What Causes Kocosis in Babies and How Is It Treated?
Since the newborn’s skin is much drier and thinner than that of an adult, its capacity to retain moisture is extremely low. This situation affects the protective function of the skin and makes the newborn skin more susceptible to infections and various toxins. Until the baby’s skin adapts to the external environment after birth, various skin problems such as toxic erythema, sebaceous hyperplasia, also called baby acne, milia and hosts may occur. The most common of these is the host problem, which usually affects the scalp. Host disease, which can become permanent for a long time if not controlled with the right practices and tends to recur even if it is cured, is one of the important skin problems that must be addressed.
What is a mansion?
In babies, acne is a skin problem that occurs especially in the first weeks of life and is seen on the scalp. After birth, the baby’s hair largely falls out and new hair grows rapidly in its place. Usually, during this hair change process, dry skin crusts covering the scalp appear. These crusts cover the entire scalp in the future and form a hard layer with a white or yellow-brown appearance, and the yellow spots on the baby’s scalp are called host disease in medicine. When these layers are moistened and kept soft and interventions such as forced combing are not applied, they do not cause pain to the baby, but they still need to be treated correctly. If not treated correctly, it recurs frequently and may cause other skin problems in the baby in the future.
What Causes Hostitis in Babies?
In the first periods of life, the baby’s skin changes a lot to adapt to the outside world, and some skin problems may occur in this process. At birth, newborn skin is considered sterile, so the skin lacks the beneficial bacterial flora that protects it. This makes both the skin and the baby much more sensitive to external factors.
When the baby is about 6 weeks old, the skin flora develops and becomes richer, similar to adult skin. During these weeks, the baby’s skin begins to recognize various microorganisms and protect the baby by repelling them. However, until this flora fully develops and settles, the skin will appear extremely dry and tight. In this case, the body tries to soften the dry and tense skin tissue by producing excess oil. This phenomenon, which is extremely beneficial for many areas of the skin, may cause some problems on the scalp. The oily substances produced in excess accumulate on the scalp of babies and then dry out and form a crust, forming yellow-brown conal layers.
Another reason why the baby’s skin produces more oil than normal after birth is that many pregnancy-related hormones passed on from the mother are still circulating in the baby’s blood. These hormones are fat-compatible hormones due to their structure, and the body tends to produce more fat than normal in the presence of these hormones.
How to Clean the Host in Babies?
A few important points need to be taken into consideration when cleaning the mansion for babies. Although the scalp cleaning process may be beneficial in some cases, the risk of damaging the baby’s scalp during the process is extremely high. Therefore, it is important to have detailed information about this process before cleaning the crusty layer. First of all, it is necessary to correctly identify the host areas on the head. Then, these areas are massaged with a suitable oil, such as pure olive oil or baby oil, and the hard parts are softened. Softening the dry and crusty layer is the first and most important step of the host cleaning process in babies. If this layer does not soften and the cleaning process is done while the crusts are still hard, the baby’s scalp will be damaged, the upper layer of the skin will peel off and may even bleed. This situation both causes pain to the baby and increases the risk of infection on the scalp.
After softening the scalp with an appropriate oil, the scalp is washed with baby shampoo. Giving the baby a warm shower during this practice will help the baby relax, calm down and make the house cleaning process much easier. The host layer, which is degreased during the shower, softens with the effect of warm water and becomes ready for cleaning. The best way to remove the softened layer from the baby’s scalp is to comb the hair and scalp with a soft brush after bathing. In this way, hosts are easily removed, skin irritation is prevented and skin integrity is preserved.
How to Treat Kocosis in Babies?
The host problem in babies is one of the serious problems that recurs frequently if proper care is not given and affects the comfort of the baby as well as its scalp development. In order to remove the host, it must first be cleaned correctly and the tissue integrity of the scalp should not be damaged during the cleaning process. It is necessary to perform skin care at appropriate intervals on the area, which is softened by massaging with a suitable baby oil or pure virgin olive oil and then cleaned with a soft brush. Otherwise, the hosts will be removed only once and the risk of recurrence in a short time is high.
It is important that the baby receives proper hair care and is washed regularly every day with shampoos specially produced for babies. Babies who are deprived of proper cleaning and care develop various health problems, as well as acne and similar skin problems. Therefore, regular care is required to both eliminate the existing host in the hair and to prevent the recurrence of such problems by obtaining a healthy skin texture.
Before the shower, massaging the scalp with a suitable oil or products developed for host treatment and then combing the area with a soft brush is sufficient to remove the host layer. However, recurrent host problems in infants require more holistic care. At this point, it is necessary to add baby’s scalp care to the daily care routine and massage the scalp with valuable oils every day. Thanks to oils and massage, the baby’s scalp becomes soft and nourished, and the risk of recurrence of the host problem is greatly reduced. Since the host layer appears with drying and flaking, the first step towards eliminating the host infection should be to properly moisturize the affected area of the skin. However, even if the host layer in that area is removed, it may recur in a short time or be seen in other areas. Therefore, in order to completely cure the host problem, it is necessary to apply the care that the scalp needs in the right way and for the right time.
What is Host Treatment for Babies?
Host disease in infants usually regresses quickly and is brought under control thanks to the above-mentioned practices. However, in some cases, the baby’s scalp becomes extremely sensitive and it becomes very difficult to perform some applications. Dermatitis, infection and other similar problems on the scalp cause the skin to appear red and edematous. In this situation, the baby’s sensitivity increases significantly and caring for the baby may cause pain to the baby. In such cases, in order to control the host problem, shampoos and creams produced specifically for this problem can be preferred. After using these products, which relieve the dryness of the area and soothe redness and sensitivity, for a while, it is necessary to check the sensitivity of the area to the baby and proceed to holistic host care in line with the baby’s responses. If the baby gets hurt during these care and practices, it may cause the baby to develop resistance to both the practices and important events such as taking a shower. Therefore, when performing host care for babies, it should be ensured that the baby does not get hurt and the treatment plan should be shaped in line with its reactions.
All these care and practices are usually sufficient to solve the baby’s host problem without the need for treatment. It usually tends to regress spontaneously and disappears in about 3 months. In some cases, this period may extend up to 1 year, but if it does not cause serious discomfort to the baby, it does not require treatment.
Host treatment is mostly preferred when problems such as itching, redness, increased sensitivity, bleeding, leakage and discharge occur on the scalp. This may be a sign of infection on the baby’s skin or make the skin prone to infection. Since the baby’s healthy skin flora has not yet developed, the skin cannot fully fulfill its protective function, and any infection that develops on the baby’s skin tends to become severe rapidly. This situation puts the baby’s health and development at risk. Therefore, it is one of the important issues that should be emphasized at the beginning of the disease in babies. Especially if there is a persistent infection and the baby’s discomfort level increases, the scalp should be evaluated by a specialist dermatologist and an appropriate treatment plan should be made for the baby in line with the doctor’s recommendations.
