without soap with a decoction of a string, chamomile, treatment of weeping diaper rash with baby powder or drying cream ("Sudokrem"), and dry crusts - emollient creams with a healing effect, for example, "Bepanten" or "Dexpanthenol".

If the rash itches, then scratching should be avoided, because this increases the risk of a secondary infection. It is necessary to ensure that the child has comfortable clothes, soft bedding so that no additional mechanical irritation occurs.

If the rash has intensified on one cheek on the side on which the baby slept, then this may indicate that the child is sleeping on laundry that has been washed with allergenic substances or irritates the skin mechanically.

By and large, there is no need to treat an infectious rash. It goes away as the child recovers from the underlying disease. It is only important not to allow scratching, and also to treat with an antiseptic those fragments of the rash that the baby still managed to comb in order to avoid bacterial infection. Suitable for processing are aniline dyes - "brilliant green" or "Fukortsin", as well as the drug "Chlorophyllipt".

What cannot be done?

If a rash of any nature appears, the following actions are prohibited:

It is impossible to squeeze out and independently open in other ways the elements of skin rashes on the child's face. This can cause bacterial or fungal infections, as well as ugly scars and scars on the face, which can then be removed only with the help of plastic surgery and cosmetology.
Do not lubricate your child with a rash on the face with alcohol, vodka, alcohol-based lotions, or other liquids.
You can not lubricate the rash with baby cream, as well as other products that are oily base. Under a film of such substances, the "breathing" of the skin is disturbed, the rash may worsen.
You can not self-medicate.

Prevention

A rash on the baby's face, as well as on the legs, arms and other parts of the body, will be unlikely if the parents adhere to certain preventive rules:

All age-appropriate vaccinations must be done on time, as they protect the baby from the most dangerous childhood infections.
At high temperatures during illness, you should not give your baby too many sweet syrups and antipyretic drugs. It is better to use other dosage forms, for example, rectal suppositories.

After all, a rash on the face as an allergy to drugs often occurs precisely during the period of illness, since the immune system is weakened.

Hygiene mistakes should be avoided - do not wash the child too often with soap, but also do not forget about the necessary minimum. You should not wash your child with hot water.
Babies after 1 year old who begin to actively move around the apartment should not have access to chemicals, acids, alkalis, detergents that parents use on the farm.

Complementary feeding for a child under one year old should be introduced with caution, without violating the terms and rules.
Children who attend kindergarten (4-6 years old) need to be taught to touch their faces with their hands as little as possible.