What is Prickly Heat Rash?

July 30th, 2009 Filed Under Baby Potty Training, Diapers, Potty Training Boys, Potty Training Tips, When to Potty Train, toddler potty training

Prickly heat starts when the narrow ducts that carry sweat to the skin’s surface get stopped up. The trapped sweat causes inflammation, which produces a rash which includes itching and a cluster of very tiny blisters. Prickly heat also can appear as large, reddened areas of skin. Prickly heat often occurs during warmer months.

You can prevent and stop prickly heat rash when you read more about how you can stop excessive sweating forever.

When the sweat is blocked from the skin’s surface, it cannot escape causing blood toxins in that location to increase. This reason the pores get clogged is due to dead skin cells or bacteria such as Staphylococcus epidermidis, a common bacterium that occurs on the skin which is associated with acne. How this occurs in not widely knows but what is known is that it always seems to happen during prolonged periods of sweating. This can be environmental (hot weather, high humidity) and/or physiological (exertion, workouts, working outdoors).

It is also known as heat rash, heat rashes or sweat rashes. In medical terminology, prickly heat is known as malaria rubra or simply malaria.
Prickly heat comes about in persons of all ages, but it is seen much more often in children and infants. This is because their sweat glands are not fully developed. Also, this situation is seen much more often in the areas of tropical temperatures and where humidity levels are high.

The usual symptoms of prickly heat is small bumps on the skin which are usually grainy in nature. They could be red or they could even be just a shade darker than the color of the person’s skin. These eruptions always itch and are also accompanied by a prickly burning ’pins-and-needles’ sensation.

These outbreaks may simultaneously occur in a number of areas on the sufferer’s body. The most common locations are the face, neck, under the breasts, and around the scrotum. Other areas less frequently affected are skin folds, areas of the body that rub against other skin or clothing such as the chest, back and stomach, etc. A related and sometimes simultaneous condition is folliculitis. This occurs when hair follicles become plugged with foreign matter, resulting in inflammation much like what occurs in prickly heat rash.

For children, prickly heat is always very discomforting due to the associated pain and itching that accompanies the rash. Additionally, there is always a chance of a severe infection once the prickly heat has cropped up.

Also See Home Treatments and How to Prevent Prickly Heat Rash