SKIN TROUBLES
One of the earliest skin troubles that the average normal child
suffers from is prickly heat--a tiny, red-pointed rash always
accompanied by sweating and usually resulting from over-dressing,
stuffy rooms, and other conditions that make the child too warm.
Prickly heat produces more or less discomfort but usually little or no
itching. Ordinarily, a sponge bath followed by the application of
talcum powder is sufficient to give relief in mild cases; but severe
or neglected cases should be treated by means of bran baths, a cupful
of bran being tied up in a gauze bag and suspended in water until the
water assumes a milky color. Soda baths, two tablespoons to a gallon
of water, are also very soothing. A baby should never receive any
friction with a towel after such baths, but should be rolled up in a
clean linen towel and simply patted dry.
CHAFING
Great care should be exercised in the choice of baby's soaps. Among a
number of soaps that might be mentioned castile soap is, perhaps, as
good as any. Frequent sponging is required to wash off the irritating
perspiration; cool clothing, plenty of talcum powder, a dose of
calcined magnesia, and a regulated diet are necessary to clear up the
trouble.
Chafed skin, particularly between the buttocks or in other folds and
creases, should be kept free from soap. Either the starch or bran bath
may be tried, while olive oil should be frequently and lightly rubbed
over the chafed part. A bit of sterile cotton placed between the folds
to prevent friction is often all that is necessary to correct the
difficulty.
Dandruff or milk crust which is often seen on young babies' scalps
has been described in detail elsewhere. It should early receive the
vaseline rub at night which will often loosen up the hardened crusts.
It may be gently removed in the morning with soap and water unless the
case has gone on to great severity. In such neglected cases the mother
should not undertake to correct the difficulty alone. Taken early,
when the scalp is covered with tiny flakes known as milk crust, it can
be quickly relieved.
VULVOVAGINITIS
Vulvovaginitis is a very contagious disease, and before the days of
hospital asepsis, which is so perfectly maintained today in our large
institutions, this disease used to go right through a children's ward
because of carelessness in the handling of soiled diapers, etc. The
sign of this disease is a yellow-white vaginal discharge, while the
surrounding skin covering the inside of the thighs and buttocks may be
very much reddened. The baby should be taken at once to the physician
at the first appearance of these symptoms. Only rigid isolation can
possibly prevent other children from getting it--essentials are
separate towels, wash towels, soap (in the case of the older
children), and, in the case of the baby, separate diapers and rigid
scrubbing of the attendant's hands--in this way only can this
infection be held in check. The infected child should sleep by
herself, and utmost care must be exercised in preventing her fingers
from first touching the itching vulva and then placing them to the
eyes or to the mother's eyes. A vulva pad must be worn as long as the
disease lasts. The physician will give you the proper medicines to be
used in these cases, and if no physician is within reach, you are
perfectly safe in dropping into the spread apart vulva a few drops of
twenty-per-cent argyrol and then applying the vulva pad. After each
treatment the hands of the mother or nurse must be most rigidly
cleansed.
ECZEMA
Eczema is a very troublesome disease, particularly in infants; there
are so many forms of it that there is neither time nor space in this
volume to describe them individually. This disease may be produced in
children by either internal or external causes--from friction on the
skin, from coarse, rough woolen clothes, or from starched garments, or
from lace or starched bonnet strings which rub into the folds of the
skin. Irritating soap, the contact of soiled diapers, cheap toilet
powders, and discharges from the nose and ears may also be responsible
for the disease. The particular internal causes are over-feeding,
digestive disturbances, the too early use of starches which create
fermentation in the intestinal tract. In the most frequent form of
eczema the skin becomes red and then there appear tiny vesicles (water
blisters) which soon rupture and "weep." This fluid which oozes from
these tiny, ruptured vesicles, in connection with the perspiration and
exfoliation of old skin, forms heavy crusts upon the face which are
both unsightly and annoying.
Another form of eczema is simply a very badly chafed condition
accompanied by intense itching, and commonly known as "dry eczema." A
very disagreeable form is the pustular variety. One poor little
sufferer that was once brought to us had so many pustules on his head
that one could not put a ten cent piece on his scalp without touching
a pustule. The treatment of these cases, in order to be effective and
leave the child's head in normal condition, must be administered with
the utmost patience every day for weeks. A doctor's help is always
required in combating this sort of skin trouble. If the cause is
external, then the clothes should be changed. All irritation should be
removed--the clothing must not be allowed to scratch the skin. The
child must not scratch himself. If necessary, little splints may be
placed on the inside of his arms to prevent his bending the elbows if
the eczema is on the face, while the little sleeves may be pinned to
the side of the dress to resist the movement of the arms.
