Eczema

Symptoms

Short-term symptoms of eczema include itchy skin, redness and tiny bumps or blisters. If these symptoms remain untreated, the skin can become thick, scaly and dry, with areas of hair loss and color changes. Skin affected by long-term eczema is more vulnerable to secondary infections, usually caused by bacteria.

Each type of eczema has specific characteristics and pattern of symptoms:

• Atopic eczema (atopic dermatitis) - Atopic dermatitis appears as irritated, red, dry, crusted patches on the skin. If the skin becomes infected, it may develop a wet (weeping) look. Scratching the itchy patches causes more irritation and increases the risk of infection by bacteria.

• Contact dermatitis - When an irritant causes contact dermatitis, symptoms can range from a mild redness to severe skin blistering or ulceration. When triggered by an allergic reaction, contact dermatitis usually causes skin redness, fine red bumps or blisters and severe itching. When caused by plant allergies (poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac), the reaction usually is intense, with bumps and blisters occurring in lines or streaks where the leaves of the plant brushed against the skin.

• Hand eczema - Hand eczema usually appears during the winter as patches of dry, cracked skin, with or without redness. Other forms of hand eczema generally cause itching, red bumps or blisters and scaling. Irritation often occurs under rings from soap trapped under the rings.

• Nummular eczema - Nummular eczema begins as small areas of irritation that turn into round red, crusted or scaly patches.

• Asteatotic eczema - Asteatotic eczema usually occurs on the lower legs and causes itching or stinging pain in areas of dry, cracked, reddened skin, with or without tiny bumps.

• Stasis dermatitis - Stasis dermatitis usually begins with mild redness and itching of the lower legs, which are already slightly puffy or very swollen because of poor circulation in the legs. Poor circulation usually is caused by varicose veins or poorly functioning veins, but it can be caused by leg swelling (edema) related to heart failure or kidney problems. If redness and tenderness develop suddenly, it could be caused by a secondary bacterial infection. Bacterial infections require immediate medical attention.

• Lichen simplex chronicus - This rash creates thickened, leathery skin with darkening of skin color. It is very itchy. Scratching makes the problem worse.

• Seborrheic dermatitis- Seborrheic dermatitis causes red, scaly patches with yellow, greasy crusts. These appear most commonly on the scalp as dandruff, but also can occur elsewhere on the body, including the eyebrows, eyelids, ears and skin creases near the mouth and nose. These patches can be itchy or can cause burning. The scalp lesions in infants (cradle cap) can appear yellowish and greasy and usually cause no discomfort.