Eczema

Eczema is usually diagnosed in early childhood in the first 6 months of your life, but it can occur at any time in your life. Some people with eczema as a child may not have it as an adult, while others may have eczema throughout their entire lives.

People with eczema often have other conditions as well such as asthma, hay fever or even food allergies.

While eczema is a long lasting (chronic) condition, there are many treatments available for people with eczema to manage its negative side effects.

Are there different types?

The name eczema usually refers to atopic dermatitis, which is the most common type of eczema. However, there are other types of eczema too, and a person can be diagnosed with more than one type of eczema. These other types include:

• Contact dermatitis – rashes where you have touched something that irritates it.

• Dyshidrotic eczema – this type of eczema is defined by blisters on the skin and may be triggered by a number of different things.

• Neurodermatitis – rather than being spread across the body like eczema, this type usually only appears as one or two patches on the skin, however it doesn’t commonly go away without medical treatment making it trickier than standard eczema

• Nummular eczema – this type of eczema causes raised circle-shaped spots of the skin.

• Seborrheic dermatitis – this last type of eczema appears scaley and flakey on areas of skin and commonly on the scalp.

Who’s more likely to get it?

If you have a family history of eczema, hay fever, or other allergies, you are more likely to be diagnosed with eczema.

What are some common things in my environment that may cause my eczema to flare up (get worse)?

The immune system reacts differently per person, but commonly, the following things have been known to cause eczema to appear on the skin:

• Smoke
• Pollution
• Certain soaps, body washes and laundry detergents
• Certain clothing fabrics, such as wool
• Makeup or other skincare products
• Dry weather (when there’s not a lot of moisture in the air)

Also, your emotions can have an impact on eczema. When you are stressed or feeling sad, your eczema may get worse.

How do I know if I have it?

Eczema can look like other skin conditions, so it is important to get a diagnosis from a medical professional. The best type of professional to diagnose eczema is a dermatologist who specializes in conditions of the skin.

The doctor will most likely start with a physical exam, looking at the patches of skin closely. To rule out any other skin conditions, your medical team may also take your blood, do an allergy test, and take a sample of the skin to test (biopsy).

Treatment & prevention

Treatment of eczema depends on how severe your case is and which treatments you have previously tried.

Creams

The first line of treatment is using a medically approved moisturizer very regularly. Oftentimes your dermatologist will recommend which moisturizers are best suited to your needs.

Also, your dermatologist may prescribe creams with medication in them, such as steroid cream (topical steroids).

Tablets/Pills

Your medical team may also recommend that you take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicines. Examples of anti-inflammatory medicines include ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Aleve) or aspirin.

An antihistamine will also likely be recommended for daily use, which can also be found over-the-counter. Antihistamines help control daily allergies and hay fever, such as common brands Claritin and Zyrtec.

Lastly, depending on how itchy and swollen your skin is, your doctor may also prescribe you a corticosteroid. It is a stronger anti-inflammatory medication that can help with both itching and swelling.

Other therapies

Light therapy can be used to improve the appearance of your eczema. If your eczema is causing self-esteem issues or making you feel like you need to hide your skin, this may be a good option for you to ask your dermatologist about.

As mentioned above, there are many things in the environment that can affect the severity of eczema on your skin. One of the best things you can do to prevent eczema is to avoid the triggers in the environment that causes your eczema to worsen.

You can do this in many ways, such as changing your makeup products, or switching your laundry detergent to a more delicate option. If you’re having trouble pinpointing which things in your environment are causing your flare ups, try eliminating common triggers one-by-one to look for which irritants are bothering you the most.