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Stubble on the back of newborns: what does it look like and how to remove folk remedies?
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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Stubble in newborns is the appearance of hair on the child's body after birth, which is caused by certain features of the skin structure. The definition of "stubble" itself is not accurate enough to talk about such a feature. But despite this, parents are often frightened by such a condition of the child, which requires a detailed consideration of this issue.
Epidemiology
Statistics on the prevalence of this problem show that less than 11% of newborn babies have this feature. More than 67% with this problem are premature babies. Clinical manifestations of stubble bother children in 69% of cases, which indicates the need for timely diagnosis of this problem.
Causes bristles in newborns
Bristles are nothing more than increased hairiness on the body of a newborn baby. Most often, this is not a pathology and does not require any treatment, but is associated with the developmental features of the baby's skin and its appendages.
The baby's skin consists of the epidermis and the dermis or skin itself. It is the dermis that contains the rudiments of sweat, sebaceous glands and hair follicles. The development of the upper and lower layers of the skin occurs unevenly. First, the epidermis develops, which consists of a layer of thin cells. Then the dermis and its contents, including hair, develop. The baby's skin hair develops very intensively in utero, and over time, it is influenced by amniotic fluid. This leads to the fact that before the baby is born, there should be no extra hair in the form of bristles. But there are cases when this is not the case at all.
The most common causes of stubble in newborns are prematurity. Very often, premature babies are born with stubble. The pathogenesis of this process is that the vellus hair in a premature baby simply does not have time to peel off before the baby is born. Therefore, immediately after birth, the baby has slightly increased hairiness, which is normal. If we are talking about stubble in a full-term baby, then it can occur due to the peculiarities of hair development in children. Sometimes the hair on the baby's skin can be too thick, so it cannot break through the skin and can shine through as stubble. This is considered a feature of the individual development of each child and is associated with residual phenomena of the development of the skin itself during ontogenesis. Such hair can be considered rudimentary remnants of the development of the human body.
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Risk factors
It is very difficult to determine the risk factors for the development of such a problem, since there is no clear cause for the occurrence of this pathology. But it can be said that there is a high probability of bristle development in premature babies and in children whose parents had such a problem at birth.
Symptoms bristles in newborns
Symptoms of stubble very often bring discomfort to a newborn baby. The first signs appear in the first week of the child's life. The main symptom is the child's anxiety and discomfort, especially if the stubble is located in places of contact with clothing. This is due to the fact that stubble is coarse hair follicles, which should not normally be on the body, break through the baby's delicate skin. These hairs themselves are hard, so when they break through the skin, it causes itching and burning in the area. Therefore, one of the main symptoms is that the child cannot lie still due to the unpleasant sensations caused by this stubble.
What does bristle look like in newborns? It has such a name because the baby's delicate skin with this pathology really resembles bristle. Coarse black hairs break through the skin and this looks like large black dots that are grouped on a certain area of the baby's skin. These black dots can be located absolutely on any area of the skin, but most often - these are the arms, shoulders, back, back of the thighs. Bristles on the back of a newborn are located most often and cause many symptoms. This is due to the fact that when the child lies down, it causes a lot of unpleasant sensations, burning in the area of skin irritation.
No other symptoms should be observed, especially systemic manifestations.
Complications and consequences
There are usually no consequences after stubble. These phenomena pass by the end of the first month of life and there is no increased hairiness after that, regardless of the sex of the child. Complications can occur when trying to squeeze out these points or somehow treat them incorrectly. Then you can bring in an infection and provoke infectious lesions of the skin of a newborn child.
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Diagnostics bristles in newborns
Differential diagnosis
Differential diagnostics of bristles in newborns should be carried out with lanugo. Lanugo is vellus hair on the skin of a child, especially a premature baby. Normally, after birth, they are not reduced on the baby's back between the shoulders. These hairs are short and very soft to the touch. Unlike lanugo, bristles are large black dots that can even prick a little to the touch. These are the main differences between these two conditions.
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Treatment bristles in newborns
Treatment of bristles in newborns is not always necessary, but since parents are very concerned about this issue, there are many folk methods. There are no medications for treating bristles, since this condition is caused by developmental features.
How to remove stubble from newborns? There are several folk methods to solve this problem.
- A honey medicine can be made by mixing half a teaspoon of thick honey and three drops of aloe. This should be thoroughly mixed in a water bath. After this, such a solution should be cooled a little and made into a round lump. This lump should be rolled in the bristle area, which helps to roll it out and soften the baby's skin.
- Make "pellets" for the skin from flour. To do this, take a teaspoon of flour and add a couple of drops of breast milk. Mix this together to form a lump that you need to roll out the area of the pathology.
- Use olive oil to lightly massage the skin where there is evidence of stubble. This helps to soften the area and the hairs can easily break through the skin without causing discomfort.
- It is very important to bathe your child regularly when he/she has stubble and then use baby softening creams or oils.
Modern evidence-based medicine does not recommend doing anything about the stubble of a newborn, since it is believed that this condition will go away on its own closer to three weeks of life.
Prevention
Prevention, as such, is a very difficult task, since it is very difficult to predict the development of stubble in a particular child. More relevant here are secondary prevention measures, which consist of minimal interventions on the part of parents. In no case should you squeeze out these black dots, since this can cause complications.
Forecast
The prognosis for the appearance of stubble in the future suggests that this pathology passes without a trace, and has no connection with increased hairiness in the future. Complications are very rare, only with incorrect actions on the part of parents.
Bristles in newborns are the appearance of black dots under the baby's skin or coarse, hard hair rudiments. This is caused by the developmental characteristics of a particular child and it is difficult to predict this pathology. The best treatment is considered to be minimal intervention on the part of the child, then everything will pass without a trace on its own.