It is sometimes necessary to advise a change of air before complete cure results.
This is a very common complaint in children during the summer months. It is so common that it is well known and easily recognized. It consists of a bright red eruption, composed of little papules, close together.
The rash comes out quickly, so much so that mothers may be surprised and frightened by observing an angry looking rash on their baby some morning when none was there the night before. It most frequently appears upon the neck, back, chest, and forehead. It is exceedingly itchy and a child may scratch itself and cause extensive harm. Eczema, of a very obstinate type, frequently results from scratching.
The rash of prickly heat is easily diagnosed from other rashes because it is accompanied by no other symptom, such as fever, which would suggest a more serious disease. The rash of prickly heat resembles the rash of scarlet fever more than any other rash, but it is quickly noted that when a child has scarlet fever it has every symptom of being profoundly sick, while prickly heat has no symptom other than the itch and discomfort. It is caused by overfeeding, being overclothed, and sweating in hot weather.
Treatment.--Steps should be taken to prevent prickly heat in an infant. Use light, seasonable clothing, bathe frequently, and use plenty of good toilet powder. When the child actually has an attack, open its bowels freely with citrate of magnesia, and give some sweet spirits of niter, according to age. Protect the skin from the irritating underwear by interposing a soft piece of linen. In order to reduce the inflammation and cure the condition apply equal parts of starch and boric acid powder freely. Keep the patient on a light fluid diet. The bran bath is advisable if the little patient is addicted to these skin eruptions.
Children of all ages are liable to "catch" ringworm of the scalp. It particularly affects those who are untidy, dirty, and badly cared for, though any child is apt to get it while attending the public schools.
If a mother discovers scaly patches in the scalp, with loss of hair, ringworm should be immediately suspected. It is not, however, always easy to diagnose the condition, especially if the case is a mild one. If it is a severe attack, there is, as a rule, quite a little inflammation, and this may render the condition obscure for some time. The disease may be mistaken for dandruff, but dandruff covers a large area of the scalp, while ringworm is limited and sharply defined. Dandruff may cause a loss of hair; if it does, the hairs come out clean, while in ringworm they break off near the scalp.