Prickly heat - World Class Holistic Homeopathy
Treatment
SKIN – Prickly heat
Summer is meant for vacation throughout the world. It is the time to enjoy
the sunny days relaxing the body and mind. But temperate countries usually
suffer from hot sun and make people run for shelter or air-conditioned rooms to
avoid heat stroke, dehydration and prickly heat.
Usually, hot temperate climates in the equatorial region and high altitudes
cause severe prickly heat due to high intensity UV rays. The penetration
of UV rays usually causes sunburn. To protect our skin from this, sweat glands
secrete more sweat and sebum to maintain body temperature and outweigh body
dryness. The dust gets mixed up with sebum and sweat to block the sweat pores.
The trapped secretion in the sweat duct forms the eruptions – the prickly heat.
Prickly heat is a non-contagious, superficial eruption of the skin
occurring due to obstructive disorders of sweat glands. It is medically
termed as ‘Milaria’. It is also otherwise termed as Lichen tropicus / heat rash
/ sweat rash. Prickly heat commonly occurs after / during excessive sweating
i.e. “hyperhidrosis”. It is usually identified as tiny blister-like eruptions
which usually last for 3-7 days. These small eruptions, if they persist or
prolong, can make a child irritable and create immense inferiority complex in
an adult’s mental health. Even though it never affects general health, it
affects the personality more because of which many people get offended easily.
Incidences
simply put, it is a summer special. It can commonly occur in any one,
irrespective of age and sex. But the intensity of prickly heat may vary
depending upon the nature of sweat, race, weather, environment, nature of work,
food, exercise, etc. It is more likely to occur on the forehead, hand, neck,
back and chest. Also, children most commonly suffer from prickly heat because
they have small sweat pores, more coverings, uncleanliness and not wiping off
the sweat.
Causes
To pinpoint, the occurrence is mainly due to clogged sweat pores either due
to obstruction or allergic reactions. The main triggers are
·
Sweating more due to strenuous exercise in hot
temperature / environment
·
Exposure to hot sun or ultra violet rays
·
Over/faulty coverings or non-porous or synthetic clothes
which do not allow the sweat to dry fast
Symptoms
The symptom of prickly heat is initially mistaken as chickenpox (also
common in summer). The absence of cold symptoms, fever and blister formation
easily rule out chickenpox. The common symptoms of prickly heat are:
·
Crops of small reddish eruptions occur in areas where you
sweat more, especially forehead, hand, neck, back and chest, resembling the
skin of a jack fruit
·
Papular eruptions occur suddenly and need a week time to
disappear
·
Violent itch and redness on eruptions and its
surroundings
·
Pricking/burning pain in the eruptive areas which become
more after scratching
·
Pustule formation on getting injured by scratching with
nails
·
Restlessness and irritability causing sleeplessness
·
Ignorance or lack of management usually prolong the
eruptions with recurring fresh crops of eruptions
Diagnosis
Appearance of the skin itself
indicates the diagnosis. Normally no tests are required for prickly heat.
PREVENTION & MANAGEMENT
Even simple care prevents these thorns of summer. The
secret lies in keeping yourself cool and clean. The best treatment for prickly
heat is to keep one’s body cool. Dusting powder can give soothing and
smoothening comfort.
Do
·
Maintain personal hygeine/cleanliness
·
Maintain room temperature and humidity with
air-conditioner or fan or ventilators
·
Have good shower twice a day
·
Wear cotton underclothes/clothes
·
Wear loose dress to provide good aeration to the body
·
After exercise, wash/wipe sweat away so that the salty
deposit does not clog the sweat pores
Take
·
Lot of water to keep good body hydration
·
Fresh fruits and vegetables for healthy skin especially
carrot, apple, pineapple, papaya, orange, lime, cherry, ginger, beetroot,
spinach
·
Vitamins A, C and zinc supplements for healthy skin
Avoid
·
Direct sunlight/hot sun and hot places
·
Strenuous physical activity which may cause you to sweat
more.
