One and a half year old little Wei is a lively and active little boy, fire can be strong, eat well, sleep well, jumping every day, full of sweat, the weather is getting hot, although his mother has given him a thin and breathable clothing, but every day the clothes are soaked. In the last two days, relatives sent some delicious beef, mom made it sweet, and Xiao Wei really ate a lot. In the next two days, the weather was hot and muggy. Mom found that some red or skin-colored bumps appeared on Xiao Wei’s scalp, neck and back, some with white heads, a bit like the “white head old” that Mom had grown when she was young, and Xiao Wei always said it was itchy, and it was hard to eat and sleep quietly. Some of the bags are also a little painful to press. The mother was a little anxious and rushed to the hospital with Xiaowei.
The doctor said that if we delayed further, local secondary infection would form folliculitis and boils, and if toxins were introduced into the bloodstream, there would be fever and general discomfort, and other systemic symptoms. The doctor prescribed some glyburide lotion for Xiao Wei and topical mupirocin ointment for the pus head. At the same time, there are some small herbal medicines to clear the heat and remove the fire, and also some herbal baths for the whole body. After two or three days of use, Xiao Wei’s bag was gone and not so itchy. After this experience, Xiao Wei’s mother realized the importance of prevention and early treatment of heat rash.
How does prickly heat form?
Prickly heat is caused by the high temperature and humidity in the environment, sweat is not easily evaporated, sweat impregnates the epidermal keratin layer, resulting in the closure of the sweat gland ducts, the storage of sweat in the sweat gland ducts due to increased internal pressure and rupture, the overflow of sweat infiltration and stimulation of the surrounding tissue and the appearance of papules, pimples and small blisters at the sweat hole.
In addition to high temperature and high humidity, prickly heat is associated with staphylococcal infection of the sweat pores and the multiplication of a large number of micrococci on the skin surface.
Clinically, there are several types of prickly heat, red prickly heat, pus prickly heat and deep prickly heat.
Prickly heat: Also known as white heat. The sweating occurs in the stratum corneum or under the stratum corneum. They appear clinically as small, translucent blisters with thin walls and no redness around them, and are easily broken by light rubbing. They dry with fine debris. The lesions occur mainly on the neck and upper trunk, and the scalp of small infants is also common. There are usually no obvious self-conscious symptoms.
Red rash: Sweat overflow occurs slightly deeper in the epidermis. It is common in summer and has an acute onset. The clinical manifestations are pruritic and prickly papules and papules at the site of sweating and friction, usually pinpoint in size, with a rounded base and a pointed top. The rash is numerous and dense.
Pustular corn rash (pustular prickly rash): manifests as small superficial pinhead-sized pustules at the tip of the prickly rash, the contents of the pustules are sterile or non-pathogenic cocci. It is commonly found on the head, flexors of the extremities and the perineum and other folds of the pediatric population.
Deep milia (deep prickly rash): Due to the rupture of sweat ducts in the upper dermis, especially at the epidermal division of the dermis, dense non-inflammatory skin-colored blisters consistent with sweat holes are formed, with a lusterless surface, which increases significantly after sweating stimulation, but the rash is not obvious when not sweating, and the general self-conscious symptoms are not obvious. The rash occurs on the trunk and extremities, but not on the face and palms. It often occurs in patients with severe and recurrent red rash. When the rash is widespread, the sweat glands basically lose their function except for compensatory increased sweating on the face, armpits and hands and feet, resulting in reduced or no sweating on the whole body, which may manifest clinically as heat exhaustion or tropical sweating exhaustion, with systemic symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, sleepiness, headache and vertigo.
How can prickly heat be differentiated from summer dermatitis and sweat rash?
Summer dermatitis usually occurs in the high heat and humidity season, the rash is mainly in the sweaty friction areas, but the rash is a large erythematous base of papules or papules, accompanied by a huge itch. The treatment principle is the same as for red rash.
Sweat rash also manifests as erythematous blisters and is characterized as a symmetrical, recurrent blistering desquamative disease of the hands and feet. The cause is unknown and is partly related to local contact with nickel or the use of nickel-containing containers for drinking water and seasonal factors. Generally, it is easy to attack in spring and autumn, starting with deep in the lateral edge of the fingers (toes) or palmoplantar blisters, clear herpes, symmetrical distribution. After a few days, the rash dries up and leaves a bran-like flaking. Self-perceived itching, stinging or burning sensation. The principle of treatment is to stop the itching and topical corticosteroids can be used.
How to prevent and treat heat rash?
First of all, we should strengthen the ventilation and heat dissipation measures of the living room in hot and humid weather, if necessary, open the air conditioning and or electric fan, so that the ambient temperature is not too high and too wet. But at the same time, we should be careful not to make the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor and different rooms too big, and not to let the wind from the air conditioning fan blow directly to the baby’s body. After two to three hours of air conditioning, open a window to adjust the indoor air. At the same time, avoid hot sunlight and strenuous activities in a high temperature and high humidity environment. In addition, the baby’s clothing should be made of cotton, soft, loose and moisture-absorbing, to facilitate the evaporation of sweat, while timely replacement of wet clothing. Do not use cold water to bathe your child after coming back from outside, because when cold water is poured, the original open sweat hole will suddenly be closed and sweat will be retained, which will easily cause prickly heat or aggravate the condition. And often warm water bath, often dry towel wipe sweat. After bathing, for small infants neck, armpits, groin and other inter-rubbing parts, you can dry after thinly puffing powder or prickly heat powder to reduce local friction to reduce the chance of rash. However, it is not recommended that the whole body be powdered over a large area. Also, be gentle and try not to let your baby’s airway inhale the powder. When there is an early appearance of prickly heat, scratching should be avoided to prevent secondary infection. Topical stove glycolic lotion can be applied topically. The rash may heal itself when the climate is cooler. Do not apply ointments or oil preparations when your child has prickly heat. Do not squeeze or scratch the affected area with your hands.
In addition to topical medication, if there is secondary infection, local antibacterial or systemic anti-infection treatment should be given depending on the size and severity.
Prickly heat is identified by Chinese medicine as heat and dampness, closed in the hair orifice, and can be treated with herbs such as patchouli and ten drops of water.
Dietary therapy for prickly heat
The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have the right amount of water to make a thin porridge. Add patchouli to the porridge after it is cooked and mix well, then cook for a few minutes. Serve warm, 1-2 times a day.
Winter melon Coix seed soup 300 grams of winter melon, 50 grams of Coix seed, shredded ginger, minced onion, wine, salt, monosodium glutamate, cooked lard, pepper, chopped parsley each appropriate amount. Peel the winter melon, wash, cut into small pieces; coix seeds cleaned, softened with water and set aside. Add water to the pot, put in coix seeds, ginger, onion, wine, boil over high heat, change the fire to 10 minutes, add winter melon, boil for 5-7 minutes, season with salt, monosodium glutamate, cooked lard, pepper, sprinkle with chopped cilantro. 1 dose per day, 2 times divided into 2 doses, and serve for 1 month.
Eat more bitter foods such as bitter melon to clear the heat and relieve the summer heat.