Natural Remedies for Prickly Heat Rash
Prickly heat rash occurs most often in the summer months. When it does occur, the natural instinct is to buy some type off-the-shelf lotion or powder that is readily available at your local supermarket and put it on the skin. This does work some provide some measure of relief but is often only temporary and does little to stop the rash. You should remember that each of us has a unique kind of skin. People are allergic to different allergens at different degrees of severity and each of us will react differently. Hence, the patent ointments may not work for everyone and may actually aggravate the rash.
Therefore, it makes common sense to use safer methods. Herbal cures do not have the side effects of commercial products even if used a lot. The following is a list of some of the most helpful natural remedies for prickly heat rash to use in the event of an incidence.
An complex but successful method to stop prickly heat is to get a non-reactive bowl, fill it with eight cups clean water. Add about twenty-five cleaned and prepared gooseberries . Prepare gooseberries by washing to remove dust and dirt, cut off stem and tops, then lightly crush the berry preserving all liquid and solids. Cover with lid . Let the gooseberries steep in the vessel for a full night. In the morning, the fruits will have become softer; mash them and stir the water. Let rest 30 minutes, then strain the liquid, discarding all the solids. Add sugar to taste and drink it. Try and consume as much as you can, as often as you can to quench your thirst. This cure helps by naturally removing heat from the body’s core temperature. The prickly heat is treated from within and should disappear in about seven days or sooner. There are other benefits from this beverage including improved digestion and diminished appetite.
Take the leaves of the Indian plum and mix some baking soda with them. Crush this mixture to make a thick paste adding only enough drinking water to create the right consistency. Externally apply this paste directly to the prickly heat rash. This natural treatment will begin to work immediately, relieving much of the pain and itching.
Consume lots of lime juice. Mix up concentrate from the freezer section of your grocer or just squeeze a lime’s juice into an 8 oz glass of water. Stir in a little sugar and mint to taste over ice. Not only is this a delicious warm weather tonic, this beverage will naturally cool down your body’s core temperature.
For an added benefit, add sugarcane juice instead of plain sugar. Sugarcane juice is well-known to have cooling properties for the human body. Just one or two glasses of this mixture daily will help solve the heat rash problem in less than a week.
Mixing camphor oil to the extract of the neem tree makes a very soothing natural skin balm. Massage this lotion where the prickly heat has erupted. Keep this oil on the area for about half an hour and then have a bath with cool water, preferably mixed with colloidal oatmeal.
Colloidal oatmeal baths are known for its skin-soothing abilities. Blend 1 cup oatmeal (instant, quick, or slow-cooking varieties all work equally well – just use whatever you have on hand or like to eat) into bath water for quick and immediate relief from the itching and discomfort of prickly heat. This is especially helpful if the heat rash is in an area that is not conducive for applying ointments or topical lotions such as the buttocks, back of the legs, lower back or groin. For babies, just use 1/3 cup of oatmeal.
Using a food processor with its chopping blade installed or a blender, mix together dry oatmeal on the highest speed setting until you have a fine, consistently-textured powder. Sprinkle the oats into a tub of cool to luke-warm water with the water running. Be sure to swirl the water quickly until you have even distribution and the oatmeal has disappeared. Feel around the tub and break up any clumps that may have formed. Take care entering and getting out of the tub – the surfaces will be slick than usual. Sit or lie down, whichever is more practible and soak for at least 15-20 minutes. Take this bath once or twice per day – even more often under doctor’s order.
Watermelon – Eat it! Often! Not only does watermelon provide excellent nutrition, it cools off the body. And save the pulp! You can use the pulp of a watermelon – gently apply it to the areas affected by prickly heat rash. This will cool down the skin in that area and provide temporary relief.
Make a paste of cornstarch and water. Apply this past to the skin where prickly heat rash has erupted. Let the paste remain on the skin undisturbed for thirty minutes. During this time, the paste will dry completely. Just take a cold to room-temperature water bath (with or without oatmeal as described above) and let the paste soften and wash away. Or you can just soak a towel and place over the affected area to remove the paste. Either way, your skin will cool down and you will notice quite a bit of relief from pain and itching for several hours.
In children, it is difficult to treat areas using anything that take time. Just sprinkle baking soda or unscented body powder in the affected areas can provide good results. The gel of an aloe vera leaf provides comfort and healing. You don’t have to buy the actual leaf to get this natural treatment; you can get the leaf’s gel at better pharmacies, cosmetic shops and health food stores.
Also see What is a Heat Rash? and How to Avoid Prickly Heat Rash