·
Congested/crowded places
·
Steam baths
·
Tight fitting/synthetic clothes
·
Oily, spicy and fatty/fast foods
·
High-protein diet
·
Oil applications to the body which may attract dust to
clog the sweat pores
·
Stimulants – coffee, alcohol, smoking & chewing
tobacco
·
Preservative added tin packed foods/drinks
·
Unnecessary medications
Usually to beat the discomfort of prickly heat, care must be taken to
manage sweat, i.e.
·
Dry the sweat fast
·
Cut down the sweat process by changing temperature or
environment
·
Keep cleanliness with soft water/cleanser
·
Use sun protection creams to avoid sun allergy
GENERAL TREATMENT
Mostly no one goes to a doctor for prickly heat treatment in the initial
stages. They manage/ignore without any medication or manage with simple talcum
or prickly heat powders. But recurrent and persistent crops of prickly heat often
compel one to opt for treatment. Allergic prickly heat eruptions will disappear
mostly the next day or even immediately after ruling out allergic or exciting
cause. In Allopathy, mostly internal medicines are not prescribed. They
prescribe cleansers (salicylic acid, alcohol, etc), calamine or other
soothing/smoothening lotions with vitamin A and C supplements. Sometimes, in
extreme cases they also prescribe antibiotics/antihistamines and steroids for
violent itching eruptions.
HOMEOPATHIC APPROACH
Everyone sweats but not everyone develops prickly heat. From olden days,
prickly heat is treated only in the external mode i.e. with powders (sandal or
turmeric), oils and even with clay. At present also it is treated externally
with talcum powders, prickly heat powders, lotions, etc. But prickly heat used
to recur often and people suffering from it develop the habit of using prickly
powders/lotions continuously. Recurrences are usually common in skin disorders,
making no exception of prickly heat. Medicated prickly heat powders available
in the market can be used for soothing/ smoothening prickly heat, only for that
day’s comfort. It is always better to take internal Homeopathic treatment to
cure prickly heat altogether by raising natural resistance without
side-effects. Homeopathy makes prickly heat to fade in a fast manner and
finally cures it in the simplest, coolest way.
The Homeopathy medicines will not arrest or work against the sweat process
altogether, but will revive normal uninterrupted sweat process and flow to cure
the prickly heat. Homeopathy can show its best results in complaints of these
sweat disorders. When the sweat process is corrected to normal with Homeopathy
treatment, the body will feel the comfort and wellbeing sensation without the need
for regular management of prickly heat or air-conditioner and the rest.
Also, Homeopathy treatment will provide resistance to bear the heat of the
sun and cure the tendency to obstruct the sweat glands or allergic to heat.
Homeopathy treatment can smooth these summer thorns to make skin silky. Like
the good old saying, ‘Pain is inevitable & Suffering is optional’, the
predictable summer thorns can be rooted out without opting for suffering,
through Homeopathy treatment.
Homeopathic medicines commonly used in cases of prickly heat eruptions are
Acid nit, Agaricus, Ammon mur, Anti crud, Anthraxinum, Ars alb, Bellis per,
Beri beri Aq, Calc picr, Cantharis, Carbo animalis, Causticum, Ferrum Iod,
Hepasulf, Hydrocotyle, kali ars, Kali Brom, Medusa, Nat mur, Petroleum,
Psorinum, Radium Brom, Rhus tox, Sarasaparilla, Silicea, Sulphur, Syzygium
Jambolanum, Urtica urens, etc. These Medicines should be taken under the advice
and diagnosis of a qualified Homeopath.
for
new hope
Dr. S.
Chidambaranathan, BHMS, MD (Homeo)
Laxmi
Homeo Clinic
24 E.
New Mahalipatti Road
Madurai,
TN 625 001
India
Tel: +91-452-233-8833 | +91-984-319-1011
(Mob)
Fax:
+91-452-233-0196
E-mail:
drcheena@yahoo.com
www.drcheena.com / www.drcheena.in
(Disclaimer
- The contents of this column are for informational purpose only. The content
is not intended to be a substitute for professional healthcare advice,
diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of healthcare professional for
any health problem or medical condition.)