Doctor Komarovsky on how to remove the crusts on the baby’s head
Many, if not all babies, some time after the birth, crusts appear on the head, which spoil the appearance of his head a little and upset his mother and grandmother unspeakably. Adults throw all their strength in search of the reasons why the unpleasant phenomenon was possible at all, and also begin to look for answers to the question of what to do to remove crusts on the baby’s head.
The authoritative children's doctor Evgeny Komarovsky tells about it.
Definition
People gave them various names - “milk crust”, “milk scales”, although this phenomenon has no relation to milk. What appears on the head of an infant is called seborrheic crusts or, as doctors say, physiological seborrhea.
Crusts look like small plaques of white, but more often yellowish, they are located at the base of hair growth on the skin, behind the ears. As a rule, most mothers take them at first for manifestations of allergy (diathesis) and start feverishly reviewing their own diet or type of formula, which is fed to the baby. But there is no reason to worry and worry, says Yevgeny Komarovsky.
Despite the unflattering appearance, seborrheic plaques do not cause any discomfort to the child, do not cause pain, do not cause itching. The physiological seborrhea of infants is not contagious, it is not transmitted to other family members.
Mother has nothing to reproach herself for - milky crusts do not appear from insufficiently good baby skin care, they do not depend on what mother ate the day before - before feeding the baby with breast milk, the brand of baby shampoo or soap also does not affect their appearance.
Crusts can appear in any child, and the matter is not at all in care. Should not be embarrassed by women and the old name of this phenomenon - babies' seborrhea used to be called "generic mud." It is rather a figurative name that has nothing to do with reality.
Why appear?
This is the question that moms ask doctors, perhaps, most often. At first glance, the appearance of strange formations on the head of a baby defies explanation. In fact, the processes that stimulate the appearance of seborrheic crusts directly depend on the age-related features of the functioning of the baby's sebaceous glands. In those places where these glands are provided by nature more, and the formations we consider manifest.
Glands that produce greasy secretion work hard for all newborns and infants, but not everyone has plaques. This is caused by yeast-like fungi with complex names Malassezia restricta and Malassezia globosa.
These organisms are very peaceful and calm, they perfectly exist on the skin of every member of the human race, nothing terrible and pathological in them.
These fungi save our skin from excessive salinity, because they feed on the secretion of the sebaceous glands. But here a misunderstanding arises.
If the kid produces a lot of secrets, then the fungi produce a lot of food, and as a result, the fungi begin to multiply and increase the number of colonies with good nutrition., and the imperfect immunity of the baby is not yet able to regulate their number. And because the colonies grow until they become visible to the naked eye - yellowish plaques and crusts appear.
More often physiological seborrhea affects babies from birth to 6 months. At an older age - a year, two or three years, this usually does not happen. Physiological seborrhea most often falls on infants in the winter season. In the colder months, parents try to wear warmer hats on the child, better to heat the room in which the baby is.
Heat in the room, and a warm cap stimulate the work of the sebaceous glands and the growth of colonies of voracious fungi. A crust appears. It is believed that sometimes the parents themselves provoke her education, not only kutaya baby, but too often bathing him with the use of hygiene products.
How to proceed?
Children's doctor of the highest category, Yevgeny Komarovsky, states that, first of all, parents simply need to control themselves. The very physiological seborrhea for the baby is not dangerous. And if she breaks something, it’s the peace of mother and grandmother, who think that it’s ugly.
The baby can experience inconvenience if mom declares a merciless war on these seborrheic plaques and will wrestle the infant by combing, picking and burning plaques.
Does the child need a doctor? Not needed. The situation is regular and quite fit into the concept of “normal development”, does not need to be corrected.
A visit to a pediatrician is worthwhile only if the plaques are extensive in nature, occurring not only on the scalp, but also on the body, for example, on the face, in the groin area.
In this case, the appointment of medical treatments for hair and skin.
To treat or not to treat?
This is the second important question that directly follows from the above. In fairness it should be noted that seborrhea is also congenital, in which case it is almost not treatable., but such cases are very rare.
Dairy plaque on the skin, which have acquired character, can not be treated. Over time, everything will go away on its own, and it does not take long to wait. By the year, usually without treatment, physiological seborrheic manifestations do not remain a trace.
If you wait until the year is not included in the plans of the parents, then you can comb plaques. When this is done correctly, the negative effects on the child’s health will not manifest.
When a child has long hair, Evgeny Olegovich is recommended to leave everything as is. Combing plaques to a child with long hair is uncomfortable, and even the baby will not be happy with such manipulations. Should I make him suffer inconvenience just because something seemed unprofitable to his parents? Unlikely.
If the baby’s hair is short, you can help him quickly. get rid of seborrheic plaques. For this absolutely any natural oil is useful. (sunflower, flaxseed, olive), which is available in the house. It is needed to soften the skin, and the crusts will leave on their own as soon as they are gently combed out with a comb with frequent blunt teeth.
If the comb teeth are sharp, the process promises to be painful for the child, and scratches that they can leave will be a good environment for bacteria, inflammation is possible.
After oil treatment and combing, the baby needs to wash his head well with hypoallergenic baby soap. It is important to remove the oily substance remaining from the skin.. The skin of the baby must have access to the air, otherwise repeated malfunction of the sebaceous glands cannot be avoided.
If desired, you can do without a comb by selecting the plaques manually, but you still need to moisturize the scalp.
In no case should you remove the crusts with medical forceps: this can contribute to the formation of microtraumas with a subsequent risk of infection.
Getting rid of plaques does not guarantee that they will not appear again, and therefore Yevgeny Komarovsky strongly advises to maintain a favorable microclimate in the house - do not raise the air temperature above 21 degrees of heat, make sure that the air is sufficiently humidified, remove the child from the warm hat
More information about the problems of hair, see below in the transfer of Dr. Komarovsky.
A few tips on how to remove the crust on the child's head - in the next video.
