Infant Eczema

Infant or baby eczema is a condition that scares many parents. This condition appears on the face, upper chest, scalp and neck in the first months of life. Later on it may occur also on the forearms and shins. There are a number of facts regarding baby eczema that parents should be aware of. Parents should notice if there occur tiny blisters which may open and leak some fluid or if the baby’s skin is very dry overall. If the baby’s condition is really serious, it may involve the whole skin. Generally speaking such manifestations do not involve the area around the mouth, the nose or the diaper areas that are usually free of eczema. If the areas of skin on the forearms and shins are thickened between the ages of twelve and eighteen months, parents should not be worried since this happens due to babies’ crawling a lot.

Eczema or dermatitis, with baby eczema included, are terms used to describe some skin conditions recognized by symptoms such as very itchy and dry skin, reddening, swelling, cracking or scaling of the skin. Though eczema can occur almost anywhere on the body, in babies it mainly appears on the scalp, chest, and forehead as well as around joints. In very severe cases, baby eczema can become extremely itchy and irritating for the baby and it can even disturb their sleep. Very many babies suffer from atopic eczema which is usually hereditary. This condition tends to occur and develop somewhere around the age of two or three months. Atopic eczema represents an oversensitivity of the immune system with reactions of the sufferers to environmental aspects that normally do not elicit an immune response. Whether babies develop eczema because other members of the family suffer from atopic conditions such as asthma, hay fever or eczema it is still not very clear and certain. Another possibility for babies to develop baby eczema may be prolonged exposure to a specific allergen.

Regarding the treatment of baby eczema it must be pointed out that there is no specific catch-all treatment, unluckily, since it is an allergic condition. Fortunately several treatments and remedies have been developed and they can help improve the suffering babies’ conditions significantly. These remedies for baby eczema include moisturizing, careful bath times, avoiding detergents, using cotton clothes, being careful about the babies’ diets, and keeping pets away. Besides, parents should make sure they keep the baby’s environments dust free, as well as minimize scratching through cutting the baby’s nails short.

Eczema Treatment (Part 2)

Many times the treatment decisions for different diseases are built not only on high quality evidence based on medicine, but also in combination with patient preference, so to say. It is also the case of treating eczema. There are many eczema treatments that are suggested by doctors, in accordance with the type of eczema in question in each patient’s case.

For this reason, doctors have come up with the treatment triangle. The three points of this treatment scheme for eczema are: evidence-based medicine, treatment based on evidence and clinical experience, and patient preference. In the first point of the treatment scheme, the elements used are: topical corticosteroids, topical immuno-modulators, interferon gamma, cyclosporine, UVB, and PUVA. The eczema treatments comprised by the second point are: moisturizers, avoidance of irritants, topical immuno-modulators (TIMS), topical antibiotics, oral antihistamines, and oral antibiotics.

In the resistant cases, oral or IM steroids, UVB, PUVA, cyclosporine, or methotrexate will be also used. When the patient preference scheme is applied, it is necessary for the doctor to discuss and work with the patient. Treatment has to be adapted to each individual patient in accordance to the findings after the discussion between the doctor and the patient. Through these talks significant aspects regarding the patient’s claims that certain medications simply do not have any effects on them will be discussed and dealt with. Here are some reasons why the different eczema treatments seem to be useless in some patients. Regarding moisturizers and cleansers, it has been found out that some patients are unable to tolerate sticky moisturizers, whereas others get itching or burning from certain brands. Another category of patients simply have a preference for certain cleansers over others. When cortisone is under discussion it has been noticed that there is a variable reaction to the same strength corticosteroid or base. There are patients with eczema who fear cortisone. Although many in this category have not had personal experience of side effects of cortisone, they have a fear of thinning the skin and worry about systemic effects.

Thinning of the skin and purpura are indeed some real side effects in some patients’ inappropriate use of cortisone. If it was not the strength of the drug, then it may have been used in the wrong place or it has been used too much for too long. The doctor should also discuss with the patients about the possible side effects of systemic drugs in detail. Among the eczema treatments on the market, some may inhibit the patients’ choice simply by their cost and length of use.

Eczema Treatment

There are numerous possibilities to approach eczema medically but before discussing eczema treatment, maybe it would be useful to know a few things with regard to this disease: what causes it; types of eczema; and, eczema treatment possibilities. The symptoms are equally important before establishing a course of action.

Eczema is a form of dermatitis or inflammation of the epidermis; the term eczema is used to refer to a broad range of skin conditions that are persistent. Among the common symptoms you might experience are: dryness of skin, repeated rashes, redness of the skin, skin swelling/edema, itching, crusting, blistering, flaking, oozing, cracking and even bleeding. Besides these, temporary skin discoloration might appear sometimes due to lesions that are healed. However scarring is a rare consequence.

The causes of eczema are not very well known but this condition is mainly an inherited one. Therefore, the causes lack relevancy for the type of eczema treatment a doctor will decide on. Without a correct identification of the typology, the treatment is not possible. A basic reference material here is the 2001 European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI)’s published position paper in which the nomenclature of allergy-related diseases including atopic and allergic contact eczemas are simplified and clarified. There are common eczemas like: atopic eczema, contact dermatitis, xerotic eczema, seborrhea dermatitis and less common types such as: dyshidrosis, discoid eczema, venous eczema, dermatitis herpetiformis, neurodermatitis, etc. Apparently there is no known cure for eczema, which means that the existing treatments are meant to control the symptoms, reduce the inflammation and relieve the itching.

Eczema treatment that has been tried so far includes both medications and natural remedies. The medicines used in controlling eczema belong to the corticosteroids family (ointments, pills or injections), immunomodulators, antibiotics, immunosuppressants, anti-hitch drugs, etc. Not only eczema treatment solutions proposed by medicine are important. You should not forget about the factors, the external ones, which can influence the development or evolution of eczema in one way or another. Maintaining the affected area moist, you can help skin healing and relieve the symptoms.