What is Eczema?
Eczema is a skin condition that causes dry and itchy patches of skin. It’s a common condition that isn’t contagious (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). Many factors may cause your skin to overreact and flare up, such as stress, skincare products, detergents, and animals, to name a few (NHS, 2019). Knowing what will trigger your eczema is a considerable advantage. It is vital to stay away from known triggers that can be detrimental to your skin.
It’s good to point out that psoriasis is often confused with eczema. Although they have some similarities, they are different skin conditions. You can read more about the difference between the two conditions here.
While eczema doesn’t spread from person to person, it can spread to various parts of the body (for example, the face, cheeks, and the neck, wrist, knees, and elbows). Scratching the skin can make eczema worse (MedicineNet, 2022). The challenging part is that eczema can cause you to want to itch and scratch your skin, but this can lead to more problems. Therefore, you need to find an eczema treatment that works for you.
Symptoms & Types of Eczema
You may be wondering if the rash on your child is eczema or not.
Be on the lookout for a few of the most common symptoms so you can address them accordingly.
We recommend to visit your doctor for a proper diagnosis.
The appearance of eczema can vary from mild forms, when skin looks dry and flaky, to severe forms, when skin can be extremely irritated and red. Other times, it will feel itchy, and scratching leads to a red rash or leathery skin (NHS, 2022). The other tricky part is that there are a few different types of eczema, which can make it harder to get under control since they vary in symptoms and treatment options. How long your eczema lasts depends on the type of eczema and its response to treatment (Everyday Health, 2021). A couple of the most common types of eczema include:
What Causes Eczema?
Several factors may be causing eczema in your baby/child, including:
- Food Allergies: Many children with eczema also present with food allergies. Foods that commonly cause allergies are; egg, dairy, seafood, nuts, beef, chicken, wheat, acidic fruit and junk food.
- Family genetics: Your child is more likely to develop eczema if there’s a history of eczema or dermatitis in your family. This is also common for those who have asthma, hay fever and/or allergies, in their family.
- Environmental factors: There’s a lot in your environment that may irritate your child's skin. Some examples include harsh soaps, fabrics such as wool, cleaning products, water and dust.
- Weather: Heat and hot weather can contribute to your child's eczema flare ups, just as much as cold weather can (Raising Children Network, 2023).
Heat & Eczema
Eczema Flare Up Triggers
Eczema affects each person diagnosed with the condition differently. What causes your child's symptoms to flare up might not trigger someone else with the condition (National Eczema Association, n.d.).
Use the below 'Trigger Tracker' to document the triggers that may be causing your child's flare ups.
Infected Eczema
When eczema gets infected it will usually crust (normally yellow in color), weep, and presents in a normally sudden change in appearance. It might be itchier than normal painful to touch.
In some cases your child might find it hard to extend their elbows or knees. It is common for children with uncontrollable eczema to get secondary infections. The reasons behind eczema becoming infected is usually because the child scratches and breaks the skin. One small infected area can flare other areas of eczema.
If you believe the eczema to be infected go to your family doctor and have the infected areas swabbed and treated.
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Additional Information About Eczema:
Eczema Association of Australasia
Highly regarded within Australian healthcare, the EAA has knowledge depositories and community education resources dedicated to the wide range of issues associated with the management, treatment and impact of Eczema.
Please note: The primary purpose of this page is to provide information regarding the skin condition eczema and not to provide medical advice or assistance. Content from this article has been sourced from reputable sources including National Eczema Association, The Eczema Association of Australasia Inc and Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy.
Links to these pages will be available throughout the article to benefit the user and do not constitute medical advice or treatment recommendations.