It is not uncommon for most babies to experience some degree of diaper rash. Their sensitive skin, especially that skin located around the diaper area, can become red and irritated from the diaper. While parents should expect this to happen, some babies seem to have extra sensitive skin where diaper rash can become severely irritated and last much longer than usual. When your baby's diaper rash won't go away, you need to consider what causes it and what types of treatments will work best for your baby.
What Causes Diaper Rash That Won't Go Away?
1. Allergic reaction
There are a number of everyday products that can be irritating your baby's skin. Soap or dyes in the diaper can be the main cause, but also consider the baby wipes, baby wash or the clothing. If you introduced a new product to your baby recently that could be the cause, try to replace one item at a time to see what could be irritating your baby's skin.
2. Antibiotics
Few babies will be given antibiotics until they reach a certain age, but if your baby is on antibiotics, or you are breastfeeding and you are on antibiotics, then there is a good chance this can be causing the irritation. Antibiotics can result in an excessive growth of yeast since it kills off harmful as well as beneficial bacteria in the body.
3. Yeast or fungal Infection
Yeast infections are typically the number one cause for stubborn diaper rash. Since the diaper area is moist and warm, it is the perfect environment for yeast to grow, which results in diaper rash. This can cause the skin to become red, irritated, and show bumps or dots in the area which is more predominant in the folds of the skin.
4. Diarrhea
Skin irritation is often caused when the area is wet, moist and there is excess acid. Diarrhea can leave the diaper area irritated because of the excess moisture and acidity.
5. Scabies
Scabies are mites that act as parasites on the skin. While they tend to cause a rash over the entire body, when your baby's diaper rash won't go away, these can be the cause. If scabies is the cause of the diaper rash, your baby won't be the only one with this type of rash.
6. Steroid creams
Since steroid creams are often used to treat normal diaper rash, this can worsen the rash. The creams are often covered by the diaper, which means the medicine is absorbed into the skin much quicker. This causes the medicine to become more potent, which can cause skin irritation.
7. Strep
Yes, your baby can have strep butt, just as they can get strep throat from the same bacteria. With strep, the diaper area will appear redder but your baby will also show signs of illness such as fever.
8. Hemangioma
This type of benign skin growth is very common for infants. While this condition will typically resolve itself, for babies who experience this in the diaper area, it can be more problematic. In the diaper area, these growths can bleed or become ulcers.
9. Psoriasis
Psoriasis in infants can be a rare condition that is often overlooked. Your baby may only have a diaper rash with no other symptoms of this skin condition and will often only be detected from a dermatological evaluation.
10. Not enough zinc
Babies with zinc deficiencies will often suffer from a severe rash near the mouth as well as loss of hair. Often this type of mineral deficiency is caused by a more serious health condition like cystic fibrosis, Acrodermatitis Enterohepatic, or malnourishment.
11. Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Babies with this condition will also have a variety of other symptoms. This disorder affects most of the cells that grow from the bone marrow and skin cells called Langerhans cells. If your baby's diaper rash won't go away and they have additional symptoms like draining of the ears, rash behind the ears, blood disorders, and bone lesions, they could have this type of disorder.
What Can You Do for This Condition?
The first thing you need to determine to get rid of diaper rash is what the cause of it is. To help reduce the irritation that can be caused by diaper rash, you want to consider using an over the counter ointment to treat the rash while you are figuring out the cause of it. Choosing the right ointment may be overwhelming since there are so many to choose from and you can ask your mom or friends for recommendations for what they prefer. Aquaphor, Calmoseptine ointment and Triple Paste Medicated ointment are all highly recommended diaper rash treatments.
While ointment can help treat diaper rash, you want to take preventative measures as well. Keeping the area clean and dry is the number one way you can reduce the appearance of diaper rash and prevent it from coming back.
Keep your baby's skin dry
You want to give your baby's skin time to dry out completely. You can allow this to happen by regularly scheduling times in the day where your baby will not be in a diaper. During these times, place them on a washable changing mat that is waterproof. Doing this for just ten minutes a day can help your baby's skin get the proper air exposure it needs to eliminate diaper rash.
Buy bigger diapers
When diaper rash won't go away, it could be a result of the diaper being too tight. When your baby is in a tight diaper all day, this can keep moisture trapped in the area, which increases the irritation. Try putting them in a diaper the next size up and change them more often throughout the night.