Summer Nursing Skills: Let Babies Say [Goodbye] to Prickly Heat

The prickly heat is mainly divided into red prickly heat, white prickly heat and pus prickly heat. Red prickly The most common type of prickly heat. This red papule is characterized by protruding from the skin surface, ranging in size from needle tip to millet grains, appearing in pieces but not fusing with each other, surrounded by a light flush. Small blisters can be seen at the top of some papules, and a small amount of dandruff appears after subside, accompanied by obvious pruritus, scorching heat or tingling sensation. White miliaria: Generally, it is a white transparent blister from the tip of the needle to the size of the needle, with no flush around, thin and easy to break blister wall, and generally no pruritus symptoms. Purularia: developed from red prickly heat. The top of the prickly heat has a needle-sized superficial pustule, which is easy to suffer from secondary pathogenic bacteria infection in the later period. Severe cases may cause fever, and serious cases may even develop into septicemia. How to deal with prickly heat? 1. Create a cool and ventilated environment Many mothers are used to treating their babies with prickly heat powder and toilet water. In fact, Most prickly heat does not need special treatment, as long as it is separated from the high temperature and humidity environment, it will disappear. In general, as long as the baby is in a cool and ventilated environment, the skin can be recovered by keeping clean and dry. 2. Drugs are mainly used outside if prickly heat persists and pruritus is severe, it needs timely treatment. If the child is allowed to scratch, It is easy to develop secondary bacterial infection. However, different treatment methods for prickly heat are also different. Mothers cannot be treated in general terms. For the sake of the baby’s health, it is best to treat it under the guidance of doctors. The treatment of prickly heat generally only requires external drugs, with the principle of coolness, astringency and relieving itching. Red prickly heat and white prickly heat can be applied externally with calamine lotion, 1% mint calamine lotion or prickly heat powder, etc. Local cold spraying or cold compress also has better effects. For purulent prickly heat, 2% ichthyolithic calamine lotion should be applied externally. When pruritus is severe, chlorpheniramine and other drugs can be taken orally to relieve itching. When there is serious secondary bacterial infection, anti-infection treatment should be added. Can prickly heat powder and toilet water be used? The prickly heat powder can be used to have certain curative effect on red prickly heat and white prickly heat with mild general illness, but it cannot be used if pus prickly heat occurs. Main components and functions of prickly heat powder: talcum powder: mainly plays a drying role; Zinc oxide: A skin protective agent, which can reduce skin irritation and promote skin repair; Salicylic acid and sulfur: diminish inflammation and sterilize, dissolve cutin and promote normal keratinization of cutin; Borneol, menthol, etc.: Cool and antipruritic, It can improve itching symptoms. However, it should be noted that The prickly heat powder should be applied in a small amount and thin, Don’t spread it too thick. If too much prickly heat powder remains on the skin surface, The baby will form moist particles after sweating, Adhering to the skin and blocking pores, On the contrary, it aggravates the disease. Toilet water cannot be used. Toilet water is different from prickly heat powder. Not suitable for the treatment of prickly heat. Toilet water is mainly composed of alcohol and essence, and some manufacturers will also add mint, borneol and other cool and antipruritic ingredients. Although alcohol has the effect of sterilization and anti-inflammation, the baby’s skin is very delicate, and the irritation of alcohol is relatively large, which aggravates the disease and is not suitable for use. Why will the prickly heat grow? The prickly heat is caused by poor sweating. In summer, the temperature rises and the humidity increases. The human body perspires too much and is not easy to evaporate. The stratum corneum on the skin surface is easy to block pores under the soaking of sweat. Causing the sweat gland duct pressure to increase and rupture, overflowing sweat infiltrates and stimulates the surrounding tissues, and finally forms papules, mound herpes and small blisters, which is prickly heat. In addition, ultraviolet radiation, sebum excess (obese) and epidermal bacteria reproduction may also block sweat pores and produce prickly heat. Why is the baby more prone to prickly heat? Children have strong metabolism, large amount of activities and easy sweating. In addition, the skin is tender and the sweat gland function is not yet fully developed. Sweat does not evaporate quickly, In summer, prickly heat is extremely easy to occur. Fat babies are even more serious. Their subcutaneous fat layer is thicker than that of ordinary babies. The heat in the body is more difficult to dissipate. In order to keep the body temperature constant, the body can only dissipate heat by increasing the amount of sweat and breathing frequency. Moreover, fat babies have more wrinkles on their skin and are more difficult to evaporate after sweating. How to prevent prickly heat? Long prickly heat is due to poor perspiration, so the most important thing to prevent prickly heat is to create a comfortable and cool environment for the baby. Strengthen indoor ventilation, reduce ambient temperature and sweat. After sweating a lot, dry the sweat with a wet towel in time, take a bath frequently, change clothes frequently, keep the baby’s skin clean and dry, and avoid scratching. When it is hot, it is best to bathe your baby 2-3 times a day. After each bath, you should pay attention to wiping away skin folds such as neck, armpit and thigh root. The clothes to be worn by the baby should be light, loose and breathable, preferably soft cotton clothes, to reduce the friction on the skin. When it is hot, the mother should not hold the baby for a long time. She can spread a mat in a cool place to let the baby play freely as much as possible. Give your baby a small amount of drinking water, drink slowly, drink in batches, Don’t give your baby a lot of water at once, This will cause a large amount of reflex sweating. In addition, attention should be paid to the difference between prickly heat and eczema, diaper rash, summer dermatitis and other diseases. These diseases are manifested as rash with itching, which will worsen when the temperature rises, but the specific rash performance and treatment are completely different. When mothers are not sure, they should still seek the help of dermatologists.