Has someone told you that you have eczema and you’re wondering what that means? What If I Have Eczema?
If left untreated, severe eczema can lead to skin damage, putting you at risk for infections. At the same time, developing a fungal, viral, or bacterial skin infection may trigger an eczema flare.
In this video, board-certified dermatologist and skin wellness expert, Dr. Cynthia Bailey explains what eczema is.
Do You Have Eczema? Dermatologist Dr. Cynthia Bailey Provides Treatment Tips
Has someone told you that you have eczema and you’re wondering What If I Have Eczema? and what the heck does that actually mean hi? I’m board-certified dermatologist and skin wellness expert, dr. Cynthia Bailey, and I’m, going to explain.
It’s not a specific diagnosis
Eczema is actually a fairly broad term. It’s not a specific diagnosis, so eczema really means a rash. That’s going on in the skin, and it applies to a variety of different types of rashes in eczema.
You have inflammation of this top layer and inflammation down below there’s, a whole bunch of white blood cells down here and up here. The inflammation is actually causing the cells to separate and we call that spongy osis, so the cells are kind of stretching and coming apart a little bit and in that space you now have a disruption of the skin barrier that creates one of the common problems in Eczema, and that is that your skin is now extra sensitive, so the cells here are stretching apart and things get into the skin more readily.
In addition, your body’s waters get out more readily, so you have a compromise to your skin when you have eczema, no matter what the cause of your eczema, that barrier compromise is there and healing it is really important.
Common different types of eczema
So first I’m, going to talk about the common different types of eczema, because if someone’s told you that you have eczema, you probably have one of these common types of eczema, the first type of eczema, that’s, the classic form of eczema we think about when someone says they have eczema is atopic dermatitis.
Atopic dermatitis is a genetic condition. The people are sometimes born predisposed to and with atopic dermatitis the rash may start in childhood. It often starts in. We call the flexural areas, the folds of the elbows behind the knees, but the entire skin surface can be involved in eczema, including the face the arms, the legs, the trunk, etc.
Atopic dermatitis
People with atopic dermatitis also have immune dysregulation immune issues with their skin, and their skin is very, very sensitive. They’re prone to being allergic to things that touch their skin. They’re, also, sometimes prone to also having asthma and hay fever, so asthma, eczema, hay fever often are called the atopic triad and they travel together.
So if there’s, asthma, eczema or hay fever in your family, atopic dermatitis may be something that you’re predisposed to people with atopic dermatitis have classic sensitive skin and they need to think hypoallergenic skin care, hypoallergenic lifestyle, hypoallergenic personal care Products because their immune system in the skin is hyperactive and prone to becoming allergic to any number of things, fragrances, preservatives in skin care products, etc.
Dry skin eczema
The next kind of eczema that’s common, is dry skin eczema, also called nunya, ler, eczema or osteo tonic eczema, numb euler implies coin-shaped and you get round coin-shaped patches of eczema, usually on the arms and legs osteo tonic eczema, the term a co Tata complies they’re sort of a cracking, a dry cracking to the skin.
Usually you see that first on your shins and it the skin, starts to look like the bottom of a dried lake bed. This kind of eczema happens more as we age and it’s because the skin has become so dry. The inflammation has developed, spongy osis has occurred and there’s now a disruption in the skin barrier.
Another kind of common eczema is seborrhoeic dermatitis. Seborrhoeic dermatitis is a form of eczema due to seborrhea. Seborrhea is actually dandruff, so you can have scalp eczema from seborrhoeic dermatitis.
You can have a eczema from seborrhoeic dermatitis. The cause is slightly different. We don’t entirely know, but the cause of it, but we do know that pittosporum yeast plays a role, but again there’s inflammation here inflammation here, a disruption of the skin barrier and the skin is very sensitive things easily irritate The skin affected by separate dermatitis because they go in and they’re harsh.
Allergic contact dermatitis
Another common type of eczema is allergic contact dermatitis. So you know allergic contact dermatitis as poison oak and poison ivy, but you can also be allergic to ingredients in skin care products, for example fragrance in shampoos, preservatives in shampoos metal for nickel dermatitis.
There are many things that you can be allergic to and that cause inflammation in the skin spongy OSIS in the epidermis and a disruption of the integrity of your skin’s barrier. Another form of eczema is irritant.
Dermatitis irritant dermatitis is where your skin comes into contact with something that’s, so harsh that it actually breaks your skin’s, barrier down and causes inflammation. So the harsh substance comes into contact with your skin breaks down the structural integrity of your skin, and then your skin mounts an inflammatory or immune response.
Insult happened from the outside, but the end result is eczema, so think of harsh solvents. That paint thinners harsh dishwashing soaps – those are the sort of things that will cause irritant. Dermatitis, chapping, wind and weather can cause irritant dermatitis as well.
Eyelid dermatitis
Another kind of eczema is eyelid dermatitis. The eyelid skin is very, very thin and a canary in the mine shaft when it comes to allergic reactions or irritant reactions to substances that touch your skin so think acne products that are sometimes tolerable to the rest of your face.
But your eyelids start to get a little bit dry and or stinging allergens like fragrances and and preservatives washing over your face from your shampoo or hair care products. Substances carried up that your hands can tolerate, because that skin is very thick.
But you rub your eyes and you’re, bringing the substance up to your eyelids heck. I had one patient. He was allergic to the nickel on his saxophone. He could tolerate touching the saxophone with his hands, but he would rub his eyes periodically and it was carrying the nickel up from his saxophone and getting an eyelid dermatitis.
So eyelid dermatitis is a form of eczema that manifests on the very thin skin of the eyelids. Either in the crease or on the whole eyelid itself, either bilaterally or unilaterally, another kind of eczema is stasis.
