"I’ve seen cases of febrile convulsions and heat-induced eczema, but this kind of dry, chapped skin from heat, especially to this degree, is a first for me."

The child’s grandmother dared not look at her son, just muttering quietly, "I was just afraid the child would get cold and catch a cold. Otherwise, I’d have to listen to their nagging again."

Du Heng shook his head lightly. "You meant well, but you made a mistake.

The old saying goes, ’Eat until you’re seven-tenths full, and keep a child a little cool.’

Children, especially ones this young, generate heat easily.

By dressing him so thickly, you’re doing two things. Firstly, you’re preventing him from effectively dissipating internal heat. Secondly, you’re artificially increasing his body temperature. This actually intensifies the child’s internal heat."

After saying this, Du Heng pointed at the child’s father. "Stop looking. Take off the child’s fleece clothing; a simple undershirt and a jacket will suffice.

Once you get back home, change this thick undergarment too."

"That... that... will that be okay?" the child’s grandmother asked, still somewhat worried.

Du Heng couldn’t help but sigh. "Of course, it will be fine; there won’t be any problems at all.

When a child catches a cold, it’s due to sudden changes in temperature, not from being chilled.

If a child is overdressed, they’ll start to sweat as their body heats up, and all their pores will open. However, at this point, when parents see the child sweating, they think it’s too hot and quickly undress them.

Well, with the child’s pores open from sweating, they are directly exposed to the outside air. Cold wind then enters the body through these open pores. This sudden switch from hot to cold is how a cold develops.

Therefore, being a bit cold isn’t actually a problem; being overheated is what can cause issues.

From now on, dress your child similarly to how you dress yourselves.

Sigh, I keep telling you grandmothers who take care of children the same thing. You’re all so afraid your grandchild might catch a cold."

Du Heng shook his head somewhat helplessly; he had seen plenty of such cases when he was at the Health Clinic.

"Also, when you get home, don’t bathe the child so frequently; once a week is enough.

A child’s skin is delicate. Unlike an adult’s skin, it doesn’t have that many creases and therefore doesn’t accumulate much dirt.

Every time during bath time, just rinse him with water for a minute or two, and then wrap him in a towel.

By the way, I heard you mention using some moisturizing cream, right? Don’t use that either."

"Why is that?"

"Go and check the ingredients yourselves. All those chemicals with complicated names... do you really think smearing that on such a young child every day is a good thing? Is it beneficial?" Du Heng sighed deeply. "Applying some talcum powder or something similar to prevent eczema is fine, but moisturizing is really unnecessary."

The child’s father sighed with relief; as long as there was no major problem with the child, that was what mattered. "Then, Doctor, please prescribe some medicine."

Du Heng shook his head. "Giving a child too much medicine isn’t good. Even Chinese herbal medicine isn’t good in excessive amounts. When you get back home, change his clothes, let him drink plenty of lukewarm water, and make sure he avoids rich or greasy foods for the next few days.

In two or three days, this chapped skin will heal on its own."

"Thank you, Doctor. You’re truly wonderful." The child’s father, his face wreathed in smiles, praised Du Heng while changing the child’s clothes. "Our child started drinking Chinese herbal medicine when he was just over a year old.

I never expected a traditional Chinese medicine expert like you to say that drinking too much of it isn’t good. That’s truly surprising."

"This child also took Chinese herbal medicine?" Du Heng asked in mild surprise.