Causes of Contact Eczema

A substance that has a direct toxic effect or exposure to an irritant produces irritant contact eczema and a skin reaction can occur immediately or gradually after repeat exposure. Examples of substances that cause irritant contact eczema include acids, certain toilet bowl cleaners or drain cleaners, oven cleaners, detergents, ammonia, lye, cement, turpentine, and paint thinners.

Allergic contact eczema will trigger an immunologic response that causes inflammation called a skin allergy. Examples of substances that cause allergic contact eczema include poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak, dyes, fragrances, leather, rubber compounds (gloves and shoes) and nickel (jewelry accessories). Itching and burning are common symptoms in both types of contact eczema.

Peri-oral Eczema

Perioral eczema affects mostly women. In addition to redness around the mouth, the symptoms of perioral eczema may also include small red bumps or even pus bumps and mild peeling. Treatments include using a non-tartar, non-fluoride toothpaste. Lip balms, lipstick, or toothpaste can also cause perioral eczema. Contact eczema is an inflammatory response by the skin to an outside allergen or irritant. Substances that cause contact eczema include household items, clothing, cosmetics, and plants. The types of substance that cause the symptoms to appear can further define contact eczema.

Causes Of Cradle Cap

Infantile seborrheic eczema, also called cradle cap, affects the face, scalp, and upper extremities and is often associated with food consumption (cheese, egg whites, wheat, or nuts are a common cause of infantile seborrheic eczema). Other triggers that can cause baby eczema include soaps, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, wool, and polyester or blended fabrics. A natural treatment, feeding the baby breast milk can help to control or limit eczema in infants.

Triggers For Atopic Eczema

Trigger factors vary as to the type of eczema one is experiencing. Triggers for atopic eczema may include soap, harsh chemicals, heat and humidity, stress, certain foods (most common offenders include eggs, milk, wheat, soy protein, and peanut). Many of these ingredients can turn up in unusual places, such as all-natural soaps, makeup, cream or lotions. Inhalant allergens such as house dust mites, pets, pollen and cut grass are also triggers that can cause eczema.

Treating Eczema

It is important to treat the specific cause of your eczema, and the aggravating factors in as many ways as possible. One way to treat your eczema is behavioral with positive lifestyle changes such as better eating habits and reducing stress. Another way is by eliminating contact with environmental factors, which can aggravate your sensitive skin such as allergens, harsh chemicals, certain metals, and irritating fabrics. A third way is through the use of prescription medications, moisturizers, Jojoba oil, or Eczema-Ltd III topical skin conditioner.

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).