Identifying Simple Skin Issues

Anyone with kids needs to know the basics of typical childhood skin conditions. Kids will show up with cuts, scratches, rashes, and any number of bumps and odd looking bites throughout childhood. Some things are definitely more worrisome than others and can be the symptoms of something serious. Understanding whether something is a danger and needs to go straight to the doctor is important.

Ringworm is pretty common among kids. It is also very distinctive and easy to identify because of the ring shape of the infection. There is no actual worm involved with this because it is caused by fungi. The fungi that cause skin problems are called dermatophytes. These only will cause trouble to the dead layer of keratin and will not be able to live on anything that has mucous membranes. Ringworm is one of those things that can be simply dealt with using an anti-fungal medication.

Children are known for exploring their surroundings. If children are playing in a wooded area they can possibly contract poison oak ivy or sumac, which are all causes of contact dermatitis. A red rash will result when coming into contact with any of these plants. This is because the skin is having an allergic reaction to the resin which is released by these plants. Not all individuals will have an allergic reaction when coming into contact. If you do, you will see red bumps appear and cause your skin to itch.

Sometimes people will have a rash that shows up the same day of the exposure to the plant, but this is not always the case. Sometimes it takes a few days to show up and it will continue to pop up for a few days after that. This is the reason that people think that it spreads. It doesn't at all though so there is no worry of touching another person or another part of the body and have it spread. For mild cases cortisone creams will help with the itch before the blisters show up.

Most childhood skin conditions are generally easy to deal with. The many types of fungal infections and other mild troubles can be treated with creams for the most part. The quickest way to try and figure out if the rash is something to worry over is to go online and look at photo's of different conditions. That and then the other symptoms, if any, will help to determine if a trip to the doctor is necessary.