What's wrong with the skin peeling off the fingers of a 7-year-old child?

It is quite common for 7-year-old children to have peeling fingers. This is mainly due to bacterial infection in children's fingers, such as onychomycosis or paronychia. We should treat the finger infection in time. However, when the weather changes, we should pay attention to hydrating our fingers, because lack of water in the fingers can cause the skin on the fingers to become dry and peel.

What causes peeling of baby's fingers?

It is not uncommon for children to have peeling on their hands. Some children only have mild peeling on the tips of one or two fingers, while some children have peeling on the palms of both hands and the palms of the feet, and the peeling may even spread to the limbs.

When parents notice their children’s hands peeling, they think it means their children are lacking certain vitamins, so they want to give their children vitamin supplements. But blindly taking vitamins in excess can actually cause harm to your body. In fact, peeling may be caused by a variety of reasons and should be treated accordingly.

1. Peeling of hands can happen in children at any age, but it is more common between six months and five years old. Most cases are characterized by peeling of the skin on the front end of one or more fingers, and in severe cases, dryness and cracking.

2. Dry peeling. Peeling of fingers mostly occurs in autumn or winter, which is related to the poor resistance of children. Most of these children have picky eating habits.

It usually occurs when the weather is dry, the human body loses a lot of water, or when the hand sanitizers and soaps that parents choose for their children are alkaline. It may also be due to vitamin deficiency, which causes dry and peeling skin. The symptoms are relatively mild, just mild peeling of the fingers or toes, without any other rashes or itching. No special treatment is needed. Parents should make sure their children drink more water, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, and try not to choose highly irritating hand sanitizers and shower gels for their children.

3. Peeling of children's fingers is mostly related to their contact with external irritants, such as carpets at home, sand outside, etc. Some people will diagnose this as eczema.

4. Tinea manuum. If peeling occurs first on one hand and then gradually spreads to both hands, and red spots can be seen on the palms, accompanied by obvious itching, you should be aware of possible tinea manuum. Patients with tinea manuum are contagious to a certain extent and can spread the disease to other parts of the body, such as spreading it to the feet and causing tinea pedis. Tinea pedis and tinea manuum are generally caused by fungal infection. Once diagnosed, it is necessary to use medication promptly, properly and thoroughly under the guidance of a doctor. At the same time, special attention should be paid to daily necessities such as washbasins, towels, handkerchiefs, etc., and each person should have one item to avoid further infection to other parts of the body or transmission to other people.

5. Dyshidrotic eczema. Some children may experience dyshidrotic eczema due to excessive sweating of their hands. This is mainly a type of skin eczema, which is often manifested by the growth of small blisters on both hands at the same time. The blisters are millet to rice size, accompanied by varying degrees of burning and itching. To prevent this type of dyshidrotic eczema, the main thing is to keep children's hands clean and dry.

When a child's skin peels, it is recommended to follow the guidance of a professional doctor for active treatment. At the same time, be careful not to tear the epidermis that has not fallen off naturally with your hands, so as not to cause bleeding and aggravate the symptoms of peeling. Do not order ointments without authorization to avoid worsening the condition.

Choosing the right hand cream is beneficial for children. Don’t apply eczema cream sold in pharmacies. Most eczema creams nowadays contain hormones, which will affect the growth and recovery of the skin.