The most common form of eczema is Atopic Dermatitis, sometimes abbreviated AD. Most people who suffer from eczema usually had a case of atopic dermatitis, which can vary in intensity and duration. It occurs most often in children. 10 20% of all children have some form of atopic dermatitis and up to 3-8% of adults also meet atopic dermatitis.
Atopic dermatitis is characterized by redness of the skin, itching, inflammation, skin rashes, swelling, cracking, formation of crusts and scaling. Dry skin on or around the affected area is also a common symptom. People with atopic dermatitis often have problems with food allergies and allergic rhinitis (hay fever).
Atopic Dermatitis can occur in response to a variety of chemical irritants in food, clothing, products or allergens. Studies have found that more baby bath can increase the symptoms of atopic dermatitis due to irritants in the water and SOAP. Of course, is a deeper cause may be a genetic predisposition to the condition.
Children with atopic dermatitis as a child have an increased risk for eczema in adulthood, while most is it extended. Children with eczema are also more likely to have problems with food allergies, asthma and allergies later in life.
Like all forms of eczema, there is no cure for atopic eczema. However, there are ways to prevent, treat the symptoms and avoiding atopic dermatitis.
Way most sensible deal with atopic dermatitis is to eliminate any potential cause, be it in food, clothes or other conditions. For children who suffer from Atopic Dermatitis, it is recommended that mothers breastfeed them rather than using formula. Is also recommended to stay away from dairy products, nuts, wheat, soy and corn products.
In addition
to avoid the causes, the skin itself must be treated. Using a skin moisturizer specific eczema is one of the best forms of treatments. It is absolutely imperative to avoid dry skin. Reduce the number of
baths per day and using a mild soap can also help. Under extremely severe, doctors sometimes prescribe corticosteroid cream medicated ointment or injections of steroids even.
If atopic dermatitis as particularly serious, subjects are at risk of infection from open lesions. The most common infection is Staphylococcus aureus, which can be treated with antibiotics.
What's the difference between eczema and dermatitis?
Also there's seborrhoeaic dermatitis and seborrhaeic eczema....are they the same thing?
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What do you mean ' a form of'....what are other forms? How can you tell which is which?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
First, dermatitis simply means inflammation of the skin, with ailments like the different types of eczema and psoriasis being variations of different types of dermatitis or skin inflammation. I'll cut and paste a little information from the health-cares.net website to give you a brief overview of some of the differences between the main types of eczema and skin ailments you mention above then will add a little information of my own at the end:
"Atopic eczema (atopic dermatitis) - This type of eczema comes and goes repeatedly, and usually occurs in people who have a genetic
(inherited) tendency to have allergies. In about 70 percent of cases, either the patient or a family member has allergic asthma, hay fever or food allergies. Atopic eczema appears early in life, usually in babies between 2 months and 18 months old. In babies, atopic eczema primarily affects the face, neck, ears and torso. It also appears on the tops of feet or the outside surface of elbows. Atopic eczema also is seen in older children, teen-agers and adults, where it usually involves the skin inside the creases of the inward bend of the elbow, knee, ankle, or wrist joints, the hands, or the upper eyelids.
Contact dermatitis - When irritants touch the skin, they can produce two types of contact dermatitis. Irritant contact dermatitis is direct irritation of the skin. The problem is called allergic contact dermatitis when an allergic reaction occurs in the skin. Irritant contact dermatitis can be caused by prolonged contact with mild irritants such as bubble bath, soap, sweat, saliva, urine and even water. Allergic contact dermatitis only occurs in people who have an allergy to a specific substance. Each year, about 70 percent of people in the United States are affected by some type of skin allergy. The most common allergens are poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. Other common substances that trigger skin allergies include construction materials used to build homes and offices, cleaning products, deodorants, cosmetics and medications. Dermatitis of the earlobes can be caused by an allergy to earrings that contain nickel. Chemicals in fragrances, skin cream and lotions, shampoos and shoes or clothing also can cause allergic reactions.
Hand eczema - This form of chronic eczema is limited to the hands. It can be related to atopic eczema or it can occur because of repeated hand washing or exposure to strong detergents. Occasionally, hand eczema is caused by an allergy, such as a latex allergy.
Seborrheic dermatitis (seborrhea) - Some doctors consider seborrhea to be a type of eczema, although it creates a greasier rash than is usual for eczema conditions. This scaly dermatitis commonly appears on the scalp as "cradle cap" in infants or dandruff in adults. It commonly affects the face or neck around the nose and at the scalp line. It probably is triggered by the skin fungus Pityrosporum ovale."
The different types of eczema generally have a different look to them (Wikipedia lists some good descriptions) but for most types, resolution requires a two pronged approach: inner/nutrition and outer/natural moisturizing skin care products.
If you are looking for input on dealing with eczema, I really encourage you to try some dietary changes. A lot of my clients (I'm a holistic nutritionist) find that going totally off dairy and/or grains helps their eczema a lot. Or, if there is a yeast overgrowth component, then moving to an anti-Candida dietary plan can be very helpful. Lastly there are often nutritional deficiencies such as omega 3 and omega 6 deficiencies. Those would all be worth taking a look at.
Finally, if you have eczema, some of the products you are using may be making things worse. If they have synthetic chemicals (i.e. parabens), the ingredients can provoke a response in the skin or make the skin drier. You may want to check EWG's Skin Deep Data Base and check your products out on their rating system to see if maybe switching to a natural or certified organic product for sensitive skin might help. Good luck!
