Eczema | All You Need to Know About Eczema

Management of eczema

After diagnosing your case, your doctor will start the management. Eczema often comes and goes without treatment (self-limiting). Symptoms in many children may improve when they grow up. There is no unique cure for eczema, just management of your symptoms will occur.

Management may include a combination of lifestyle modification as well as medications.

Here are some self-care tips that can help you keep your skin healthy and decrease symptoms:

• • Take warm baths and avoid high hot showers or bathwater.
  • Use moisturizer or creams that contain ceramides daily after bathing to keep your skin smooth.
  • Wear cotton and soft fabrics.
  • You can use a humidifier in cold weather to prevent the dryness of your skin.
  • Use a cold compress with natural remedies, such as an apple cider vinegar bath, aloe vera, and coconut oil.
  • Use a mild soap with low pH or a non-soap cleanser when washing.
  • Take your precautions to prevent a flare-up of eczema in winter.
  • Air drying (or kindly drying) your skin with a towel is better than rubbing your body after bathing.
  • Avoid sweating where possible and keep away from rapid temperature changes.
  • Ask about eczema triggers to avoid them.
  • Cutting your fingernails, pinching, and patting your skin is better than scratching or breaking your skin.
  • Don’t sit on the grass, plastic chairs, or rough carpet with bare legs.
  • Acupuncture may help you relieve the itching pain.

Your doctor may prescribe some medical treatment to control your symptoms. Medical treatment includes:

• • You can apply topical corticosteroids to your skin to relieve eczema because steroids are anti-inflammatory medications that can reduce itching, swelling, and redness. Your doctor may need to prescribe aggressive medications to some people.
  • If topical creams are not enough, you may need oral medications like systemic steroids and immunosuppressants. The use of these medications is only for short periods till symptoms disappear.
  • Antibiotics treat skin infections.
  • Antihistaminics treat scratching at night, so they act as drowsiness.
  • Usage of topical calcineurin inhibitors inhibits the activities of the immune system, so it decreases inflammation and eczema flares.
  • Your doctor might prescribe barrier repair moisturizers to reduce water loss and help skin repair.
  • Phototherapy may be beneficial to treat moderate dermatitis by exposure to ultraviolet A or ultraviolet B waves. Your doctor will monitor your skin through this time.
  • Your doctor may limit your immune response by injecting biological drugs which block proteins in your immune system.

This illness may be recurrent, so follow-up is necessary after your skin has healed.

       Finally, live healthily and keep your skin soft and smooth.