The Itchy Truth About Eczema

What is eczema? This is definitely something that any of us would not want to have. But unfortunately some of us suffer from this skin condition. So what is eczema? If you have eczema, your skin becomes red and sore and sometimes, it would even look scaly. The worst part about eczema is the crazy itching! Eczema is also known as atopic dermatitis. For regular people like us who do not have any medical background eczema or atopic dermatitis are not too common words. So let us get a better understanding of the words atopic dermatitis. First the word atopic pertains to a person who has a likely chance to develop an allergy to something while dermatitis means inflamed, red and sore skin. A person with eczema can hade dry, red and itchy skin and there are times that they break out in a rash. The sad part about eczema is that it is a chronic condition meaning that it will come and go.

Eczema in Kids and Adults

1 out of 10 children actually gets or develops eczema. Usually children develop this skin condition before they reach 5 years old. But of course eczema can develop at a later age. Even if you are already an adult you can develop eczema.

How Eczema Happens

Why and how do some people get eczema? Special cells are found in the skin that react when they get in contact with anything that cause irritation. The skin gets inflamed as a defence mechanism. People with eczema have more of these special cells in their skin than people without eczema. A trigger will cause these special cells to overreact and work round the clock or actually do an overtime. This is the reason why the skin get red, sore and itchy!

Cause of Eczema

It has not been established why some people develop eczema or why people get them. You don’t have to worry though if you know someone with eczema as this is not contagious meaning you can’t catch it just by simply spending some time with someone who has it. Some scientists believes that eczema can be passed on through genes. They believe that if a parent suffer from eczeme, these characteristics can be passed on to their offspring through genes and therefore the kids would most likely develop eczema.

Is Eczema an Allergy?

You should not think of eczema as being an allergy. However allergies can trigger eczema. So if you have certain allergies thic can sometimes cause your eczema to act or flare up.

Things that Can Set Off Eczema

If you have eczema you should know what can trigger it. Here are some common triggers.

• soaps
• detergents
• perfumes
• hot and sweaty skin
• the dry winter air or that without having much moisture
• things that can cause irritation on the skin upon contact such as wool and other scratchy fabrics or dust and dust mites.