Heat Rash - Treatment and Symptoms

Heat rash is a skin irritation caused by excessive sweating during hot, humid weather. It is also called prickly heat or miliaria and a general condition in which areas of the skin itch intensely and often feel prickly, or sting, due to overheating. Heat rash looks like tiny bumps surrounded by a zone of red skin. It usually occurs on clothed parts of the body, such as the back, abdomen, neck, upper chest, groin or armpits and goes away on its own within a few days. In severe forms, however, heat rash can interfere with the body's heat-regulating mechanism and cause fever, heat exhaustion heat exhaustion , and even death. Obstruction of the sweat ducts during high heat and humidity. People who are active outdoors and who wear restrictive clothing are the most likely to develop heat rash, but treating it is usually not difficult.

Excessive perspiration, usually in a hot, humid environment is the main cause beghind the Heat rash. The perspiration damages cells on the surface of the skin, forming a barrier and trapping sweat beneath the skin, where it builds up, causing the characteristic bumps. As the bumps burst and sweat is released, you may feel the prickly, or stinging, sensation that gives this condition its common name When it's hot and humid outside, it sweats out too much. If you sweats so much that his skin pores clog and sweat can't get out, heat rash develops. (Young children are particularly prone to heat rash because they have smaller pores than adults do.) Tight or heavy clothing can trap the sweat as well, contributing to the irritation. A child can also get heat rash when he has a high temperature that makes him sweat heavily.

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