Heat Rash: Causes, Symptoms, Types, Risk Factors, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention and Complications

Heat rash also known as prickly heat and miliaria affects mostly infants, Adults are also impacted, especially in humid, hot weather.

Heat rash can result from sweat becoming trapped in the skin. The symptoms could range from little blisters to large, inflamed masses. Some heat rash varieties can be very bothersome.

Heat rash usually disappears after the skin cools. For the treatment of severe forms of the sickness, a medical professional could be required.

Causes Of Heat Rash

Heat rash is brought on by an irritated or blocked sweat gland duct that runs to the skin's surface. As a result, the sweat pore, also known as the sweat duct, on the skin's surface closes. Instead of dispersing, sweat becomes trapped behind the skin, causing discomfort and acne.

Symptoms Of Heat Rash

Adults usually suffer heat rash in the areas where their clothes rub against them and in the folds of their skin. The infant's rash usually starts to show in the neck, shoulders, and chest. It can also show up in the armpits, crotch, and elbow creases.

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Types Of Heat Rash

Different varieties of heat rash are classified based on the depth to which sweat becomes trapped in the skin. The symptoms and indicators vary according on the kind.

• The mildest kind of heat rash is known as Miliaria crystallina. It occurs when an obstruction occurs at the sweat pore, also known as the sweat duct entrance, on the surface of the skin. Its tiny, transparent, fluid-filled bumps, which are typical, break easily.
• One type that is located deeper into the skin is called miliaria rubra. Sometimes it's referred to as prickly heat as well. The indications and symptoms include itching or prickling in the affected area and small, inflammatory lumps that mimic blisters.
• The inflammatory pimples on the miliaria rubra may fill with pus. In this form, it is called miliaria pustulosa.
• A less common kind of heat rash is called Miliaria profunda. It affects the skin's lowest layer, the dermis. It causes painful, itchy, stiff, inflammatory pimples that resemble goosebumps and have the potential to break open.

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Risk Factors Of Heat Rash

Some factors that increase the likelihood of heat rash include the following:

• Being a newborn, because their sweat ducts are still growing
• Living in a warm, humid climate
• Exercising
• Having a fever
• Spending a lot of time in bed

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Diagnosis Of Heat Rash

It is not required to do tests to diagnose heat rash. In most cases, your doctor can diagnose you only by glancing at your skin. A condition called transient newborn pustular melanosis (TNPM) mimics heat rash. Transient neonatal pustular melanosis (TNPM) primarily affects newborns with brown or black skin. It disappears on its own after a few days and is not dangerous.

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Treatment Of Heat Rash

The two major ways to treat mild heat rash are to cool the skin and stay away from the heat source. Usually, mild heat rash disappears quickly once the skin cools.

Prevention Of Heat Rash

To avoid getting heat rash on yourself or your kid:

• When it's hot outside, wear loose, breezy clothing that wicks away perspiration from the skin. Neonates shouldn't be dressed in too many layers.
• Reduce your outside physical activity while it's hot. Stay in the shade or in a facility with air conditioning
• Keep your sleeping area cool and well-ventilated.
• Avoid using lotions and ointments that might clog pores.
• Avoid drugs that cause perspiration, such as beta blockers, opioids, and clonidine.

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Complications Of Heat Rash

Heat rashes typically go away without leaving any marks behind. Postinflammatory hypopigmentation, or the lightening or darkening of specific skin patches in response to inflammatory skin illnesses, is a condition that can affect people with brown or black skin. These changes usually go away in a few weeks or months.

Bacterial infections are a common side effect that cause painful, inflamed pustules.

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