English: Pattern of atopic eczema varies with age (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are many skin problems that can affect us and eczema is one of them. The severity of this condition can vary from a type of eczema to another and from person to person. This word, eczema come from Greek and can be translated as to boil. This skin condition, eczema can look very ugly, but a good thing to know about is it is that eczema is not contagious.
Like in any disease, eczema has its symptoms as well. The main eczema symptoms are a red, dry and inflamed skin. The main characteristic of eczema is itching. In the areas affected by eczema you can also see small blisters, filled with fluid that can become crusted in time. The main body parts that are affected by eczema are the hands, face, elbows and the back part of your knees. However, eczema can cover almost all your body.
There are many factors that can cause an eczema. The causes of eczema depend mostly on what type of eczema you have. The types of eczema that exist may look very alike, but in fact they are very different, because these types of eczema have different causes. Here are the types of eczema that somebody may have.
First there is the atopic eczema and it is the most common of all the types of eczema. As many a one in five children may suffer from atopic eczema. This eczema type is considered to be hereditary. Contact eczema is another type of eczema, that develops when you have been in contact with something that your skin does not approve of. It has similar symptoms to atopic eczema. Another type of eczema is the allergic contact eczema. Most of the people that suffer from this eczema are not born with this sensibility, but develop it in time.

Irritant contact eczema is caused by daily contact with some substances that can irritate your skin, like detergents.
There can also be complications in cases of eczema, if they are not treated well. In the case of atopic eczema, you might develop herpeticum. This happens when your eczema becomes infected by a virus called herpes. This is a very serious medical condition.
The diagnosing of eczema is not very complicated. Doctors usually diagnose eczema only by the appearance of your skin. There is also the case, when you have allergic eczema, to use a test that can tell you what you are allergic to.
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Toby

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How long does it take for eczema to heal?

Okay, So I have fairly large eczema rashes on the insides of both my arms and some smaller spots of it down the front of my arms. I use aqueous cream on the rashes usually about 3 times a day. I 'think' that the eczema is getting better, so I'll keep using the cream. I'd just like to know how long (on average) it would take to heal completely.

1 year ago
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Don't use Aqueous cream as a moisturiser!

It's actually a mild detergent, and causes thinning of the skin, so it's actually not very good for eczema despite being regularly recommended as a treatment.

Aqueous cream is mainly useful as a soap substitute, where it is less irritating than some of the more mainstream soap, shower and bathing products.

If the eczema is really red and itchy, you may need to get some topical steroid cream prescribed to you. This will often clear it up within a few days of repeated applications of the cream. This will clear up the worst of it and then you can probably treat it as below for dry skin.

If the eczema is more of a general dryness of the skin, rather than redness, at the moment, find a different moisturiser and apply that. The two that I have found (UK based) which don't irritate my own eczema are Wilkinson's Dry Skin Lotion (marked "Soften Soothe Hydrate") and Asda's own-brand "Protect Dry Skin Intensive Moisturiser". Your mileage may vary.

You will probably have to apply moisturiser on a long-term basis. Eczema comes and goes in reaction to your mood, diet, and exposure to certain substances, to name a few factors. Stress can bring on a flare-up. You may find the eczema disappears of its own accord eventually, or it might not. It might come and go throughout your life.