The child's fingers are peeling off. The skin on the child's fingers is cracking

The skin performs respiratory, protective, excretory, thermoregulatory and receptor functions. In children, it is usually very tender and elastic, and changes in its condition greatly worry the baby’s parents. Peeling skin on a child's fingers and toes is not only a cosmetic problem, but also a medical problem. Why does it occur and how to eliminate it?

Skin problems on a child's arms and legs

Any change in a child’s skin should attract the attention of adults. This is especially true for parents of young children who do not yet know how to explain what is bothering them. Various kinds of rashes, red spots appear on the arms and legs, the skin flakes and peels. The following problems may appear on the limbs:

redness of large areas of the skin;
small white, pink and red spots;
bubbles with clear liquid inside;
large star-shaped rashes;
papules;
peeling;
peeling of areas of the epidermis;
itchy dry rash;
inflamed subcutaneous bumps that itch;
purulent pimples;
large blisters;
rough spots (more details in the article:).

Causes of dry skin on fingers, palms and feet

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Various reasons lead to problematic skin on a child’s extremities. In infants, the skin on the feet and hands may become rough due to improper care or hypothermia. Babies are very sensitive to changes in the external environment, so hard water often leads to dry skin on the hands and feet.
In older children, the skin may begin to peel and peel due to exposure to wind, water and frost. With frequent contact with water, the skin between the fingers peels off. The lack of vitamins and microelements in the body and dry air in the nursery have an effect. The skin on the fingers, palms and feet flakes and peels as a result of the following reasons:
If the skin on your child's fingers peels off, you should contact your pediatrician. It is impossible to treat the disease on your own, as incorrect therapy can aggravate the situation.
After examining and studying the medical history, the doctor will prescribe treatment or send the patient for a consultation with a dermatologist. To clarify the diagnosis, the following procedures may be necessary:
donate blood, urine and feces for analysis;
scraping;
examination to detect diseases of internal organs;
allergy tests;
X-ray of the chest organs;
biopsy of affected skin;
submit biological material for bacteriological culture.

Treatment of possible diseases
Treatment for skin problems depends on the cause that caused them:
If peeling of the legs and arms is caused by a lack of vitamins A, B, C, E, the doctor will prescribe a complex of vitamins and minerals and create a special menu for the child (see also:).
For allergic problems, it is necessary to eliminate the allergen and take antihistamines for 5-7 days.
Fungal infections on the skin can be eliminated using various creams and ointments. The drug is selected depending on the causative agent of the disease. Children are prescribed the drugs Radevit, Aekol, Mikozan, Clotrimazole. Apply ointments and creams to previously washed areas of the skin 2-3 times a day for 10-30 days. Therapy is combined with taking pills.

A prerequisite for restoring the skin is to increase immunity. For skin pathologies, patients are prescribed medications that strengthen the immune system. Local skin regenerating agents are used: Diaderm, oil solutions of vitamin A, D-Panthenol, Radovit. It is recommended to rub them in 2-3 times a day.
An important factor influencing recovery is hygiene. Hands and feet should be kept clean. In case of fungal diseases, it is necessary to buy your child clothes and shoes made from natural materials. The patient should have his own towel and bed linen, which must be washed in hot water to prevent relapse.
Preventive measures
It is impossible to protect a child from all diseases. However, if you follow simple rules, the likelihood of skin problems is minimized. The main condition for prevention is proper care of the child’s skin.
It is necessary to ensure that the baby's hands and feet are clean. Hypothermia or overheating of the extremities should not be allowed. After washing, wipe your hands and feet dry between your toes.
To prevent peeling due to vitamin deficiency, it is necessary to include in the child’s diet foods containing vitamins A and E. Children should eat carrots, dairy products, cheeses, apples, pumpkin, eggs, plums, fish, and vegetable oils. However, there is no need to feed your baby only these foods; the diet must be balanced.
When visiting swimming pools, you should make sure that the child has his own shoes, as he can become infected with fungus when using other people's things. It is necessary to monitor the emotional state of the baby. Overexcitement and stress can also lead to flaking of the skin. Walking in the fresh air and physical exercise will help strengthen your child’s immunity.

The health of the baby is the most important thing for every mother. And when he has some problems with him, then, naturally, his mother begins to worry about this.

Often, parents are faced with the fact that the child’s skin peels off his fingers and toes. This causes them some anxiety and a question: why does the skin peel off from the child’s fingers and toes, what are the reasons for this phenomenon?

