Yellow crusts on the head of a baby: causes and remedies

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Yellow crusts on the head of a baby is seborrheic dermatitis, which appears due to excessive secretion of fat. Crusts do not indicate any disease, but they should not be left unattended. Sometimes they can occur on the eyebrows and other areas of the baby's body. It happens that they appear in the first days after birth or closer to a year. Seborrheic dermatitis does not require medication and usually resolves on its own.

Key Features

Many mothers know what seborrheic dermatitis looks like on a baby's head because it occurs quite often. These could be:

1. Yellowish crusts that partially or completely cover the scalp of the baby's head. Their greatest concentration can fall on the parietal part. Scales accumulate in a dense layer.
2. Crusts can also form on other parts of the body. In rare cases, they are found on the neck, on the face and behind the ears.
3. Yellow crusts on the head are notare accompanied by inflammation and do not cause irritation. This is how they differ from atopic dermatitis.
4. The crusts look unattractive, but do not cause itching. They do not cause negative feelings to the child.

Yellow crusts on the head of a newborn are most actively manifested between the ages of 10 days and up to 3 months. How long will they be kept? It depends on the individual characteristics of the baby's body.

Most often, the crusts on the head of a child disappear without a trace at the age of up to a year, and sometimes they persist up to 2-4 years. Being under the hairline, they do not cause any difficulties when combing the baby.

Causes of yellow crusts

Specialists have not established the exact causes that lead to the appearance of seborrheic dermatitis. There are only the following assumptions:

• The process of formation of the endocrine system. When developing in the womb, the child receives the necessary hormones from her. After his birth, their withdrawal begins, which causes a malfunction in the endocrine system. The activity of the sebaceous glands increases, and excess fat accumulates on the skin in the form of scabs. Thus, yellow crusts form on the head of the baby.
• The negative impact of an external stimulus. Crusts may appear due to prolonged wearing of the cap. They can be provoked by sweat and heat. Frequent shampooing can also cause flakes. Incorrectly selected shampoo causes drying of the top layer of the skin. This is what is causing the disruption.sebaceous glands.
• Food quality. The occurrence of seborrhea on the scalp of an infant may be his body's response to an unbalanced mother's diet. It is possible that with breast milk the baby receives certain substances that affect his endocrine system. The same applies to artificial feeding. After all, the mixture can be poorly tolerated by the child's body and provoke the appearance of crusts with early introduction of complementary foods.
• Activation of opportunistic fungus Malassezia furfur. He constantly lives in the skin of a person. Hormonal failure contributes to the rapid reproduction of the fungus and the appearance of yellow crusts.
• Due to the fact that the baby's immune system is not yet very developed, the above fungus multiplies, which disrupts the sebaceous glands.

Low weight, infectious diseases and heredity also negatively affect the immune system, which can lead to crusts

How seborrheic dermatitis is defined

Only a specialist can accurately diagnose. A dermatologist, having compared all the signs, is able to distinguish the pathology from ringworm, psoriasis, and an infectious skin disease. The diagnosis is established during an external examination and based on the results of the tests.

The origin of yellow crusts on the head of a baby is determined using a biopsy of the skin, mycological examination of scales and a study of the state of the hormonal background of the baby.

What treatment is given

Yellow crusts on the baby's head do not pose a threat to the baby's life. Treatment of seborrhea does not require the use of serious drugs, it can eventually disappear from the skin on its own. To quickly get rid of unpleasant seborrhea, in many cases pediatricians recommend taking the following measures:

1. Lubricate the crusts on the head, neck and eyebrows with oil. To do this, you can use the following types of them: peach, almond or olive. Available in vials or spray.
2. You can use various cleansing creams and emulsions to treat rashes. Under their influence, the crusts soften, but it is not recommended to comb them out; it is enough to thoroughly wash the child's head. And remove the rest by hand. In addition, the composition of cosmetics includes substances that regulate the sebaceous glands. Increased secretion of sebum gradually decreases, and crusts do not form. It is best to apply the product at night, and carefully remove the scales in the morning.
3. You can wash the head of the baby with anti-seborrheic shampoos. They are applied to wet hair and rubbed until foam is formed. After holding for 5 minutes, the shampoo is washed off. There are several types of funds, a pediatrician will help you choose the most effective one.
4. Moms can use dermatological creams. They are applied to the scalp of the child twice a day, without washing off. Creams are effective against microbes, they are able to quickly restore the sebaceous glands.

Any oflisted funds should be used only after its appointment by a specialist, but not more than 2 times a day. In addition to medicines, you can get rid of yellow crusts in the baby on the head with the help of traditional medicine. There are gentle and proven methods.

Traditional medicine

How to remove yellow crusts from the baby's head? The main method of treatment includes the use of various oils: sea buckthorn, sunflower or olive. They are able to soften the scales, which will allow mom to easily remove them. The treatment process is as follows:

• The affected area is generously lubricated with oil and left for 20 minutes. Before the session, do not moisturize the baby's hair.
• In order for the crusts to soften well, it is necessary to put on a headdress on the baby's head.
• Using a soft brush, parents gently remove crusts from their heads.
• The baby's hair is washed with shampoo to wash away the remaining oil.
• If after that the scales remain on the scalp, they are re-passed.

The same method will help to remove crusts on the eyebrows and behind the ears. Parents should monitor the effect of the cream or shampoo. If an allergic reaction occurs, this product should be discontinued.

What not to do

If parents found yellow crusts on the child's head, then it is forbidden to peel them off dry skin. This will cause new scales to appear.

Also, this way of getting rid of crusts can lead to wounds on the head. This leads to infection and deterioration.

What complications can cause seborrhea

Complications may appear under the influence of the following negative factors: improper care, unbalanced nutrition or drying of the skin. Only in such cases, yellow crusts on the head of a baby are a depressing condition. Negative consequences include:

1. Increase in the area affected by scales. They can occupy other parts of the body, cause itching and redness. Sometimes atopic dermatitis develops with an existing hereditary predisposition.
2. Through wounds or abrasions in the area of seborrhea, the skin can become infected with streptococci and staphylococci, which leads to suppuration.

If such symptoms occur, the baby must be urgently shown to a specialist. Indeed, in such a situation, more serious treatment will be needed.

Prevention measures

When a problem is successfully fixed, mothers look for solutions that can prevent it from recurring in the future. Dr. Komarovsky suggests that women during lactation eat right, reducing the amount of fat and carbohydrates in the diet. After all, this directly affects the fat content of milk.

Other preventive measures include:

• Maintaining the required air humidity in the room.
• Using moisturizers after bathing your baby. This will protect the skin fromdrying out.
• If yellow crusts are accompanied by itching and redness, this may indicate an allergy. In such a situation, proper treatment by a specialist will be required.
• Baby must be dressed according to the weather, do not wrap him too much. If the crown and feet of the child are dry, then he is dressed correctly.

These measures are relevant not only during the treatment of crusts, but also after getting rid of them.

Conclusion

If a baby has yellow crusts on his head, mom should not be upset. They are completely harmless and are treated with simple means.