Diaper Rash - Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Diaper rash is a common skin problem in children. In this, red rashes appear at the place where your child wears the diaper. Diaper rash is mainly related to prolonged wetting, not changing diapers frequently, diarrhea, and using plastic pants to cover the diaper. Apart from this, including solid foods in the child's diet, giving antibiotics to the child, and eating certain types of foods by a breastfeeding woman can trigger the problem of diaper rash.

In the case of diaper rash, the child can trouble the parents, but most of the cases of diaper rash are easily cured with the help of home remedies.

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In diaper rash, the following symptoms are seen in the baby's skin -

• Skin signs - Diaper rash causes the skin on your baby's buttocks, thighs, and genitals to appear red and swollen. In such a situation, there is a burning sensation and pain in the child's skin.
• Change in the behavior of the child - During this problem, you will notice that your child is feeling uncomfortable especially when he has more trouble while changing the diaper. The baby starts crying in pain while touching or washing the diapered skin. Diaper rash can happen any time your baby is wearing a diaper. But this problem can usually occur only till 15 months after birth, especially in children of 9 to 12 months, diaper rash is common.

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There are many reasons for diaper rash, these are explained in detail below -

Some of the simple methods mentioned below can help reduce the chances of diaper rash occurring on your baby's skin -

• Change diapers frequently - Change dirty baby diapers immediately. If you have hired someone to take care of the baby, ask him or her to change your baby's dirty diapers regularly.
• Cleaning the buttocks and anal area - After changing the dirty diaper, clean the baby's buttocks and anal area with water. For this, you can also use a clean cloth soaked in water. Do not use wipes available in the market to clean your buttocks, because they contain many types of chemicals.
• Use a clean towel to dry the baby - do not rub the baby's bottom, rubbing can irritate the baby's skin.
• Do not make the baby wear too tight diaper - Due to too tight diaper, the skin of the lower part of the baby is not able to get air and in such a situation, diaper rash can occur due to moisture retention. Tight diapers also increase the chances of rubbing the skin of the waist and thighs.
• Do not keep your baby in diapers all the time - If possible, do not keep your baby in diapers all the time. Being open keeps your baby's bottom naturally free from moisture. When the baby is not wearing a diaper, you can spread a big towel under it.
• Wash cloth diapers carefully - Soak dirty cloth diapers in water for some time and wash them with warm water only. If your baby has or is likely to have a diaper rash, you should wash their diapers twice.
• Use the ointment regularly - If your baby gets diaper rashes frequently, you should use the ointment every time you change a diaper to reduce the chances of them occurring. Many types of ointments are made from petroleum jelly and zinc oxide and many skin problems are cured by it.
• Wash hands after changing a dirty diaper - Washing hands after changing a dirty diaper reduces the chances of bacteria and yeast getting on your baby's skin. Also, due to clean hands, other children in the house are not at risk of infection.
• Take a diaper one size larger - In case of diaper rash, take a diaper larger than the normal size.

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The best way to treat diaper rash is to keep your baby's skin clean and dry. If the problem of diaper rash persists even after home remedies, your doctor may advise you to adopt the following measures.

• If the child has a fungal infection, your doctor advises you to apply antifungal cream.
• If the child has a bacterial infection, the doctor may give the child antibiotics to take.

Before applying steroid-containing ointments on the child's skin, only consult a pediatrician or dermatologist. Some steroids with stronger effects can cause other skin problems.

Diaper rash takes a few days to heal and this problem may recur after a few days. If the rash persists after treatment, your doctor may advise your child to see a dermatologist.

Zinc oxide is considered the main ingredient in diaper rash ointment. To reduce the effects of rashes on your baby's skin, apply a thick layer of the ointment at regular intervals throughout the day.

Ointments and creams cause less skin irritation than lotions and other liquid medications, but ointments prevent air from reaching the skin. Your doctor may suggest ointment or cream according to the child's problem. Do not apply products containing boric acid, camphor, phenol, benzocaine, and salicylates on the skin of children, all these elements are harmful to the child.

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Diaper rashes are easily cured. Diaper rash starts getting relief after a few days of adopting home remedies. If the child does not get relief even after a few days of adopting home remedies, then you should use pain-reducing ointment and keep changing the diaper from time to time. Talk to your doctor at this time. In many cases, increasing diaper rash leads to infection, which requires medicines to cure.

When to take the child to the doctor -

• In case of a severe case of diaper rash.
• If the rash does not go away despite home remedies.

Even if the following problems occur along with diaper rash, you should immediately consult a doctor.

• Getting fever.
• Having blisters or boils.
• Spread of rash from the diaper skin to other areas.
• Pus discharge from the rash.
• Too much sleep.

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