Why does the baby's skin peel off on his arms and legs, the main reasons

The skin on the hands is most susceptible to the negative effects of the external environment. Compared to other areas of the body, the skin on the handles has a small amount of sebaceous glands and moisture, which are necessary to give it elasticity and smoothness. If in a child it becomes dry, begins to peel, redness and spots appear, and then wounds and cracks, then first of all it is necessary to identify the cause of this phenomenon and eliminate it. Don’t delay; it’s better to go to a specialist in time and, if necessary, get tested to make a correct diagnosis.

The main reasons include:

improper care. Frequent exposure of the baby's hands to water, frost, and wind. If the skin on your hands is too dry, it must be additionally moisturized using regular baby cream;
excess moisture. If the baby’s hands often come into contact with water, the skin begins to peel off, the skin begins to peel off between the fingers;
vitamin deficiency. This phenomenon can occur due to a lack of vitamins A and E in the body. Vitamin deficiency often manifests itself in the autumn-spring period, when the supply of useful nutrients in the body is depleted. You can restore the supply of vitamins and minerals with the help of products containing various vitamins and minerals (carrots, carrot juice, vegetable oils), vitamin complexes, and oil solutions of vitamins. They are given to the child on an empty stomach in the morning, or you can drop a couple of drops on some bread;
climatic conditions. The skin on the fingers may peel off due to the dry air of heated rooms in winter. In summer, it peels off due to exposure to ultraviolet radiation;
allergy An allergic reaction in a child can occur to paints, modeling clay, plasticine, scented soap, powder, and shampoo. Allergies can also be caused by foods and various medications he takes. Here it is important to identify the allergen in time and exclude it;
disruption of metabolic processes within the body. The epidermis on the fingers may peel off due to the fact that your child’s metabolic processes within the body are disrupted. Because of this, it may become dry and begin to peel;
skin diseases, fungus. Due to the development of various diseases of the epidermis, the baby may also peel off the skin on the fingers and toes. Here it is important to undergo an examination by a dermatologist and establish the correct diagnosis;
infectious diseases. Scarlet fever can cause dryness and peeling of the epidermis on the palms and soles;
action of antibiotics. Antibiotics can cause digestive disorders and disruption of intestinal microflora. These processes affect the state of the epidermis. Here you have to give "Bifidumbacterin", "Linex" and other lactobacilli;
stressful situations. The child's emotional state affects his health. If there are constant conflicts in the family and the child experiences severe stress, he may have nervous breakdowns. And because of them, problems with the epidermis begin, the skin peels off the arms and legs.

There may be other reasons. To protect your child from diseases, you need to take care of him, pay due attention to the health of your baby and, if necessary, consult a doctor in a timely manner. What should you do if the skin peels off between your child’s toes and hands? What actions to take and how to treat?

Treatment

First of all, when this problem appears, you should immediately consult a doctor and undergo an examination, take tests so that a specialist can make the correct diagnosis. After diagnosis, the doctor will be able to select a suitable treatment regimen and duration of the treatment course.

If the dermis peels off the fingers and toes due to a lack of vitamins, the doctor prescribes vitamin-mineral complexes. In addition, it is important to change your diet, to include foods containing vitamins A, B, C, E. Vitamin A is found in carrots, pumpkin, cabbage, plums, peaches, apricots, prunes, tomatoes, herbs, and peas. Vitamin B in corn, oats, wheat, potatoes, cheese, eggs, butter.

If the skin on the child’s toes and hands peels off and peels due to the development of a fungal infection, then the doctor may prescribe ointments, creams - "Aekol", "Radevit". The product is rubbed into the skin between the fingers. As a rule, the condition of the epidermis improves a couple of days after starting to use the cream. In winter, to prevent diaper rash on the skin from gloves and mittens, it can be lubricated with special gels and creams that dry out a little and prevent the palms from fogging up inside the mittens.

If you are allergic to food, household chemicals, or medications, you need to identify what triggers the development of the allergy and eliminate them.

Be sure to restore the balance of vitamins inside the body and improve immunity. When treating allergies, various drugs are used - ointments, gels, tablets, which are prescribed only by a doctor, taking into account the age and individual characteristics of the child. The doctor also prescribes immunomodulators that boost immunity.

