Is Heat Rash Preventable?

Heat rash is a condition of the skin that causes rashes. Heat rash is also referred to as miliaria or prickly heat. The condition is mostly caused excess sweating. This is mostly brought about by staying in areas with a lot of heat. Miliaria is known to affect most children. It affects all ages provided you are exposed to a lot of heat that can cause excess sweating.

This is a condition that happens when the sweat pores in your skin are blocked. As a result, the skin is not able to excrete enough sweat, which later accumulates in the inner layers of your skin causing a rash. Children are at a higher risk of getting this infection since they have underdeveloped sweat ducts that can easily be blocked.

What Causes Heat Rash?

Heat rash is mostly caused by factors that cause sweating or blockage of the sweat pores. Some of these factors or activities may include:

• Staying in very hot areas for a long time. 
• Excess physical exercises that result to too much sweating.
• Being in humid and hot environments like in the tropics.
• Bacterial infections that can lead to blocking of the sweat ducts.
• Young children can also get the infection because of their underdeveloped sweat pores.
• Application of creams that block sweat pores.
• Wearing of heavy clothes that can block the evaporation of sweat.

How Do You Identify Heat Rash?

Heat rash is always accompanied by several symptoms on the skin that can help you identify it. They may include:

• Tiny blisters
• Minimal or no sweating at all on the affected areas
• Bumps that can burst in some cases
• Itching
• In case it goes to the extreme, the patient can experience high fever

Tips to Prevent Prickly Heat

• Sleep in a cool place: Make sure that you are sleeping in a cool environment. Most people sweat too much when they're asleep. This can cause miliaria. To prevent this, use cool or light beddings that cannot make you sweat. Moreover, provide your room with controlled temperatures to avoid sweating.

• Wear loose clothes: Very heavy clothes cause rubbing of the skin, which increases the effects caused by miliaria symptoms. Wearing of loose clothes that are mostly made of fine cotton not only prevent heat rash, but also relieve the symptoms such as blisters.

• Avoid too much clothing: This is advisable, especially during the summer or if you are staying in hot areas. Wearing many clothes prevent the evaporation of sweat. As this sweat is accumulated back in the skin, it causes heat rash. Try to reduce the number of clothes you wear especially if it is hot.

• Use of lotions: To counter the effects caused by prickly heat and to maintain your skin smooth, apply creams or lotions known to smoothen skin and not to block the sweat ducts.

• Keep your skin cool: Depending on the number of factors, it is important to keep your skin cool at all time. This also helps in preventing children from having the condition since they have underdeveloped sweat ducts.

• Antibiotic use: In some cases, heat rash can be brought about by underlying bacterial infections of the skin. Using antibacterial medicines help to prevent this and prevent the symptoms of the condition.

The Bottom Line

Heat rash is identified as a condition that goes away within a short time. Visit a doctor anytime you suspect any other underlying infection.