Causes, treatment of diaper rash in a newborn and prevention

It's no secret that the skin of newborns is very tender, vulnerable, sensitive and requires special attention and care. One of the most common problems is the treatment of diaper rash in a newborn.

What is diaper rash, the degree and stage of its development

Intermittence is an inflammatory process of the skin that occurs due to prolonged exposure to moisture or increased friction. There are diaper rash just in places where it is moist and warm - in the skin folds: axillary, inguinal, cervical, interannual, in the lower part of the tummy and behind the ears. Moisture takes away the natural lubricant, thereby making the skin defenseless in front of fungi and bacteria. That is why the infection quickly penetrates the baby's skin. And the friction that inevitably occurs during movements of the baby, further damages the inflamed skin.

Conditionally distinguish 3 degrees of diaper rash:

The first is mild redness without breaking the integrity of the skin;

The second - a bright red skin with microcracks, erosions, and sometimes pustules;

The third is a pronounced redness, erosion, damp cracks, ulcers, ulcers are possible.

This all is combined with pain, itching, burning. The baby becomes uneasy, often crying.

There are several stages of intertrigo. In the beginning, there is only slight redness. If you miss this process, the redness will become stronger, and in the depths of the folds there will gradually appear wetting cracks that will cause pain, burning, itching in the baby. If you do not take any measures, you can add a microbial and fungal infection. In severe cases, there is a risk of developing eczema.

The causes of diaper rash

The main cause of intertrigo is an excess of moisture on the delicate, sensitive skin of the baby. Excess moisture takes natural lubrication from the infant's skin, its protective barrier is broken, and this facilitates the access of microbes. Conditions for the appearance of diaper rash are irritation of the skin with urine (breaking down, urine salts form ammonia, which has irritating effect) and feces. Therefore, it is often necessary to change the diaper and wash the baby.

Another reason is defects in hygiene care: poor drying of the baby's body after bathing, too high room temperature, and excessive wrapping of the baby.

Another cause of diaper rash may be the individual predisposition of the infant, in other words, the increased sensitivity of the skin to external stimuli. This item can be attributed to the friction of clothing (especially synthetic) about the child's skin, unsuitable material or constituent substances of the diaper, an allergy to cosmetics. That's why saving on cosmetics for babies is not worth it.

The risk group for the occurrence of diaper rash includes babies suffering from allergic diseases (and sometimes, vice versa, diaper rash may be a harbinger of allergy occurrence), and even light-skinned kids or children with closely located vessels (on the skin of the legs and handles, such children may have a vascular pattern) . This group includes infants with excess weight, due to pathology of metabolic or endocrine processes.

Fatigue can increase with the introduction of new foods into the baby's diet, taking medication and teething, as this all affects the composition of urine and feces.

Treatment of diaper rash in a newborn

While treating the intertrigo, remember that the main principle here is a maximum of fresh air.

At the first stage of diaper rash in children, treatment is not necessary, it will be enough to carefully care for the skin. To do this, you need to regularly change diapers and diapers, make sure that the crumb has always been dry (use a diaper for no more than 3 hours). When changing a diaper, the baby must be washed and dried with soothing movements, especially in the folds in the inguinal region. It is useful to hold regular air baths. The more time the baby will lie naked, and his skin will breathe, the less will be affected by adverse effects. The growth of pathogenic bacteria will be much slower to go, and the treatment of diaper rash in the newborn will give positive results much faster. Only in this case, you need to make sure that the baby does not catch cold.

After drying the wrinkles, it is necessary to treat the skin under the diaper with a protective baby cream, using only high-quality products. After these procedures, you can wear a diaper. If the redness caused an allergic reaction to the diaper, try the diapers of another firm.

The second stage of diaper rash requires, in addition to careful care, also treatment. In this case, the pediatrician usually appoints a crumb procedure for ultraviolet radiation, acting solely on the affected areas, or attributed to special ointments and creams. Creams "Desitin", "Bepanten", "Drapolen" and "Purelan" have proved themselves well. After using "Drapolen" and "Desitina", you can put on a diaper right away, and after "Bepanten" it's better to wait half an hour until the ointment is completely absorbed and then put on.

If there is inflammation at the site of diaper rash, a protective ointment containing zinc oxide or a "bolt", which can be ordered at the pharmacy under prescription (it contains talc and zinc oxide), is helpful. Ointment will protect the delicate skin from irritation and friction. You can use and powders, absorbing moisture, softening the skin and protecting it from rubbing. The potato starch used earlier is less effective and inconvenient, because it slips into lumps and hardens.

To bathe the crumb is desirable in a weak pink solution of potassium permanganate. To do this, put 3-4 potassium permanganate crystals in a jar, dilute with a little water. Then strain through a layered bandage, since undissolved potassium permanganate crystals can cause a burn of the baby's skin. Be very careful that the child does not suffer from a burn afterwards.

If the baby is not allergic to herbs, you can use infusions or broths of string, oak bark, chamomile or marigold. The crumb simply arrange a sit-down bath with these herbs for 5-7 minutes or wash them with wrinkles, after which they dry up wrinkles and buttocks to dryness.

If diarrhea does not go away for more than 3 days, be sure to see a doctor. He will recommend additional anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory or antifungal agents.

Treatment of diaper rash in the newborn is very difficult, if it is in the third stage. If there is a wet place, you need to contact the doctor in time.

Bear in mind that for soaking wounds, lean-based preparations are used, it is impossible to treat wetting surfaces with oils or ointments: they cover the diaper with a film, preventing healing.

A doctor can prescribe a baby lotion based on tannin, silver nitrate and rivanol.

Prevention of intertrigosity

1. After changing the diaper (every 3 hours), wash the baby with running water.

2. Wipe the baby thoroughly before dressing it after bathing.

3. Wipe the baby's skin, pat it with a towel, but do not rub it.

4.Timely change wet diapers and diapers.

5. Arrange more often air baths for the kid.

6. Thoroughly rinse diapers and crumbs clothes from laundry detergent and soap.

Carefully care for the infant's skin, conduct regular and timely hygienic procedures, more often make air baths and such troubles as diaper rash will not affect you and the baby.