Eczema Guide
Featured Eczema Article
For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Atopic Eczema—The Most Common Eczema
from: MultiSkinCare.comEczema is a skin condition that affects the skin on different parts of the body. It involves the skin becoming red, blistering, scaly, oozing, brownish and very itchy. One type of eczema is called atopic eczema. Atopic eczema is also referred to as atopic dermatitis. Atopic means that there's a tendency for the skin to become inflamed as well as the linings of the lungs and nose. Atopic Eczema is often hereditary, or rather the tendency for allergies such as asthma, hay fever, sensitive skin or other skin allergies. Most individuals that have atopic eczema also have either family members that have eczema as well or allergies.
Atopic eczema is a very common skin condition with about 10% of infants and 3% of the U.S. population being affected with this troublesome skin condition. Although it may occur at any age, atopic eczema is most common in babies and young adults. In fact, about 65% of the people with atopic eczema develop their symptoms before the age of one. The most common places for atopic eczema to develop are on the forehead, neck, behind the ears, on the arms and legs. It often starts on one place and then spreads to other parts of the body.
Although there is no instant cure for atopic eczema, there are many different treatment plans that may be effective. One of the first things the doctor or dermatologist will do is to help you to change your lifestyle. Although your life style is not the cause of atopic eczema, it may contribute to flare-ups or it may aggravated the blisters and lesions that you are currently trying to eliminate. They will often require an allergy test to determine if there are any known allergens that are coming in contact with your baby on a daily basis such as soaps, detergents of scented creams and lotions. People with atopic eczema usually have very dry skin, either before the eczema or caused by it. One mistake patients, especially women, often make is to increase the lotions and creams they use. Their mistake is not in using lotions and creams but rather using the popular scented and ones with fragrances. Many allergies are aggravated by these types of creams.
Your doctor will give you a list of types of lotions or creams to apply to your skin. Some may be over-the-counter and others may be prescription drugs, depending on the severity of your symptoms. Seeing a doctor at the beginning of your symptoms is very important in your treatment of atopic eczema. The sooner treatment begins, the sooner your symptoms will lessen. Above all, try not to be too stressed, as stress is often a trigger as well.
Eczema Herpeticum Infants News