ECZEMA TREATMENT
The diet should be most carefully looked into. The nursing mother will
earnestly look into every article of food she herself is eating, and
carefully avoid all foods that produce fermentation or decomposition.
The mother's urine should be examined and its acidity noted; if it is
above normal she should take some alkalines such as ordinary baking
soda or calcined magnesia. If it is a bottle-fed baby, any form of
flour should be removed from the food and the quantity of the milk
reduced. All this, of course, is done under the direction of the
physician. Repeated doses of castor oil may be given.
The name of the medicinal agents that have been used in the treatment
of eczema, is legion. Perhaps one of the most widely used is the early
varnishing of the affected skin with ichthyol (one part ichthyol, one
part distilled water), which is swabbed on after the skin has been
cleansed with olive oil. Allow this to almost dry, and then sprinkle
on talcum powder which smooths over the dry varnish of ichthyol. This
is worn every night and during the day, in bad cases, even when the
eczema is on the face. It is renewed each day, and is preceded by the
olive-oil bath. No water or soap is ever used in eczema. Fortunately,
the Eskimo has taught us that the skin really can be cleansed with oil
as well as with water. In the appendix will be found two
prescriptions, number one and number two, that have proved very
beneficial in some of the most severe forms of eczema.
HIVES AND FRECKLES
Hives, a crop of little raised red papules closely resembling lesions
caused by the sting of a mosquito, may make their appearance upon the
skin of the child, remain a few hours, and then disappear. Hives are
usually due to digestive disturbances and may be caused by such foods
as strawberries, nuts, pastries, pineapple, certain sea foods,
mushrooms, etc. A good cathartic, the taking of alkalines, such as
baking soda or calcined magnesia, with a bran or starch bath, or
possibly a soda bath, will usually correct the difficulty. The same
treatment may be used in nettle rash or prickly heat.
Freckles seem to run in families. Broad-brimmed hats or sunbonnets may
be worn, but under no circumstance should a little girl be bidden to
remain in the house and shun the beautiful, sunshiny outdoors just
because she freckles easily. Do not apply any lotions to the freckled
face without medical advice, for great harm may be done the tender
skin of the child.
RINGWORM
Often upon the scalps of young children may be seen circles--rather,
patches--which are slightly rough to the touch, and which cause the
hair to fall out and the spots to remain bald. They are known as
ringworms of the scalp. The affection may likewise appear on the body
or the face, presenting a ring of reddened skin with a scaly border.
Ringworm on the scalp is hard to treat and medical help should be
secured, for, in spite of all that can be done, the disease often runs
its course, leaving round bald spots over the head. Ringworm of the
face, taken early, is helped by carefully painting with tincture of
iodine. The mother should constantly bear in mind that ringworm is a
"catching" disease, so that all handkerchiefs, towels, and clothes are
to be kept separate. The disease known as mange which so often attacks
dogs, is nothing more than ringworm, and children often contract the
disease from dogs. Ringworm, whether it be on children or dogs, may be
greatly helped by the use of tincture of iodine and other appropriate
remedies.
BOILS
The much poulticing of boils has done an untold amount of mischief.
Many children and adults are in their graves today because of improper
treatment of boils. Blood poisoning which so often follows the
careless poulticing, as well as the uncleanly opening of boils, can
all be avoided. Before touching a boil, the surrounding skin should be
thoroughly washed with sterile cotton and laundry soap and then
disinfected with alcohol. Then, with a scalpel or a surgeon's knife
which has been either boiled for twenty minutes or allowed to remain
in pure carbolic acid two minutes and then in alcohol two minutes, it
should be thoroughly opened down to the core so that the pus may come
out. It is very much better for the trained hands of a physician to do
this than for any member of the family to undertake such an
operation--where the danger of blood poisoning is always present. The
only treatment of skin eruptions containing pus which is justifiable
for the home folks to undertake is to simply paint them with iodine.
Under no circumstance should poultices be used.
