A child’s skin is very sensitive, unlike adults. Skin care for children should be gentle, because skin damage in childhood could carry on until he gets old. For example, if a child always stays under the harmful rays of the sun, he or she could develop freckles. Freckles are the skins method of natural protection and could carry on later in life.
There are certain risks for having skin disorders, and we’ll take the case of keratosis and pigmentation. The two body components that involve these skin disorders are keratin and melanin. Keratosis is the overproduction of keratin (protein component of hair and nails) while pigmentation is the overproduction of melanin (responsible for skin tone). Keratin and melanin are actually important to our body. Keratin makes up our nails and hair, while melanin protects the skin. Excessive keratin and melanin does not always have severe adverse effects, but just harms the appearance of the skin.
Keratosis
Keratosis differs by the factor that causes it or its main attributes. Actinic keratosis causes crusty scaly patches to appear on skin, specially those areas that get more sun exposure.
Keratosis Pilaris – This kind of keratosis gives that “chicken” like skin. It is a genetic follicular condition. Excessive keratin which is accumulated on the hair follicles of the skin causes it.
Seborrheic Keratosis – Is commonly mistaken for actinic keratosis.
Now, how do you prevent your children from having them? Actually, the answer is you could not, but you could lower the risks. Since environmental and genetic factors play a big role on probability of having keratosis, it could be hard to prevent. If you have a family history of keratosis, then your child has higher risks. Some keratoses are not curable, but they can be treated or removed. Options include surgery or keratosis skin creams/serums.
Pigmentation
Skin pigmentation is not really the problem, but it is the hyperpigmentation of skin. Uneven skin tone often caused by from hyperpigmentation. Melanin actually prevents excessive ultraviolet rays from penetrating into the skin. The lighter the skin, the less melanin the skin contains. If your child has prolonged sun exposure everyday, then the probability of uneven skin tone later in life is great. Using umbrellas on a bright sunny day is an efficient means to prevent this. Using sunscreen is another way. There are also lotions in the market that can improve uneven skin tone but prevention is always better than a cure.
So, the most effective way to prevent these skin problems is to avoid too much sunlight, especially from 10 AM to 4 PM. Remember that children need sunlight for vitamin D acquisition, its just that too much can be bad for them.
