Cradle cap remedies

What is the cradle cap?

Cradle cap is the folk name for the skin condition which is medically called the infantile seborrheic dermatitis. It is very common in infants, newborns and babies, and it is manifested as rather crusty area on the surface of the skin over the scalp, which resembles a cap. So, there are a lot of the dead skin cells and, therefore, the scaling occurs. The scalp is red and irritated and the dandruff-like or even bigger flakes fall off from the affected area, which is, most commonly the scalp. However, the irritation can spread over the neck, ears, between the legs, over the nose and armpits. Luckily, this irritation is not itchy.

Having in mind that it is the type of the inflammation of the skin, it is easy to be diagnosed, however, the provoker of it hasn’t been discovered yet. But, it is known that the mother’s hormones that get into the direct contact with the newborn, play the big role in the baby being affected by this skin problem. So, these hormones are the most probable provokers of the excessive secretion of the oil from the skin glands in the baby’s skin, which is directly associated with this inflammatory process. Or, this process could be as well triggered by the fungus malassezia.

How to treat it naturally?

Although this condition looks rather unsightly, fortunately, it is not among the severe health problems and could be treated successfully, but with a lot of persistence. Nevertheless, if left untreated, this condition could persist for several months, and that is why it is recommendable to encourage the healing process with the mild but effective natural remedies. The basis of the therapy is washing the infant’s hair on a daily basis with the special and not aggressive shampoos. Also, in order to remove the excessive scales, it is advisable to get rid of them by a soft brush. However, as far as the regeneration of the damaged skin is concerned, the cream based on Hydrocortisone should be put over the scalp.

The similar effect will be achieved with massaging the affected area using the oil extracted from lavender or any baby oil as the massaging agent. Also, when it comes to the topically intended remedies, one of the most effective is actually padding over the scalp the mixture of the witch hazel and the lukewarm water. Instead of this, the mixture based on the combination of the oils extracted from tea tree and olive could be used as well, since it has the soothing and antiseptic properties.

However, when we talk about the orally intended remedies, the most beneficial is the mother’s milk, but enriched with the substance called biotin, which the mother could intake by eating more cereals, eggs, the green vegetables, milk and liver.