Eczema
What is Eczema?
Eczema is a medical condition in which patches of skin become rough and inflamed, with blisters that cause itching and bleeding, sometimes resulting from a reaction to irritation (eczematous dermatitis) but more typically having no obvious external cause.
Eczema is a group of unrelated diseases that have a similar appearance. When it is new eczema, the affected skin appears red and elevated with small blisters (vesicles) containing a clear fluid.
Types of Eczema
- Atopic dermatitis: This condition has a genetic basis and is the most common type of eczema. Atopic dermatitis tends to begin early in life in those with a predisposition to inhalant allergies, but it probably does not have an allergic basis. Characteristically, rashes occur on the cheeks, neck, elbow and knee creases, and ankles.
- Contact eczema - a localized reaction where the skin has come into contact with an allergen
- Dyshidriotic eczema - irritation of skin on palms of hands and soles of feet, characterized by blisters
- Allergic contact eczema (dermatitis) - a reaction where the skin has come into contact with a substance that the immune system recognizes as foreign
- Fungal infections: This can produce a pattern identical to many other types of eczema, but the fungus can be visualized with a scraping under the microscope or grown in culture.
- Irritant dermatitis: This occurs when the skin is repeatedly exposed to toxic substances.
- Lichen simplex chronicus: It produces thickened plaques of skin commonly found on the shins and neck.
- Neurodermatitis - scaly patches of skin on head, forearms, wrists, lower legs caused by localized itch such as an insect bite
- Nummular eczema: This is a nonspecific term for coin-shaped plaques of scaling skin most often on the lower legs of older individuals.
- Pompholyx (dyshidrotic eczema): This is a common but poorly understood condition which classically affects the hands and occasionally the feet by producing an itchy rash composed of tiny blisters (vesicles) on the sides of the fingers or toes and palms or soles.
- Scabies: It's caused by an infestation by the human itch mite and may produce a rash very similar to other forms of eczema.
- Seborrheic eczema: It produces a rash on the scalp, face, ears, and occasionally the mid-chest in adults. In infants, in can produce a weepy, oozy rash behind the ears and can be quite extensive, involving the entire body
- Stasis dermatitis: It commonly occurs on the swollen lower legs of people who have poor circulation in the veins of the legs.
- Xerotic (dry skin) eczema: When the skin becomes pathologically dry, it will crack and ooze.
Causes of Eczema
Stress and other emotional factors do not cause atopic dermatitis, but they can make the condition worse. Certain foods such as nuts and dairy can trigger the symptoms. Eczema can also be triggered by environmental factors such as smoke and pollen.
Environmental factors that trigger or causing eczema include:
- Irritants: soaps, detergents, shampoos, disinfectants, juices from fresh fruits, meats or vegetables
- Allergens: dust mites, pets, pollens, mold, dandruff
- Microbes: bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, viruses, certain fungi
- Hot and cold temperatures: hot weather, high and low humidity, perspiration from exercise
- Foods: dairy products, eggs, nuts and seeds, soy products, wheat
- Stress: it is not a cause of eczema but can make symptoms worse
- Hormones: women can experience worsening of eczema symptoms at times when their hormone levels are changing, for example during pregnancy and at certain points in their menstrual cycle.
Symptoms/Signs of Eczema
Eczema symptoms include itchy, red, and dry skin caused by inflammation. It’s most commonly found in children, although adults can get it. It is also called atopic dermatitis
• In small children: a red patch or rash forms on the cheeks or sometimes on the arms and hands. The rash consists of small sores or blisters that ooze or weep (burst and leak fluid).
• In older children and adult: eczema is usually drier and is most common behind the knees and on the inside of the elbows.
• It does not start as an infection but is more like an allergic reaction.
How to diagnose Eczema
What will your doctor do is to make a diagnosis by examining your skin and reviewing your medical history. He or she may also use patch testing or other tests to rule out other skin diseases or identify conditions that accompany your eczema.
