Eczema is a skin disease that affects many people. It is a skin disease that causes itchy, dry patches of irritated skin all over the body. The most common places are the face, neck, elbows, wrists, groin, knees and ankles. It is very uncomfortable and can also be very painful particularly on children. Because children are a lot more likely to continue scratching the irritated area, the eczema seems to eventually become infected more often than not. Children are not able to contain their urges to scratch and that makes it very difficult for parents to be able to keep the rash from spreading and becoming even more infected.
There are many causes of eczema but the main cause it that the skin is failing to hold in water therefore it is dry and easily irritated. The other causes are more accurately described as: What happens when the skin is not able to retain water like it needs to? The answer is that just about everything irritates the skin. This could be Dry, Cold or Hot temperatures, Sweat from the body, Stress, Allergies from things indoor and outdoor such as grass, weeds, pollen, mold, and ragweed. There is also a strong genetic factor that can be used to determine whether a child is going to have eczema or not. Normally more often than not if a parent has eczema there will be at least one child in the family that struggles with dry skin.
Some dry skin can be maintained and kept under control with over the counter moisturizers and soaps that are formulated to assist with dry skin. Doctors will recommend that these options are tried first prior to requesting prescription medicine to treat the eczema symptoms that are being displayed. Some home remedies included baby oil bathes and bleach bathes two to three times per week. The baby oil is used to attempt to keep the skin moisturized. The bleach bathes are used in order to try to cleanse the skin from any bacteria or germs that could be harmful to the sensitive skin of the individual. There is also over the counter medicine that can be purchase such as hydrocortisone. In addition there are also numerous over the counter moisturizers and bath soaps that are formulated to treat severe dry skin without a prescription. Some of these are Aveeno, Cetaphil, and one fairly new product on the market is made my Neosporin. For some individuals, the over the counter moisturizing aids are able to keep their skin moisturized like it should be without much need for anything stronger.
Unfortunately, there are a number of more severe cases where the eczema is too uncompromising to be treated with the over the counter medications and the household remedies. These cases need prescription medicine from the doctor. This medicine usually includes a steroid to help the skin be able to retain the moisture that it needs. The negative side is that the steroid also causes the skin to be very thin so in most cases the doctor will try to use the lowest potency of prescription ointment to treat the eczema possible in order to try to reduce the amount of steroid that is being administered to the skin.
Eczema is manageable in most cases but it is also something that has to be monitored very closely, especially in children. Most people live regular lives with the disease but at least for the children the hope is that is it something that they are able to grow out of or at least maintain well so that it does not disrupt their lives.
References:
National Eczema Association:
Home | National Eczema Association | Symptoms | Types | Treatments | Research | Finding a Cure
National Eczema Association | Symptoms, Support, Treatment and Research
WebMD:
Eczema – Atopic Dermatitis – Center: Symptoms, Treatments, Causes, and Tests
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/eczema/default.htm
