Eczema Treatment Care

Eczema is a type of inflammation of the derma that applies to a series of several different conditions. Although eczema is the general term, there are actually over 10 types of dermatitis under the eczema umbrella. Although only 4-5 of them are common, there are also several rare forms that some doctors might not even recognize at first. To help you understand what type of eczema you might be dealing with or dealt with in the past, we’d like to talk about some of the more common forms of eczema as well as some of the rare ones.

The first type of eczema is called atopic eczema and is a hereditary condition that affects people similarly affected by hay fever and asthma. This condition is marked by an itchy rash in the inner elbows and knees, head and scalp, and neck. It is often confused with contact dermatitis, which we’ll talk about next.

Contact dermatitis is a condition that is the result of contact with an allergen and most often occurs from contact with poison ivy or other plant based allergens. Unlike most other forms of eczema, this one can actually be cured by simply removing the person from the substance and treating the symptoms of the initial outbreak. Generally, symptoms last no more than a few days.

Xerotic dermatitis occurs as a result of dry skin and is diagnosed at the moment when the condition develops into a form of eczema. This is very prevalent in older people and during the winter months. The condition is marked by very dry and crackling skin, often to the point where it is bleeding or oozing. As you can imagine, this condition is very uncomfortable.

Seborrheic eczema resembles dandruff and is called baby cap in infants. In infants, it is caused by a biotin deficiency, which is curable. In children and adults, it creates an itchy and yellow scalp, which causes flaking of the skin. Sometimes, it can also affect the body, although this is rare.

These are the major forms of eczema, which as you can see have a variety of different origins and etiologies. Some of them are contact based, while others are genetically based. The treatment for all of them is very similar, which usually consists of moisturizers to treat the dryness, creams to minimize itching and swelling, and medicines to prevent the breakouts from happening again.

Eczema is certainly no easy situation to deal with, but luckily the treatment is very straight forward. If you have eczema, then the best person to talk to is your doctor, who can make the proper diagnosis and prescribe you with the necessary medications. If one of these forms of eczema doesn’t sound like your condition, then you should read the next installment of this series, which will discuss some of the rarer forms of eczema