He can also ask you to do these tests
- Allergy skin testing: Prick skin tests can be done to common foods or inhalant allergens to show sensitization or lack of sensitization to specific allergens due to eczema.
- Blood tests: These require a small blood sample, typically drawn through a needle in the arm. One such test looks for high levels of eosinophils, cells in the blood that are part of an immune reaction. Another looks for high levels of a molecule called IgE antibody. Blood levels of these are elevated in people with atopic diseases, including eczema. Even more useful are allergen-specific IgE tests, which measure levels of the antibody, each of which is associated with a different allergen. Note: measuring IgG antibody to foods is NOT a useful test for determining food allergy.
- Buccal swabs: The inside of the cheek can be swabbed with a cotton applicator to get cells as a source of DNA material to look for mutations in the Filaggrin gene, one of the causes of eczema.
- Patch testing: In this test, small patches covered with allergenic chemicals are placed on the skin for 48 hours, then removed and the skin reaction is evaluated at 72-96 hours for atopic dermatitis. It can identify contact allergy to chemical sensitizers such as fragrances, metals, lanolin, rubber, etc.
- Skin biopsy: In this procedure a doctor first numbs the skin and then removes one or more small pieces of skin, which is used to rule out other skin diseases from atopic dermatitis, such as a low-grade skin cancer or psoriasis. A pathologist then examines the skin sample under a microscope.
How to Prevent Eczema
- Bathe often every day when the weather is hot. Bathe after working hard or sweating. Frequent bathing helps prevent all skin infections, including Eczema rashes. Sick persons, including babies, should be bathed daily.
- In areas where hookworm is common, do not go barefoot or allow children to do so. Hookworm
Infection causes severe anemia. These worms enter the body through the soles of the feet.
- Wash your hands with soap when you get up in the morning, after having a bowel movement, and before cooking or eating.
Treatment for Eczema
It is treated with oral medications, steroid creams and light therapy.
Put cold compresses on the rash.
Wash the affected part with soap and cooled, boiled water 3 to 4 times each day,gently soaking off the crusts.
After each washing, paint the sores with gentian or spread on an antibiotic cream containing bacitracin such as Polysporin.
If the infection is spread over a large area or causes fever, give cloxacillin or dicloxacillin. If the person is allergic to medicines of the penicillin family or if these medicines do not seem to be helping, try doxycycline or cotrimoxazole.
Let the sunlight fall on the patches.
In difficult cases, use cortisone or cortico-steroid cream or coal tar may help. Seek medical advice.
Eczema Home Remedies/Home Cure
- After you bathe, use a heavy cream-based moisturizer to guard the skin against irritants.
- Keep your baths and showers under 10 minutes.
- Stop the scratching
- To cool your itch, soak a washcloth in ice-cold milk and lay the cloth onto the itchy area. Repeat several times daily as needed.
You can also do these for permanent cure:
1. Coconut Oil
I use coconut oil for everything. It is one of the things that would absolutely be on my list in a you-are-going-to-an-island-and-can-only-bring-five-things type situation. We use it for skin, hair, teeth, health and even soap making at our house, but it is also great for eczema (as long as the person isn’t allergic/intolerant to coconut!). I’ve found that for us, a thin layer of coconut oil or a coconut oil lotion bar helps cool eczema itching and pain. For those sensitive to coconut oil, these hypoallergenic lotion bars work really well too.
2. Sea Spray
For eczema that is wet/oozing, I’ve found that drying it works better than trying to moisturize it and offers relief. For this, we use a homemade salt and magnesium spray. I’ve often heard people with skin problems say that they felt better at the beach, and it makes sense. Between the Vitamin D, the magnesium and the minerals in the water, the beach is great for skin health!
For those who don’t live near the ocean, this homemade spray can help achieve some of the same benefits at home.
3. Fermented Cod Liver Oil
Sounds nasty (doesn’t taste so great either) but fermented cod liver oil is one of the supplements we take daily.
