Modern medicine rejects folk diseases such as poker in newborns. Indeed, the disease has a rather strange name and therefore it sounds implausible. But it is difficult to dismiss this problem, since otherwise it would not have surfaced once in a while from young parents. Sorceress grandmothers claim that they treat a similar ailment, but from this young parents have only more fears for the health of their child. It is worthwhile to understand in detail what a poker is, how dangerous it is, how to deal with it, and whether to do it.
What is a poker?
The poker is a disease that occurs only on the skin of a newborn, it manifests itself from birth to 3 months.
If after this time the parents do not observe it, then the problem has bypassed them. With a poker in a baby, hair grows under the skin, which can not break out. For this reason, the hairs bend and grow inward. From here comes this name.
The second name of the disease is bristle, it also has its own explanation. Hair growing under the skin has a very rigid structure and prick the baby. Therefore, the child is restless and often cries. If you steam up the skin and pass your hand over problem areas, the parent will feel this stubble.
You can not believe in the reliability of this disease, since it is likely that the newborn is suffering from colic or other medical illness. But, if the mother showed the baby to all the doctors, and no one could determine the cause of the concern, then the version about the poker no longer seems so implausible.
Lanugo is not a poker
Many parents who have heard about the bristles are looking for a problem where it does not exist. So, quite often adults confuse the poker with fluffy hair, they are lanugo. You should not be afraid of them, since this is the natural need of the fetus in the womb.
With the help of this cover, the primordial lubricant, which performs a protective function, is retained on the child's body. Fluffy hair falls out on its own some time after birth, in rare cases, it remains for life. Such a disease is called hypertrichosis.
Premature babies usually have more lanugo, this is due to the fact that they did not have time to fall before the date of birth.
Places of manifestation
The poker in newborns can be observed throughout the body, but most often it is located on the back, shoulders and hips. You can determine the approximate location of the manifestation of the disease by the position in which the child is most uncomfortable. If the baby is crying, lying on its side, the bristles on its arms and hips.
Bristle symptoms
The poker in a child is not easy to recognize, since it is not visible visually. But for kids suffering from this ailment, special signs are characteristic, they are manifested in their behavior.
- The child cannot sleep peacefully on his back or side. Constantly fidgets and calms down as soon as mom puts it on her stomach.
- A newborn cries often and for no reason.
- You cannot see the poker with your eyes, but in some cases you can feel it if you pass your hand over the problem area of the skin.
How to understand that a child has a poker?
To determine exactly whether the baby has such a problem as a bristle, it is necessary to perform a certain procedure.
- It is necessary to steam the skin of the newborn, for this it needs to be bathed in a warm, heated bath. It is important not to overdo it and prevent the child from overheating.
- After water procedures, the baby is spread on the tummy and a few drops of breast milk are applied to the problem area. Within 2-3 minutes, the mother does a tiny massage, rubbing milk.
If the child really has a poker, then during this time it will appear. If it is absent, parents will have to look for the reason for the restless behavior of their child further.
The causes of the poker
There is no exact explanation why some children suffer from this disease, while others safely avoid it. Nothing depends on the mother, and she can not influence the disease or provoke it.
According to the most common theory, a poker in a child is a manifestation of atavism. The ancestors of man had a thick hair, they needed it to escape from adverse weather conditions. Over the centuries-old evolution, the need for it has disappeared, but atavistic elements sometimes still appear. These hairs grow on the baby’s body during the entire period of pregnancy, normally they fall out at 36-37 weeks of development. If this does not happen, the baby is injected with stiff bristles, delivering a lot of inconvenience.
Opinion of medical specialists
Pediatricians reject the possibility of such a disease in a child as a poker. But even they cannot but admit that sometimes children in the first month of life have strange formations on the skin.
Doctors explain this by the fact that newborns show adaptive erythema caused by temperature changes - redness of the skin. A few days after birth, the redness will disappear, and in its place a crust is formed of dead epithelial cells and descended cannon hair. These formations are young parents and mistaken for bristles.
The crust will fall away with proper child hygiene. The skin of the baby should be steamed regularly in warm water, and then lubricated with baby cream.
Sometimes the baby's mother can take a rolled lanugo for the bristles when the baby sweats or is in one position for a long time. Simple regular hygiene can help in this situation.
Why is the bristle dangerous?
Contrary to the awesome name, the poker does not carry any serious dangers directly. But this ailment prevents the child from sleeping, deprives them of a good rest, and therefore indirectly it affects the mental and physical development of the baby.
Also, this disease can seriously shake the nervous system of the mother of the baby and the fragile state of health after recent childbirth. This can trigger the loss of breast milk, exacerbation of chronic diseases.
How to remove poker in newborns?
If using the above method, parents identified a bristle from their child, then it is necessary to get rid of it. It will not go away on its own. There are several methods, in any case, you must first steam out the skin of children in a bath or bath.
- To get rid of the bristles, you need to cook a small amount of ordinary unleavened dough, like dumplings. The baby is bathed in the bath or in the bath before the procedure so that his skin is clean and steamed. A piece of dough is taken and taken to the problem areas. From steaming, the pores open and the hairs remain on the test. After the end of the manipulations, the baby should be rinsed again and spread with cream.
- The second method is simpler, for it you will need fresh bread, it is best to use rye. The bread crumb is kneaded to a soft, plastic state and rolled into a ball. This piece also needs to be carried out on the skin, where there is a poker.
- Rolling out hair in newborns can also be done with a dough with liquid honey. Before the procedure, you need to make sure that the child is not allergic to honey, as this is a very strong allergen. The resulting dough is driven on the skin, it is very sticky and perfectly removes annoying hairs.
- There is a technique with applying only fresh honey. For this, you will also need to steam out the skin of the child in the bathhouse or in the bathroom. Not all children in the bathhouse feel good, therefore it is recommended to try to bring the newborn there in advance before knowing the bristles in order to know its reaction. Steamed baby's skin is greased with honey and wrapped in natural cloth. It is required to withstand the lotion for 15 minutes, and then remove. The bristle will stick to the honey and remain on the material.
- To get rid of the poker, you can also use batter, like pancakes. Having previously bathed the baby, it should be coated with this dough, and then wrapped in cotton cloth. This procedure is recommended to be carried out already in a room with a neutral temperature. The compress from the dough must be kept on the skin of the child for at least 10 minutes. After this, it is necessary to carefully remove the material without sharp movements, hairs will remain on the fabric. At the end of the procedure, the baby needs to bathe again and smear the skin with a softening cream.
- The latter method does not require any special preparations. After the bath, the baby’s back is smeared with mother’s milk with light massaging movements. Gauze is applied to problem areas so that it adheres tightly to the skin. The compress holding time is 15 minutes, then the tissue is removed. After manipulation, the bristle will stick to the gauze.
In no case, you can not carry out the procedure on dry and unpaired skin.
So you can hurt the newborn and injure the skin. Sometimes you may need to roll out your hair several times. Then you need to repeat the treatment no less than a week later.
Unfortunately, about half of the newborns have a bristle problem. Some parents prefer to endure this misfortune than to turn to healers. Indeed, I don’t really want to take my child to the wilderness, to unsanitary conditions and to trust a complete stranger. But any mother will be able to carry out the above procedures on her own. If the child feels better from this, why not try the folk method.