You can moisturize and protect the dermis from cracks and dryness with the help of nourishing and moisturizing baby creams - "Mustela", "Bübchen", "Bepanten". You can lubricate the handles with oil solutions of vitamins A and E.

ethnoscience

If the skin peels off your baby’s hands and feet, you can try traditional medicine recipes. Homemade recipes include natural ingredients, so they are absolutely safe. You can make healing baths with herbs (chamomile, calendula, nettle), vegetable oils, potato decoction, sea salt.

Skin is our protection from environmental influences. In addition, it is one of the very first organs to respond to changes in the state of the body. That is why close observation and examination is necessary if a child has peeling skin on his fingers.

The causes of this problem are different: both easily solvable and requiring long-term treatment. It is very important to start adequate treatment quickly and on time. The most common causes of peeling are the following:

The skin on children's fingers peels off for a variety of reasons, however, in all cases, this is precisely a consequence of some diseases, and not an independent pathology. That is why treatment will be aimed at eliminating the underlying cause.

Types of peeling and preliminary “identification”

Sometimes you can tell by the appearance of the skin what the child is suffering from. Of course, even in this case, tests will be required, but it will already be clear what kind of testing is required.

So, if the skin between the fingers peels off, there is a high probability of developing scabies. Peeling on the side of the finger indicates the presence of a fungus.

If flaky spots have formed on your hands, you need to pay attention to their color - silver-white scabs are characteristic of psoriasis, dark gray ones indicate ichthyosis, while pink or red color “hints” at lichen.

If, in addition to peeling, there is an increase in temperature (and the temperature is primary), this is almost always a symptom of an infectious disease. One option is scarlet fever. At the early stage there are no characteristic symptoms; often the body overcomes it on its own. If, 14 days after an inexplicable spike in temperature, the child’s fingers begin to crack, he probably suffered from scarlet fever.

Food allergies are extremely rarely expressed in this way, since the allergen must be very strong to cause peeling of the skin on the hands. However, contact allergies or exposure to chemical elements of this kind may occur. The obvious option is to use inappropriate detergents. In this case, cracking will occur not only at the fingertips, but throughout the entire hand. If only one peeling finger is found, the child probably touched an allergen. In this case, most likely, the affected area will have a clear boundary. The skin will most likely not just flake off, but peel off in layers.

Very often at the end of winter, the skin on the child’s hands cracks. Most often, this is a lack of vitamins. Many parents take this kind of thing lightly, especially if there is no itching. However, this approach is incorrect, since peeling indicates major problems: the skin is constantly renewed, layers grow imperceptibly; if it doesn’t work on the fingers, it means the body simply doesn’t have the strength. If you do not correct your child’s diet, problems may arise within the body.

If the symptoms on the fingers of both hands are similar, then this indicates problems within the body, while a different picture on the left and right hands indicates contact exposure or dermatosis.

What to do if your child's skin is peeling

The first reaction to the beginning of peeling or cracking of the skin should be to shorten the nails. Even if there is no itching (or not yet), the child will itch. If the nails are long, he can not only cause wounds to himself, but also introduce an infection there. After this, you need to consult a doctor: first, a dermatologist. What can be done if immediate treatment is impossible, and harm is scary?

To minimize the risk of infection getting into cracks, you should wash your hands. There is no need to wipe them, it is better to gently blot them with a towel. A very young child can wear special mittens on his hands to prevent scratching and possible spread of infection to the skin. For those who already know how to remove mittens, it is recommended to bandage their fingers loosely.

Sometimes, if a child’s skin is cracking, herbal baths or various creams are recommended. However, until the causes of cracks are clarified, this should not be done.

If you are firmly convinced that the skin blister, which caused cracks and peeling, appeared as a result of a burn, it can be lubricated with special products. However, if the burn is serious, consultation with a surgeon is required.

Diagnosis and treatment

In addition to a visual inspection by a specialist, tests are required. This can be a scraping from the damaged area or a smear from the same. If it turns out that a serious disease is present, then a number of more tests will be required, which will be prescribed by a specialist whose profile it belongs to. However, often it is enough to analyze material from the skin, since all the existing causes have been well studied, and the correct treatment has been selected for each of them.

The basic rule during treatment: strict adherence to the specialist’s recommendations. Everything he prescribes must be followed. Whatever the reasons for the skin on your hands cracking, your doctor knows much more about them than you do. He knows better modern remedies that can quickly overcome a specific ailment. Self-use of drugs can lead to either an overdose, or a relapse, or wasted exposure to strong drugs without achieving results. And children will be forced to undergo again, often a long course of treatment.