FEVER BLISTERS
It is not at all uncommon for small children to develop a group of
fever blisters on the lips when suffering with any disease, or
experiencing a high fever. Even a simple cold or a spell of
indigestion may be accompanied by fever blisters. They appear not only
on the lips but also on the edges of the nose and may even be seen on
the chin.
Early in their first appearance they may be treated with spirits of
camphor or plain alcohol, which sometimes tends to abort them; but
they usually run their course, and when they are fully developed they
may be treated with zinc oxide, simple borated vaseline, or ichthyol.
WARTS
Very often children's hands are disfigured by warts. They appear
suddenly, develop rapidly, and many times disappear just about as
suddenly as they appeared. Every child suffering from warts usually
passes through the stage of charms and lingoes which are popularly
used to remove these disagreeable growths. We hardly see any efficacy
in "bean-ie, bean-ie take this wart away," or any particular virtue in
stealing mother's dishcloth, cutting it up into as many pieces as
there are warts on the hand and rubbing each wart with a separate
piece of the cloth; but you will find people in every town or village
who will assure you that their warts were driven away by one of these
charms or lingoes. Warts are either better left alone or removed by a
physician with the high-frequency spark or some other reliable method.
BIRTHMARKS
A red or purplish patch on the skin is the result, as mentioned in an
earlier chapter, of an embryological accident in which one or more
embryonic cells slipped out of place in the early days of skin
formation. These accidental markings may occur on the face, the
scalp, or on any other portion of the body, and they should be let
alone, unless they show a tendency to grow, when it may prove best to
give them proper surgical attention.
A mole is also a birthmark, and if found upon the neck or shoulders
where it is likely to disfigure, it may be removed by the
high-frequency spark, or by surgery, in the same way as warts. Never
tamper with moles. Leave them alone or turn them over to the surgeon.
ERYSIPELAS
Erysipelas is a much-dreaded disease which is the result of infection
with the blood-poisoning germ--streptococcus. It usually occurs about
a wound, and is due to infection by this microbe. If it follows
circumcision, it is due, of course, to infection, and may be very
serious, even causing death. It attacks persons of any age and is
oftenest seen on the face. In appearance, the skin is a bright and
shiny red, with a definite line of demarcation slightly raised at the
edges because of the swollen tissues underneath. On pressure, the
redness disappears but reappears immediately upon relieving the
pressure. The inflammation, pain, and fever often continues a number
of days, during which the child should be isolated from all other
members of the family. The bowels should be freely opened, and the
diet should be liquid and soft; while local treatment is cared for by
the physician who should always be called. Should erysipelas develop
on a very young baby it is very important that he should be removed at
once from the mother. As stated before, the disease is produced by the
blood-poisoning germ which is very much to be avoided in any and all
stages of obstetrics. One attack in no way renders the patients
immune. They may have repeated attacks of erysipelas. The treatments
should be started early and kept up most rigidly.
SCABIES AND LICE
In thickly settled districts among the poor and uneducated, where
filth and untidiness reign, the "itch" is a very prominent disease. It
is caused by the itch mite, a parasite which burrows underneath the
skin leaving behind its eggs in little irregularly shaped, bluish
tinted ridges. Such a profound itching is set up by this burrowing and
depositing of eggs that the child cannot resist scratching, and all
taken together produces the typical itch-rash. The common site for
this rash is on the sides and between the fingers and toes; on arm
pits and buttocks of the child, as well as at the waistline. The
treatment is usually beyond home remedies. A physician should have
charge of the case who will conduct a line of treatment which, if
diligently followed, will rid the body of this scourge within a week
or ten days.
Along with the itch are often found parasites of the head, or lice
(pediculi). It is not at all infrequent to find them in the heads of
uncared for children; but if a much-cared-for child is brought in
contact with an infected head he will probably "catch" the infection.
A most intense and disagreeable itching is set up at once. The
treatment consists in getting the head clean by the use of a very fine
comb, thus endeavoring to remove the adult parasites as well as the
eggs or "nits." However, great care should be taken to avoid injuring
the scalp. Perhaps the simplest and most effective treatment known is
the kerosene bath which should be applied at night, the hair being
done up in a bandage until morning, when the kerosene is washed off
with soap and water and then the hair given a vigorous vinegar shampoo
in order to destroy the "nits." Tincture of larkspur, or an ointment
made from the seeds, may also be used. It is applied several days in
succession and then washed out.