What is Heat Rash?

Key points

1. The neck, shoulders, and chest are the most common places for prickly heat to appear.
2. Make sure to change out of sweaty or wet clothing right away after experiencing intense heat to prevent prickly heat rash.
3. Common remedies for prickly heat include applying calamine lotion and wearing loose-fitting clothing.

The condition that we call prickly heat, also known as heat rash, happens to adults and children when sweat becomes trapped under the skin. Prickly heat is sometimes called “sweat rash” or by its diagnostic name, miliaria rubra. Children tend to be more affected than adults because their sweat glands are still developing.

Symptoms

The symptoms of prickly heat are fairly straightforward. Red bumps and itching occur in an area where sweat has been trapped underneath layers of your skin. The neck, shoulders, and chest are the most common places for prickly heat to appear. Folds of skin and places where your clothing rubs your skin are also areas where prickly heat might occur. The area of irritation might display a reaction right away, or it might take a few days to develop on your skin.

Sometimes prickly heat will take the form of a patch of very small blisters, which is your skin reacting to the sweat that has leaked between its layers. Other times the area of your body where sweat is trapped might appear swollen or itch persistently.

In case of heat rashes using prickly heat powder, wearing cotton clothes may ease it, but if the problem persists visit your nearest dermatologist. Self medication is hazardous.