Important! In order to put an end to the child’s torment, so that his hands do not peel off and the skin on his fingers does not crack, it is necessary to carefully follow the specialist’s instructions, avoiding amateur actions.

We recommend watching a video about skin problems with skin problems, says Dr. Komarovsky

Prevention

It is quite difficult to talk about prevention when the range of possible causes of peeling on the fingers or fingertips is so wide. Still, in order to avoid the most common problems, it is enough to follow the basic (simple) rules:

feed the child nutritious food containing the required amount of vitamins and other useful elements;
accustom your child to regular hygiene procedures, including washing hands after a walk, playing with animals, before and after eating, etc.;
timely response to emerging diseases.

It is important to remember that only a specialist can make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Even if you are sure “that your neighbor treated hers with thistle and it helped,” you should not use a similar remedy for your child: if there is another reason for peeling and cracking, this can aggravate the skin condition.

Quite often, attentive and caring parents discover that the child’s skin is peeling off on his fingers. There are quite a few reasons leading to this condition. It is best to immediately show your baby to a qualified dermatologist. Only he will be able to correctly assess the condition of a small patient and prescribe effective treatment. In medicine, the condition when the skin on the arms and legs peels off is called desquamation.

Causes

Possible reasons include:

pancreas pathology;
helminthic infestations;
neurological disorders and stressful situations;
frostbite of fingertips;
irradiation of the child’s body;
long-term treatment with hormonal, sulfonamide, antibacterial drugs;
viral diseases;
staphylococcal or streptococcal infection;
fungal skin infections and other dermatoses;
allergic skin reaction to internal or external allergens;
vitamin deficiency, in particular insufficient amounts of vitamins A and E, necessary for the elasticity and integrity of the outer epithelium.

As can be seen from the above, the skin of a child’s hands can peel off for a variety of reasons, and each case of such a disease requires timely diagnosis and properly prescribed treatment, since desquamation is not an independent disease, but a consequence of other diseases or pathologies.

How does desquamation develop?

The skin of the child's arms and legs peels off gradually. Usually the first sign of this disease is itching. At first it is not strong, the skin itches periodically, and signs of peeling of the skin are not yet visible. Then the itching intensifies, the child scratches the skin on the fingers and toes more and more often, causing it to become inflamed and hyperemic. At this time, small bubbles without visible contents appear in the interdigital areas and on the fingertips. These blisters then increase in size, taking in more and more healthy skin. The blisters rupture due to the fact that the baby itches all the time, as the itching intensifies. After this, the skin on your fingers and toes will peel off. In place of the peeling skin, new, thin, pink color appears.

There are cases when peeling of the skin of the hands is not accompanied by severe itching and therefore parents do not immediately pay attention to the fact that there are functional disorders in the child’s body. And when they finally notice, the skin peels off not on the fingers and toes, but on the palms, ankles and above. In this case, the treatment and recovery process will be delayed.

In most cases, desquamation appears in spring and winter, when a lack of vitamins begins in the child’s body. Sometimes peeling of the skin of the fingers and toes goes away on its own without leaving any marks on the skin.

Treatment

When a child has peeling skin on his legs, the first step is to treat the disease that caused the desquamation. If peeling of the skin is caused by other factors (vitaminosis, frostbite, radiation), then it is necessary to help the skin recover as quickly as possible. To do this, first of all you need to adjust your diet. It is necessary to introduce into the baby’s daily menu as many foods as possible rich in vitamins A and E. These vitamins are found in cereals (barley, rye, corn, oats), potatoes, fish oil, liver, eggs, peaches, apricots, plums, dried apricots, prunes , carrots, pumpkin, cabbage, dill, parsley and cilantro.

When preparing meals for your child from foods rich in vitamins A and E, do not forget that these vitamins are fat-soluble and are fully absorbed by the body only in the presence of fats of plant or animal origin. Therefore, it is recommended to add a little sour cream or butter to your food.

In most cases eliminating nutrient imbalances is the primary treatment of this disease. In winter, when it is problematic to include vegetables and fruits rich in essential vitamins in a child’s daily diet, it is worth consulting with a pediatrician about the advisability of taking children’s multivitamin complexes.

In addition to treating peeling skin on the hands and feet by taking vitamins A and E, due attention must be paid to hygiene procedures to prevent scratching areas from becoming infected. It is recommended to bathe your baby daily, carefully removing dried crusts from the skin.

