Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a chronic skin condition that causes itchy, dry patches of skin to form. These patches are often red and inflamed and can lead to excessive scratching and further irritation.
Eczema affects over 30 million Americans. While there is no cure for eczema, the right treatment can help you keep it under control. If you or your child has eczema, it’s important to understand the condition and take steps to manage it correctly.
Common symptoms of eczema include:
dry, thickened and scaly skin
itchy, red patches on the skin
small bumps on the skin that leak fluid when scratched
If left untreated, eczema can lead to more serious problems like infection or permanent scarring. To prevent these complications, it’s important to take steps to manage your eczema effectively.
The number of people who suffer from eczema has been steadily increasing in recent years, with as many as 15 million Americans now dealing with the debilitating effects of this condition.
Eczema is a skin disease that affects both children and adults, though it’s more common in children. Eczema can cause redness, itching, inflammation, oozing lesions, or even lichenification (thickening of the skin) in severe cases. While there is no known cure for eczema, it can be treated effectively by a dermatologist and managed at home.
This blog aims to provide readers with all the information they need to know about eczema, including causes, symptoms, treatment options available to them, and how to care for their skin properly during a flare-up.
If you suffer from eczema, you have to keep your skin moisturized. This will reduce the severity of your flare-ups. The ideal time to moisturize is following a shower or bath when the skin is damp. You should use products that are mild and free of chemicals, fragrance, and perfumes.
Keep your stress levels down if you have eczema. Stress can make a flare up occur. If you are under a bit of stress, try to relieve some of that through meditation, exercise or other relaxing techniques. You may be able to minimize your eczema flare up not even occurring.
There are different things that trigger eczema. It is important to know what triggers your case. Is it soap, perfume, detergent or something else entirely? Other things that can cause flare-ups are sweat and stress. When you learn what triggers your eczema, try to avoid those items or situations whenever possible.
Use moisturizer on your eczema when skin is damp. This helps your skin maintain moisture. After taking a bath or shower is the best time to moisturize. You should use an ointment or a cream because it adds an additional layer of protection to your skin. Lotions do not provide this safeguard
Yesterday, I saw a patient, who has eczema on her hands. She has been having trouble with her eczema for years, and she has tried a lot of different medications prescribed by different doctors. Her hand eczema still flares up all the time and she is often embarrassed about it. She is not alone!
Hand eczema is very common. Most people have had to deal with hand or foot eczema at some point in their lives. In order to clear your eczema and keep it under control, it’s important to regularly take care of your skin.
I often see patients with poorly controlled hand or foot eczema and they tell me they are applying the steroid creams “as prescribed” and then they show me their hands or feet and they look really bad! I ask them how long they have been using the steroid creams for…and they say “weeks” or even “months”. This can be very frustrating as we know that these steroid creams should only be used for short periods of time (2-4 weeks) and usually don’t work well if you use them for months and months on end!
So how can you get your hand
Eczema is a chronic skin condition. It causes the skin to become red, itchy, dry and cracked.
According to the National Eczema Society, one in five children and one in 12 adults in the UK have eczema.
Eczema is not curable, but there are ways to manage the condition and reduce symptoms.
The right treatment for you depends on how severe your eczema is.
Mild and moderate eczema can generally be treated at home with emollients (moisturisers) and topical corticosteroids.
Severe eczema may require additional treatments, such as ultraviolet light therapy (phototherapy) or oral or injectable steroids.
If you think you may have eczema, it’s important that you seek the advice of a GP or dermatologist (skin specialist).
They will be able to suggest the most suitable form of treatment for your condition and provide advice about avoiding triggers that make symptoms worse.
Eczema is an inflammatory condition of the skin that can affect children and adults. It usually begins early in life, often before age 5. There are a variety of symptoms that can occur with eczema, some of which include:
Itching
Redness
Dryness and scaling
Crusting
Loss of the skin’s normal texture
Small bumps that may leak fluid and crust over when scratched
Eczema can flare periodically and then subside for a time. Flare-ups are often related to triggers such as exposure to certain substances, allergens or other environmental factors. Flare-ups can also be caused by emotional stress or too much sweating. Treatments aim to control symptoms, heal the affected skin and prevent new outbreaks of eczema. These treatments may include lifestyle changes, over-the-counter (nonprescription) remedies and prescription medications.
If you’re reading this blog, it’s likely that you’re concerned about your eczema and how to manage it. There are a lot of aspects that go into managing eczema, so we’re going to break down each one and share our tips for each.
1. Keep your skin moisturized
Keeping your skin moisturized is super important in preventing flare-ups. The best way to do this is by using moisturizer right after a shower (or bath). By moisturizing right after a shower you’ll be able to lock in more moisture than if you use the moisturizer on dry skin. Also, the type of lotion or cream you use will make a difference too! If you have severe eczema, you’ll want to make sure the product doesn’t contain any fragrances as they could cause irritation. If your eczema is mild then there isn’t really a specific lotion or cream that will work better than another. It just depends on what works well for your skin! Check out this article for different types of lotions and creams that might help with moisturizing your skin.
2. Take shorter showers/baths
Showers