Fermented Cod Liver Oil (FCLO) is recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation and is a great source of healthy fats for the body. This supplement is also an integral part of the tooth remineralization process as detailed by Dr. Price and by Rami Nagel in Cure Tooth Decay. These two help reduce inflammation in the body and lead to healthy cell, hormone and brain development. They are especially important during pregnancy and for children while their brains are developing.
Cod Liver Oil/High Vitamin Butter Oil are a great source of the fat-soluble vitamins A,D, E and K and as such are supportive of hundreds or processes in the body. The supplements are rather pricey, but we’ve seen a big difference from adding this to our regimen (including skin health!)
We take Fermented Cod Liver Oil in Capsules or Fermented Cod Liver Oil/High Vitamin Butter Oil blend in Gel Form.
The taste is terrible, but you can add heathy sweetners like honey etc, or add to a smoothie.
4. Magnesium Baths
For some people with eczema, soaking in water makes it worse. For those who tolerate it, magnesium baths and other types of detox baths can be helpful in skin healing.
I regularly add a cup of epsom salts or magnesium flakes and a few tablespoons of Himalayan salt to my kids baths. When I have the time, I take relaxing baths in this mixture also.
When I can’t take the time for a bath, magnesium oil also helps. Amazingly, I notice the benefits of transdermal magnesium (baths or magnesium oil) much more quickly than when I take internal forms of magnesium.
My favorite magnesium bath recipe is:
1-2 cups of epsom salts or magnesium flakes (magnesium flakes are absorbed much more easily)
1/2 cup Himalayan or Sea Salt
1/2 tsp of natural vanilla extract
10-15 drops of essential oil of choice (I love lavender and mint)
These three detox bath recipes are also all great if the person can handle warm water.
5. Probiotics
Just as with the Fermented Cod Liver Oil, probiotics are one supplement that seems to make a noticeable difference with skin health (if the problem is diet/gut related). For us, high quality probiotics were vital when we were intensively doing GAPS.
Probiotics and probiotic-rich foods are another element that is often missing from the modern diet. I’m constantly seeing more research on the many ways that gut bacteria influences our health. In the past, people often preserved food by fermenting it, which also was a good source of probiotics for them. Now, most foods are dead, and we rarely ferment them in the traditional ways, so we don’t consume probiotic rich foods without a specific effort to do so.
We also make an effort to wash our hands and our food (a good thing with the chemicals on them these days) which also wash off the beneficial soil-borne micro-organisms that provide friendly-bacteria to the gut.
Since gut bacteria is so important, probiotics are one supplement I always make sure to take. You can get some probiotics in fermented food and drinks such as:
Kombucha Soda
Water Kefir
Sauerkraut
Lacto-fermenting almost any vegetable using whey (how to make whey)
We take Bio-Kult Probiotics (developed by the founder of the GAPS diet… it doesn’t have to be refrigerated) and I’ve seen digestive improvements from this brand (I’ve often see no result from other probiotics). We all take these as a daily maintenance, but at the first sign of digestive troubles or illness, we double or triple the dose until we are better. I also took these to heal after I got food poisoning, and was back to normal in a couple of days.
I sneak them into the kids smoothies and drinks, and my older ones will even swallow or chew the capsule (they are small). By Wellness mama.com
Complications of Eczema
- Allergic contact dermatitis: This condition is common in patients with atopic dermatitis. Many substances can cause an allergic skin reaction, including corticosteroids, drugs often used to treat people with atopic dermatitis.
- Behavioral problems: Studies show a link between atopic dermatitis and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, especially if a child is also losing sleep.
- Eye problems: Signs and symptoms of eye complications include severe itching around the eyelids, eye watering, inflammation of the eyelid (blepharitis) and inflammation of the eyelid (conjunctivitis).
- Irritant hand dermatitis: This especially affects people whose work requires that their hands are often wet and exposed to harsh soaps, detergents and disinfectants.
- Sleep problems. The itch-scratch cycle can cause you to awaken repeatedly and decrease the quality of your sleep.