Contact or atopic eczema?
Did an eczema appear on your hands, in the knee pit or on the face? The correct diagnosis is essential for the treatment.
Almost one quarter of all people in the world experiences reddened, dry and intensively itching areas on the skin during. Sometimes the skin tends to crack in such a spot, sometimes fluid-filled pimples appear. The affected person tries several home remedies to calm the skin. If they don’t help, they visit a dermatologist.
The most common diagnosis is the atopic eczema. The doctor proposes the diagnosis of an atopic eczema most often based on medical history.
This means they consider the age of the patient, on which specific body parts and locations the eczema appears and whether similar issues already occurred in someone from the patient’s family. The eczema is treated with prescription medicaments, such as corticosteroid ointments, foams, oils. These are very effective and contain hormones that effectively relieve itching and irritation, and the eczema tends to subside for a while after the application. However, the eczema often reappears after some time and the treatment has to be repeated. With each new manifestation of the eczema, the skin barrier is broken, and the weakened skin becomes more sensitive, i.e., reacts intensively to a variety of substances and irritates easily.
If the patient’s condition does not improve, the doctor should consider the change in diagnosis. The doctor should perform an allergy test to reveal irritant allergens. If the doctor finds out that the originally diagnosed atopic eczema is in fact an allergic eczema, the patient has good prospects to be successfully cured. Allergic persons react mostly only to 1–2 allergens, only exceptionally to more than 5. If the allergen is successfully found and removed, the eczema symptoms do not occur repeatedly, or not that often.
Patient with atopic eczema must accept the fact that this is a lifelong illness and take an intensive care of their skin. Both patients – with contact as well as with atopic eczema – should strengthen the barrier function of their skin.
The Dermatologist recommend application of Dermaguard-like kinds of barrier creams. The Dermaguard cream creates an invisible protective shield on the skin protecting it against the majority of allergens in the environment. As the allergen is not able to penetrate to the skin, it stays un-irritated. The period of protection comprises about 4–6 hours. The cream effectively moisturizes the skin but does not grease it. It can be applied on any part of the body, except for mucous membranes. The cream contains dimethicone which gradually evaporates from the skin due to the action of sweat acidity. Cream is fragrance-free and available in pharmacies without prescription.
