Eczema or eczema is characterized by the appearance on the skin of a redness with small bubbles, called vesicles, which are very itchy. This lesion can remain on the skin for days, even weeks.
When it itches, people tend to scratch and break the vesicles. These small bubbles release a fluid that makes the skin look thicker and drier, and can even crack.
Eczema can occur anywhere on the body, but when the lesions occur on the hands and become chronic, they are very disabling to the patient’s life.
There are two types of eczema. Acute eczema when the skin presents erythema and vesicles and chronic eczema when the skin becomes thicker and flaky.
What causes eczema?
Eczema due to skin irritation or irritative contact. Eczema that arises on the skin from touching substances that abrade, dry or irritate the skin. It can be suffered by anyone as long as the skin touches the irritants in sufficient doses. A very common case is that of the hands of people who use a lot of soap and water and touch solvents, soil, paper, cardboard,…. These substances wear out the hand and cause it to lose its natural fats. Cold or wind can also irritate the skin by a mechanism of irritation or wear. The skin responds by developing eczema.
Allergic contact eczema. The trigger of this eczema is a chemical substance to which the individual, after using it many times, develops an immunity. This eczema is only developed by some people and against some chemical substances that are capable of creating memory. It does not appear the first day they touch it, it is necessary to touch it many times to stop tolerating it. For example: the bricklayer who works with cement and becomes intolerant or generates an immunological response to the chromium in this material. If this subject touches chromium again, which is also used to make leather shoes, this substance will provoke a new reaction in his skin. Other common examples are nickel in costume jewelry, black hair dye, some fragrances or preservatives in creams or perfumes.
It is important that in the presence of eczema on the skin, the patient goes to a specialist in dermatology. This specialist must evaluate the type of eczema to rule out or detect if there is a chemical substance that the person has stopped tolerating. To do this, the dermatologist performs patch tests or patch tests. It applies some substances on the patient’s skin and a trace is made on the basis of the person’s medical history and disease in order to know if he/she has stopped tolerating a substance. This test is essential to prevent the appearance of eczema, since if you touch again what is harmful, the lesion will reappear.
Eczema due to atopic dermatitis. This eczema is suffered by 10% of children and is hereditary. The child who suffers from it is born in a family where there are people who suffer from atopic diseases, such as allergic asthma, rhinitis or atopic dermatitis. To be atopic, two family history criteria must be met; dry skin is not synonymous with atopic skin.
The eczema always appears in the same places, on the front of the elbows, on the back of the knees, on the nipple or on the lips. It is symmetrical, bilateral and very itchy. Outbreaks depend on several factors: dryness of the skin, stress, whether the child has become allergic to dust and exceptionally whether children have an allergy to egg or milk protein.
As children tend to scratch a lot, they get infected skin. Then the eczema grows and becomes infected. The treatment of atopic dermatitis has two phases: treating the outbreak eczema and maintaining the skin as well as possible between outbreaks so as not to relapse. For this it is essential to be evaluated by a pediatric dermatologist. Children with eczema should wear cotton clothing, use lots of moisturizing creams, take relaxing baths and use soaps that do not dry the skin.
Children’s skin tends to correct with age and improves in adolescence. People remain atopic but do not suffer from dermatitis.
Disclosure Article submitted to TibHealth.com on Wednesday, November 26, 2014.
Eczema and atopic dermatitis, types and treatment
Dr. Ana María Giménez Arnau and Top Doctors Press Dept.