Sweat Rash Prevention

Come summer and one gets set for poolside parties, mountain climbing and trekking, refreshing summer fruits, chilled sodas, juices and smoothies, ice creams and ice pops, vacation trips to cooler destinations - and sweat rashes! Well, one does not really look forward to getting dotted all over with prickly heat rashes but this is something which is inevitable for a lot of people during the summers and is, as such, an expected phenomenon. Sweat rashes are very common among children of school going age who take advantage of the summer vacations to indulge in outdoor activities and in young adults who play outdoor sports during the warm summer months. Those tiny, itchy, often fluid filled, bumps that appear on the skin along the upper back, neck, forehead, shoulders, inner elbows and along the back of the knees can cause quite a lot of discomfort and distress if not any serious harm and the way they spoil your looks when they appear on (ugh!) your face is seriously unsavory to behold! So, can these sweat rashes be prevented? What is the best course to take to get rid of prickly heat once they appear? Read right ahead for some useful management and prevention tips for heat rash.

Sweat Rash Prevention Tips

While there are many ways in which you can treat sweat rashes and the resultant skin irritation, you can actually prevent these from appearing on your skin in the first place! After all, prevention IS better than cure any given day. So, here's what you can do to keep those prickly heat rashes where they belong - miles away from you!

• Keep yourself clean and dry at all times! Maintain personal hygiene, take bath every day (twice a day if you indulge in sports or other activities that require energetic physical mobility), change into fresh and dry clothes if you get too sweaty and wash your hands and face with antiseptic products every time you come in from outside.
• Keep your surroundings cool and moisture free. Stay out of the sun as far as possible and get a dehumidifier installed if you live in a coastal region. You see, the atmosphere at places near water bodies tend to be more moisture laden than inland regions.
• Dust an antiseptic or prickly heat powder along sweat prone regions such as the neck, back and shoulders, inner elbows, groin area, etc. to keep them dry by discouraging the accumulation of sweat.
• Wear light, comfortable clothing items, preferably made from natural fibers. Loose, pure cotton clothes are the best bet for summers! Besides allowing your skin to breathe, the soft, absorbent texture is also benign on your skin and doesn't chafe when it rubs against your body. Clothes made of synthetic fabric materials are a big no-no unless you deliberately wish to end up looking peeled!
• Drink lots of water! I know, everybody nowadays seems to be crazed by this concept. However, when you drink lots of plain, cool water in summers, you can see the results hands on! First, all that moisture your body loses by way of sweating gets replenished, saving you from the unpleasant consequences of dehydration. Next, as more toxins get flushed out, the bloodstream gets cleaner and skin pores stay unclogged. This means that your chances of getting other heat related skin infections go down significantly.
• Drink lots of lemon juice and bitter vegetables (such as bitter melon). The fresh citrus juice made from one whole lemon contains a lot of natural vitamins, especially Vitamin C, that help the body cope with the heat and also clear the dead skin cells that block the skin pores and locks in the salt and moisture from sweat, leading to prickly heat rashes in the first place. Bitter vegetables are alkaline and these alkali thoroughly cleanse the liver. A healthy, detoxified liver is the major key to healthy, unblemished and rash free skin.
• If the sweat rash assumes an abnormal color or gets nastier than usual, chances are that a fungal pathogen is behind all this mischief. Consult a dermatologist and follow the prescribed anti fungal treatment regime religiously.
• Avoid using oil based moisturizers, sunscreens or skin cosmetics as these will further block the pores and make the skin greasy, turning it to an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. Instead, go for water based moisturizers and cosmetics and gel based sun block products.

Avoid rubbing or scratching the rash areas unless you wish to worsen the condition. I know how hard it is to resist an urge as strong as scratching an itch but refrain, for your own sake. Application of soothing prickly heat talcs and specially medicated skin showers on the site of these rashes is the best way to get relief from the discomfort. Diet plays a huge role in sweat rash prevention. Avoid junk, fried, fatty and oily food at all costs if you intend to keep your skin breathing and glowing during the summers. Cajole (and if necessary, coerce) your sweet tooth into cutting it's cravings into half and totally stay away from refined carbs. While you do all this to keep prickly heat away, you would also be doing your entire body a huge favor by sticking to these healthy eating and drinking habits. Trust me, by the time winters arrive this year, you'll look your glowing best for that Christmas party and you would also be able to enjoy digging into that Thanksgiving turkey without feeling guilt pangs!