Folk remedies include hand and foot baths with decoctions of celandine, string, oak bark, and chamomile. Moreover, after water procedures, damaged areas of the skin should under no circumstances be wiped, only lightly “blot” with a soft towel. Then you need to lubricate the damaged areas of the skin with baby moisturizer. It is better if the cream contains vitamins A and E. Pharmacies sell children's multivitamin creams containing not only vitamins, but also moisturizing oils, for example, Bübchen, Boro-plus, Bepanten, Radevit. You can buy oil solutions of vitamins A and E at the pharmacy, mix them and treat the peeling areas with them.

When the outer layer of the epidermis peels and the skin on the fingers peels off, you should consult a dermatologist to eliminate the problem. He will tell you what products are suitable for softening the skin, help identify the cause, and, if necessary, prescribe an examination. In most cases, the skin on the fingers peels off due to chapping, vitamin deficiency, and malfunctions of the internal organs.

Why does the skin on my fingers peel off?

After the first signs appear - dryness, peeling, detachment of skin particles, a person should try to eliminate the discomfort with the help of emollients and restore the beauty of their hands. If these actions do not produce results, then you should contact a specialist, he will conduct an examination and tell you why the skin on your fingers is peeling. All causes of illness belong to two groups:

internal, caused by a disruption in the functioning of the main organs;
external, appearing after exposure to extraneous stimuli.

The child has

The epidermis on the hands of children is more vulnerable than that of an adult. External symptoms appear after a slight change in temperature, pressure, or damage. If a child has peeling skin on his fingers, this is not direct evidence of an illness; external irritants may be the cause:

poor hand washing;
fungus;
frostbite when children forget to wear mittens or gloves;
burn;
allergy to powder;
weathering.

When none of the reasons are suitable, then the skin on the fingers of children may crack and peel due to internal intoxication. Such symptoms are disturbing during:

staphylococcal infection;
food or drug allergies;
scabies;
viral disease;
worm infections;
vitamin deficiency.

At this age, the child cannot yet explain his feelings on his own. It is important that parents of children under 2 years of age carefully monitor the child’s behavior; this will make the doctor’s task easier. Correct diagnosis based on external signs, which differ in different diseases, will help the doctor make the correct diagnosis and quickly prescribe a drug for treatment.

In an adult

The outer layer of a person's skin changes monthly, and new dead cells are formed instead of old dead cells. In case of health problems, this process is disrupted, causing discomfort in the form of redness and cracks. The factors that cause the skin on the fingers of an adult to peel off are much greater than those of a child. Among the reasons causing dryness and flaking of the epidermis:

age and aging;
smoking and alcohol;
allergic reaction to aggressive detergents;
skin diseases: eczema, psoriasis, seborrhea, dermatitis, fungus;
dehydration, lack of moisture in the body;
non-compliance with the regime;
lack of vitamins;
consequences of hormonal imbalance;
metabolic disease;
damage resulting from injury, frostbite, thermal or chemical burns;
the body's reaction to a nervous breakdown;
gastrointestinal diseases;
diseases of the liver and pancreas.

Often the skin on the fingers peels off not due to a serious illness or external factors, but due to poor nutrition. Cooking food in the wrong way, using large amounts of fat, eating salty, smoked, or too sweet foods provokes disturbances in the functioning of the liver and intestines, which can affect the skin. This problem can be eliminated more easily than others: you just need to change your diet and the peeling will disappear.

In spring, the skin on your fingers will peel off.

If the disease is seasonal, it worsens during certain periods of the year. In early spring, the skin on your fingers will peel off after it gets warmer outside and people start taking off their gloves. At this time, it is very humid outside, and the cold wind contributes to chapped hands. Another reason for this condition is spring vitamin deficiency. After a long winter, the body needs additional components and substances that will help restore the epidermis.

Diagnostics

After the patient consults a doctor, a full diagnosis is carried out, which includes a visual examination and tests. The dermatologist conducts a survey of the applicant, clarifying the symptoms, paying attention to the severity and localization of damage in order to understand the nature of the pathology and prevent further development of irritation.

If the skin on your hands near the nails cracks, turns red and peels, it may be a fungus transmitted by contact. If red paired dots are found between the fingers, which the patient constantly combs, then this is scabies. A blood test, scraping, or smear taken from the affected area will help confirm the presence or absence of the disease and clarify the diagnosis.