I was excited to see the article “Eczema Really Is a Good Thing” in the NY Times. I really wanted to believe it, as I come from a family of eczema sufferers. My father and my sister both have suffered from the disease. Each of them has had periods of remission, but it always comes back with a vengeance.
When I was pregnant with my second child, I started having an allergic reaction to everything that came close to my skin. Even taking a walk would leave me with an itching rash on my arms and legs. The only thing that seemed to have any effect was hydrocortisone cream applied liberally.
I went through many years of consulting doctors and allergists, who were unable to tell me why this was happening or how I could cure it. Eventually it cleared up for about a year, but then recurred with more intensity than ever.
For the past 3 years I have been afflicted by this horrible condition, which takes away so much enjoyment in life. I am able to lead a normal life when there is no contact between my skin and anything else (including air). But any sort of sweating causes intense itching, which leads to rashes and thickening of the skin over time.
You may have heard of eczema, and how it is a great thing for a skin condition. Well, it’s not really a good thing – it is just that the skin has become very dry.
Most people have some sort of eczema in their skin. Some people are born with it, but most people get it as they grow older. In many ways, eczema is like a disease – the skin gets infected and it can spread to other parts of the body, such as the hands and feet.
The good news is that you can usually treat eczema naturally without having to use any medication. It’s best to avoid using any creams or lotions that contain parabens or other chemicals that can irritate the skin. Instead, look for products that contain natural ingredients that will help your skin heal itself. If you do have to use some sort of product on your skin, make sure you read the ingredient list carefully and make sure there are no chemicals in it that could cause a reaction.
If you want to find out what kinds of creams and lotions are best for your particular condition, talk to your dermatologist or a dermatologist’s office. They should be able to recommend something that will work well for you
The idea that eczema is a good thing is not as crazy as it sounds. The most common form of eczema, atopic dermatitis, often begins in infancy. And it often goes with other allergies and asthma.
Allergies and asthma are bad, right? Well, maybe not so bad if you live in a rich country today. But they can be dangerous in what used to be called “savage” environments – like the one our ancestors lived in for most of human history.
So maybe some children carry genes for eczema because those genes made their ancestors more likely to survive in a risky world. Maybe if you have those genes you’re better off getting infected early by the microbes that cause eczema than you would be if you got infected later by the ones that cause something worse.
That’s what an Australian pediatrician named Sandeep Gupta is proposing. He thinks we should deliberately infect children with microbes that will give them eczema early, rather than later.
Eczema. What do those words mean to you? I used to think it meant red, itchy, dry skin. It was a condition that I had as a child and teenager, and I remember the constant itchiness, the embarrassment of my skin peeling off in front of my friends, or itching so bad that it would bleed. But as an adult, with three children who have had eczema from their infant years, I now know that there is so much more to eczema than just a red rash.
Eczema is often found on the face, especially around the eyes, but it can appear anywhere on the body where skin creases such as elbows and knees. It is more common in children than adults and often begins before age 5 (American Academy of Dermatology). Infantile eczema usually starts on the face and scalp before spreading over time to other parts of the body. Eczema may be triggered by allergies or irritants such as soap or detergent. Stress can also make eczema worse (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases).
I believe that the recognition of this disease has been slow because it is not life threatening; however, there are serious consequences to
I’ve recently been thinking a lot about eczema, mostly because I have it. But also because it’s a fascinating skin problem that is often seen as a nuisance, but can actually be pretty useful when you look at it from another angle.
Eczema is an inflammatory skin condition caused by an overactive immune system. The most common type of eczema is called atopic dermatitis (AD): roughly 10% of the US population suffers from some form of AD, and it’s estimated to affect over 20 million Americans. AD causes dry, red, flaky skin that can itch and burn like crazy. Although most people tend to think of eczema in terms of childhood rashes, the reality is that many children with eczema will outgrow the condition as they get older. Unfortunately, however, there’s no guarantee that their symptoms will disappear altogether: persistent AD affects up to 5% of adults in the US.
The cause of AD isn’t completely clear, but it seems likely that abnormal changes in our immune system are responsible for triggering this inflammatory response. When we’re exposed to an allergen (such as pollen), our immune system produces antibodies to fight the invader
If you have eczema, you’re not alone. Eczema is a skin disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Eczema is marked by dry, itchy and scaly skin. There are many treatments that can help reduce symptoms, but not all treatments work for everyone, so it’s important to try several until you find one that works for you.
Eczema can affect anyone at any age and often appears before age 5. The condition may start as a small patch of dry skin on the face, hands or other parts of the body. Later, it may turn into a red rash or leathery patch of skin. For some people, eczema first shows up as dry patches on their cheeks and chin. As children grow older, the eczema usually becomes less severe. For others, it gets worse.
It’s not clear what causes eczema. Skin cells in people with this condition don’t retain moisture as well as they should, which makes your skin more vulnerable to irritants. Dry skin is common with eczema and can make itching worse. Research suggests that environmental factors may be responsible for triggering the disease in those who are genetically susceptible to developing it.
Eczema (atopic dermatitis) is a chronic skin condition that causes red, itchy and inflamed skin. It affects over 31 million Americans, according to the National Eczema Association. It usually appears in early childhood and can affect people of all ages.
Eczema is characterized by dry, itchy skin that can weep fluid when scratched. Scratching can cause open sores on the skin and lead to infection.
The most common type of eczema is atopic dermatitis, but there are many other types of eczema. Common symptoms include:
Dry skin
Itching
Redness
Cracking and scaling
Thickening of the skin
Small bumps filled with fluid that leak when scratched or rubbed
Burning or stinging of the skin