Eczema Symptoms

Eczema Symptoms
As atopic eczema is a chronic disease symptoms are generally present all the time. A chronic disease is a long-term one; one that persists for a long time. However, during a flare-up symptoms will worsen and the patient will probably require more intense treatment.

Below are some common symptoms of atopic eczema (without flare-up):

• The skin may be broken in places.
• Some areas of the skin are cracked.
• The skin usually feels dry.
• Many areas of skin are itchy, and sometimes raw if scratched a lot.
• Itching usually worse at night.
• Scratching may also result in areas of thickened skin.
• Some areas of skin become red and inflamed.
• Some inflamed areas develop blisters and weep (ooze liquid).
• The skin has red to brownish-gray colored patches.
• Areas of skin may have small, raised bumps.

Although the patches may occur in any part of the body's skin, they tend to appear on the hands, feet, arms, behind the knees, ankles, wrists, face, neck, and upper chest. Some patients have symptoms around the eyes, including the eyelids. Scratching around the eyes may eventually lead to noticeable loss of eyebrow and eyelash hairs. Babies tend to show symptoms on the face.

When there is a flare-up the previous symptoms still exist, plus some of the ones below:

• The skin will be much more itchy.
• Itchiness and scratching will make the skin redder, raw and very sensitive.
• Many of the affected areas will feel hot.
• The skin will be much more scaly and drier.
• The raised bumps will be more pronounced and may leak fluid.
• Blisters will appear.
• The affected areas may be infected with bacteria.

Eczema Causes

Eczema is caused when the body makes too few ceramides. Ceramides are the fatty cells which help provide the barrier protection to the skin. If you don’t have enough of them, the skin will lose water and become very dry.  

Heredity is a big factor in whether an infant gets eczema. If mom or dad have eczema, a baby is a lot more likely to develop it, too.

Defects in the skin barrier, allowing moisture out and germs in, could also be a factor. 

Fortunately, most children outgrow the itchy irritation of eczema before school age.

A small number of kids will have eczema into adulthood. Remissions do happen and can last for years, though the tendency to have dry skin often lingers.

What is Eczema

Eczema is also known as atopic dermatitis, or atopic eczema (the most common form of eczema). Atopic eczema mainly affects children, but it can continue into adulthood or start later in life. The word eczema comes from the Greek word ekzein meaning "to boil out"; the Greek word ek means "out", while the Greek word zema means boiling.

Eczema is a chronic skin condition in which the skin becomes itchy, reddened, cracked and dry. Approximately 30% of all skin-related GP visits in Western Europe result in a diagnosis of atopic eczema. It affects both males and females equally, as well as people from different ethnic backgrounds. Most GPs (general practitioners, primary care physicians) in Western Europe, North America and Australia say the number of people diagnosed each year with eczema is has been rising in recent years.

Baby Eczema

(also called infant eczema or atopic dermatitis) appears in about 10% to15% of children. It shows up as patches of red skin. The skin is almost always itchy, dry, and rough.

While it may appear just about anywhere on a baby's body, eczema most often occurs on a baby's cheeks and at the joints of their arms and legs.

Infant eczema can be easily confused with cradle cap, another red, scaly rash of infancy. Cradle cap generally clears up by 8 months, and usually appears on the scalp, sides of the nose, eyelids and eyebrows, and behind the ears.