Treatment of Eczema

Eczema is a common skin disease. Eczema is dry, rough, red, itchy, skin dryness, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing, or bleeding. The most common symptom that people complain about is the itch that is a side effect of eczema. It's sometimes called the 'itch that rashes', meaning that once you start scratching, you develop a rash.

The primary goal in the treatment of eczema are to control the itching and reduce inflammation. Treatment of eczema is generally based on the sufferer’s age, the severity of their eczema condition, and the type of eczema they have. Eczema tends to flare-up when the person is exposed to certain trigger factors. These substances or conditions worsen the eczema, such as dry skin, irritants, allergens, emotional stress, heat and sweating, and infections. Keeping the skin well hydrated and avoiding over-bathing is important in the treatment of eczema.

When treating your eczema, you may not always be able to control the factors that trigger or aggravate your eczema, but you can control your approach toward tackling those triggers. A natural treatment to improve eczema skin can be found in basic lifestyle changes. The management of eczema is not simple. No one treatment works for everyone, since the areas involved and the degree of itching affects different people in different ways. At best we try to alleviate the intense itching, which, in essence, is the disease. Interrupt and stop this fierce symptom and we break the itch-scratch reflex, which is wholly responsible for the clinical manifestation - the rash.

Eczema Triggers

Eczema tends to flare-up when the person is exposed to certain trigger factors. These substances or conditions worsen the eczema, such as dry skin, irritants, allergens, emotional stress, heat and sweating, and infections. Moisturizers such as jojoba oil can be applied to the affected areas as frequently as required to relieve itching, scaling and dryness. Emollients may also be used on the unaffected skin to reduce dryness. Emollient therapy helps to restore one of the skin's most important functions, which is to form a barrier to prevent bacteria and viruses getting into the body and therefore help to prevent a rash becoming infected. Emollients are safe and rarely cause an allergic reaction. Occasionally, products with lanolin may cause a reaction. Ideally, moisturizers should be applied three to four times a day. Apply in a gentle downward motion in the direction of hair growth to prevent accumulation of cream around the hair follicle (this can cause infection of the follicle).