Dermatitis stasis dermatitis happens because of insufficient circulation on your lower extremities, meaning the shins lower legs, and because of that insufficient circulation, the skin down there is vulnerable and prone to breaking out in eczema, and that Exum is really important because number one once the circulation is Bad, it stays bad and number two once the eczema occurs here and there’s, a break in the skin barrier integrity infection can occur and that infection can be very serious and the last common type of eczema that I want to mention is called Dis hydraulic eczema and that’s.
This weird, we don’t, understand it hand rash that people get with sting itchy blisters that form on the lateral aspects of the fingers and the hands that can ultimately fissure and cause painful cracks and the hand skin takes a really long time To heal because it’s so thick and we use it everyday to touch things and to wash dishes and we get it in too harsh solvents, etc, and so dis hydronic eczema is a troubling form of eczema.
What If I Have Eczema? Long-term care strategy
That requires a long-term care strategy to heal, and that brings me to what do you do if you have a diagnosis of eczema, so I told you in the beginning the common problem with the skin is that the barrier is compromised, and so you need to use Skin care that allows your barrier to heal.
In addition, the barrier is compromised. You need to use hypoallergenic and gentle products so that you, don’t, add or introduce irritation into the skin with things that are harsh or provoke allergies, because stuff gets through your broken barrier.
So what do I mean by hydrating and gentle skincare? That will allow your eczema to heal. Well, there’s, three basic principles. To that. First pick a soap that’s, not harsh you, don’t want to continue to strip and damage the components of your skin’s barrier which are lipids and proteins.
Pick a mild soap
So you want to pick a mild soap and use it sparingly when you cleanse your skin, you want to use coolish water, because hot water is gonna strip the natural oils in your skin and further damage the eczema prone skin.
In addition, hot water is going to bring circulation into the skin and cause your skin to be red and with that increased circulation, and that redness comes more, we call them inflammatory mediators, the building blocks of this rash and it’s, going to just Rev the whole thing up when you use cool water, you actually constrict your vessels and you help wash away the mediators of inflammation so that your skin can heal, and the third principle of healing eczema is to immediately moisturize your skin after you’ve.
Towel dry, so when you’re washing your skin, you’re, exposing it to water, it’s, soaking it up and that water is going to help the skin heal. You want to trap it by putting a moisturizer on top so that the water doesn’t further evaporate.
Your skin will love you even more if you use a moisturizer with some natural oils that will help your skin to heal and to lock in moisturizer lock in water throughout the layers of the skin. So what are the best cleansers for healing eczema? Well, you have a couple choices.
First, with whatever choice you make, it needs to be hypoallergenic, so that means not a lot of fragrance and not a lot of harsh preservatives. Then, within that criteria you can choose natural cleansers or pH balance, synthetic cleansers, so the natural cleansers, with again without fragrances without botanical essences without a whole lot of potential allergens, are just simple soaps, ideally created from oils.
The saponification process takes oils and turns them into soap and glycerin. So, ideally, you want the glycerin in there as well, because the glycerin is going to help hold water to your skin. It acts like a sponge.
Alternatively, you can use what are called cinders synthetic detergents and their PhD islands, soap, alternatives for cleansing and they’re, the classic dermatological sea dermatologist approved, and they tend to look a little dermatological.
What are the best moisturizers to kill eczema?
Well, ideally, you want rich moisturizers and again they have to be hypoallergenic, so you want to avoid fragrances. You want to avoid a lot of other stuff in there.
The process of creating creams and moisturizers often involves an ingredient list that’s. Occasionally mind-boggling and looks like it needed a PhD in chemistry to create. You want to keep it simple and you don’t want a lot of fancy fragrances and botanical essences, because those are going to become allergens.
So just simple moisturizers made with botanical oils that are hypoallergenic are good choices. You can just go straight to the oils themselves. Those are good for night application because occasionally it’s a little too shiny during the day, or you can use again just a classic dermatological allergenic and designed for exempt or prone sensitive, skin and or cosmetically elegant products again that are hypoallergenic and designed For sensitive skin, so what other important points do you need to know if you’re prone to eczema.v
As I mentioned with your skin care products, you need for them to be hypoallergenic, but you need the other products that you use in your life To be hypoallergenic as well, so where are some of the common allergens that I see impacting the eczema of my patients? Well, they’re home cleaning products.
If you’re, you know cleaning your surfaces with a product that contains allergens or that’s, irritating it’s, going to make your hand eczema worse. If you’re spraying a homecare product to clean your bathroom to clean your house, airborne droplets are touching your face, leading to eyelid, dermatitis, facial eczema and or eczema on your hands and laundry care.
Laundry dermatitis
I can’t. Tell you how many people come in with laundry dermatitis, which is a form of eczema from an allergic reaction to laundry detergent, residue and or the anti-static dryer sheets, and the fragrances that are that are made into those they develop eczema in the areas where the clothes Are held close to their skin? So if you are prone to eczema or have been given a diagnosis of eczema, you want to think hypoallergenic personal care products, so whether they’re products that you’re.
Putting on your skin that are washing over your skin from your hair care, routine, that you’re using to clean your home or that you’re using to wash your clothes. You want them to be hypoallergenic, meaning fragrance free and not a lot of fancy ingredients, especially preservatives.
So I hope that helps if you’ve been given a diagnosis of eczema. I hope it helps to explain to you what’s going on in your skin, why your skin is so sensitive, how you can help your skin heal and what you can do to prevent the eczema from getting worse, not healing or coming back.
So, thank you so much for listening. If you found this helpful, I appreciate a thumbs up. If you know someone who’s been given a diagnosis of eczema and is struggling to understand it or to heal their skin.
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