PRICKLY HEAT! Treatments and prevention tips

Right. Yes. Prickly heat.

My nemesis in the sun and the bane of my holidays for the last 3-4 years.

I don't know why I started getting prickly heat.  It sprung up a few years ago on a holiday to Crete, and covered my chest, arms and (most distressingly) my face.  Last week I went on holiday to the Greek island of Zante, and as this was my first holiday with my boyfriend (and looking vaguely attractive was therefore of utmost importance) before I went I literally trawled the internet for advice or tips at controlling my little skin complaint.

And..touch wood...I think I've found a combination of products which seem to work pretty well and I wanted to share my findings.  When I was doing my research there was a lot of stuff about how the only treatment for prickly heat is avoiding the sun. I did start to get the beginnings of prickly heat on my holiday, but I seemed to be able banish it away quite quickly.  Most importantly I didn't have to abort my sunbathing programme at all, or hide in the shade between 11am and 2pm, which I think was a bit of a success.

Personally, I found it was useful to work on the understanding that prickly heat is trapped sweat (yum). So anything that keeps your pores open and clean is a must. You're aiming to free your skin, not clog it.

Right, down to specifics...

Ultrasun Sensitive Medium SPF20
 

This sun cream kept cropping up on the forums and sites I was reading.  It is a tad on the pricey side - I paid £18 from M&S but you could probably find it cheaper online.  It comes across a lot more 'medical' than most other suncreams, and comes with a proper instruction leaflet and everything.  I could only find the 'glimmer' formula and the lowest SPF was 20 (they also do 50+) and I was a bit worried factor 20 might be too high and might stop me tanning.  It 100% didn't, and I swear my tan is more even than normal.

My favouritest thing about this is the consistency.  It is a very light cream, which pumps out easily, is mess-free and once rubbed in it literally disappears.  I have never felt so grease-free on holiday.  It was a revelation! The glimmer/shimmer is very fine but definitely noticeable and did feel a bit 1990's body glitter at first, but I got used to it. One 100ml bottle lasted me a week easily.  One tip though ....this says that it only requires 1 x a day application.  I wasn't comfortable with this, but went with it on the first day....and I burned.  Not badly, and only across my chest a bit, but after that I applied it after swimming and/or a 2nd time in the afternoon and despite the 30 degree heat I didn't burn any more the entire holiday. 

I've read that this is good for a range of skin complaints or for people who are generally a bit sensitive to the sun.  I loved it, and am definitely a convert.  It is my new sun cream wonder product.

Ambre Solaire Sensitive AdvancedAftersun with Cold Cream

Ooooo...Sensitive ADVANCED.  I wanted to include this as I do genuinely think it helped in my war against prickly heat. It is for fair, sensitive or sun-intolerant skin and I picked it up for a fiver from Asda.  It is enriched with cold cream...which I've heard of before but I'll be honest, I have nooo clue what it is good for.  You can also use it on your face which is a bonus. I found this to be really pleasant to use.  It has a bit of a random, cucumber-ish whiff to it, but it really feels like it is moisturising the skin despite being very light in texture.  I think when it comes to prickly heat, you need to keep every step of your skin care regime as light and "sensitive-based" as possible and this was perfect.  It is hypoallergenic, dermatologically tested, all singing, all dancing and I barely used any of it in a week so it is good value for money too.

Magicool Plus Prickly Heat

Now this is an intriguing little product.  I paid £8 for it from Superdrug and then bought another two cans when it went on offer for £2.63 at Tesco.  I strongly believe this is the heart of my prickly heat defence team, but I have absolutely no idea why it works.  It is one of a new range of 'Magicool Plus' products and it said it treats prickly heat, so I was on it like a little magpie.  It works on the same premise as the original Magicool, in that it is self-chilling (you can literally leave it lying in the sun) and sprays a fine, cold mist. It is meant to have histimine properties, soothing properties, cooling properties (read the blurb on the back of the can, it's impressive) and is completely sterile.  I was worried a can would run out really quickly, but I took 3 cans on holiday (ahem...slightly over the top) and only used up one.  And trust me, I was spraying this on liberally.  It cools your skin, it soothes the itch, it somehow calms the annoying tiny red rash you get with prickly heat.  I did have to keep spraying it on, and I still used it even when my prickly heat hadn't come out (prevent rather than cure I say).  But god knows how it did it, but it seemed to really keep my prickly heat at bay.  I will definitely not travel without it in future.


Garnier Pure Active Deep Pore Wash

So in keeping with the 'anti-clogging' theme, another tip I read about was to use a deep pore wash, or something with salicylic acid in it.  I picked this Garnier one up from Boots for £1.89.  Being a dry and sensitive skinned little lady, I've never ever dabbled in the world of deep pore, oily skin products.  This seemed cheap, and said it was pore unclogging, so I went for it and I think it worked as good as any.  My little sister uses a charcoal soap from Lush to declog her pores, and I have read that people with prickly heat also swear by charcoal-based products, but I guess they just work on the same basis as the deep pore wash.  I used this in the shower and just washed my 'problem areas' (i.e. chest, arms, thighs).  I think it helps the skin to breathe and any sweat or dirt to escape, so you aren't going out in the sun with your pores already clogged and choked up.  It's a really nifty, cheap little tip for prickly heat.


Sunbedding

Right.  I was genuinely nervous to post about this, and I still am, but I agreed to share my prickly heat tips and I can't shy away from the fact I do think this helped.

I didn't feel 100% comfortable using a sunbed, and I kept it to the minimum time of 2.5 minutes.  My aim was to slowly introduce my skin to UV rays and not to get colour.  I went 3 times a week for 4 weeks in a stand-up booth for 2.5 minutes at a time. 

My reason for using them was that a lot of advice said that prickly heat can be your skin reacting to sudden sun exposure, and not being able to efficiently get rid of sweat and the heat.  The intention was to slowly expose my skin so the sun wasn't quite so much of a shock when I went on holiday.

One thing I will say - using the bed for 2.5 mins every other day for 4 weeks didn't give me hardly any colour.  So I will never bother to use these for a tan - you'd have to use them SO much, and it isn't worth it for the health risks.  I still feel really guilty for using them and I don't know whether I would again (or whether I'd see if my wonder products alone are enough to kill the prickly heat).  But as I said, I wanted to share all of my prickly-heat experiments with you, and this was one of them.  Eek.

So, there you have it.....

These were my prickly heat findings..

I found it really helped to keep in my mind about keeping my skin clear, clean and cool.  I waited 10 minutes or so after a shower before applying any moisturiser so my skin could breathe, I stuck to loose clothing during the day to keep cool and breezy, and I took regular cool showers to soothe my skin after the sun. 

So just try and stick to those three C's...clean, clear and cool, and hopefully prickly heat will leave you the hell alone as well.