How Do You Deal With Dry Skin In Children?
The problem of dry skin is common in children and teenagers. It could be due to many reasons. The first factor is the dry environment. There are some controllable and some uncontrollable factors that trigger the problem of dry skin in children. During hot, cold, windy, or low humidity weather, the children’s skin becomes dry. Apart from the external uncontrollable factors, some internal environmental factors like air conditioning and bathing with extremely hot water also dry children’s skin.
The use of soap for bathing purposes and detergents for washing children’s clothes also play a vital role. If you use the scented soap on the baby’s skin, it will take away the natural oil from the baby’s body and make it dry. On the other hand, if you wash the baby clothes in hot water with some harsh detergent, such clothes can react to the baby’s skin, leading to rashes and rough skin.
The peeling off the skin is normal in newborns, and it goes off on its own with time. Sometimes the issue of eczema is also one factor causing rough skin.
Key Symptoms Of Dry Skin:
The dry skin is more like rough patches, dull or flaky type skin. If your child has dry skin, some white colour scars on the main surface might leave behind.
The dry skin is often itchy, and the skin never changes colours
The emergent of dry skin can be on any body part. Still, the main areas for dry skin are arms, face, legs. Mainly knee areas and elbows are prone to dryness. Sometimes the lips of the baby also become dry.
In case of extreme dryness, cracks may also appear on the skin surface. These, if not taken care of, can be painful for a child. Eventually, cracks can even bleed or get infected.
If there is some infection due to skin dryness, you can see yellow spots on the skin. Children with light complexion might also get redness on the skin. At the same time, children with dark complexions get purple, brown, or grey patches on their skin. Sometimes child also suffers from fever.
For eczema to identify, you need to check the intensity of the infection. If the skin is inflamed or extremely itchy, there might be some chances of eczema. For proper advice, you need to check with a medical specialist.
When to see the doctor?
The dry skin issue is not that harmful and can go on its own if special care is granted to the child. Otherwise, you can check with the doctor in case you are not sure about the issue. So when do you need to see the doctor?
- If the dryness of the skin is not going away despite taking all precautions
- If the patches on the skin become inflamed or itchy with time
- If there are abundant patches of dry skin
- If the dryness of the skin has become yellow or spot like
You should seek medical help if your child’s dry skin is not improving with time. There might be some other issue that needs immediate medical attention. Use a dry skin moisturiser for newborns to solve your child’s problematic skin.
In a nutshell, the article highlights essential points for parents to ponder when treating the issue of baby dry skin at home.