Skin Disorder : Eczema
- Eczema is a disease in a form of dermatitis or inflammation of the epidermis. The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions.
- These include dryness and recurring skin rashes which are characterized by one or more of these symptoms: redness, skin edema (swelling), itching and dryness, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing, or bleeding.
- Areas of temporary skin discoloration may appear and are sometimes due to healed lesions, although scarring is rare. In contrast to psoriasis, eczema is often likely to be found on the flexor aspect of joints.
Epidemiology :
The lifetime clinician-recorded prevalence of eczema has been seen to peak in infancy, with female predominance of eczema presentations occurring during the reproductive period of 15–49 years.
Types of Eczemas :
- Atopic eczema is an allergic disease believed to have a hereditary component, and often runs in families whose members also have hay fever and asthma.
- Contact dermatitis is of two types: allergic (resulting from a delayed reaction to some allergen, such as poison ivy or nickel), and irritant (resulting from direct reaction to a detergent, such as sodium lauryl sulfate, for example).
- Xerotic eczema is dry skin that becomes so serious it turns into eczema. It worsens in dry winter weather, and limbs and trunk are most often affected.
- Seborrhoeic dermatitis or Seborrheic dermatitis is a condition sometimes classified as a form of eczema which is closely related to dandruff. It causes dry or greasy peeling of the scalp, eyebrows, and face, and sometimes trunk.
- Dyshidrosis only occurs on palms, soles, and sides of fingers and toes. Tiny opaque bumps called vesicles, thickening, and cracks are accompanied by itching which gets worse at night.
- Discoid eczema is characterized by round spots of oozing or dry rash, with clear boundaries, often on lower legs.
- Venous eczema occurs in people with impaired circulation, varicose veins and edema, and is particularly common in the ankle area of people over 50. There is redness, scaling, darkening of the skin and itching.
- Neurodermatitis is an itchy area of thickened, pigmented eczema patch that results from habitual rubbing and scratching.
- Autoeczematization is an eczematous reaction to an infection with parasites, fungi, bacteria or viruses. It is completely curable with the clearance of the original infection that caused it.