What is eczema? What are the precautions?

  Eczema is an inflammatory skin disease and is one of the most common diseases in dermatology. It is characterized by intense itching and recurrent episodes. Classic eczema often has yellowish exudate, especially after scratching, and crusts after drying; however, when it becomes chronic, the skin thickens due to repeated scratching, which manifests as roughness, dryness, and deepening of texture. The etiology of eczema is complex. The intrinsic factors are mainly immune imbalance and disruption of skin barrier function, while the extrinsic factors include dry and cold environment, excessive washing, exposure to allergenic substances or taking medications and health products, food additives, etc. After careful analysis, exclusion and skin testing, most patients can find the cause.  Eczema can recur and affect the quality of life, and a small number of patients can develop into erysipelas, which can even be life-threatening. With reasonable prevention and treatment, eczema is completely manageable. The key to eczema treatment is to identify and remove the cause and prevent recurrence.  Eczema patients in daily life and treatment should pay attention to: 1, eczema is not contagious: eczema is not caused by unhygienic, too frequent washing or bathing with very hot water will instead destroy the skin barrier, inducing and aggravating the condition.  2, adhere to the use of moisturizers to prevent recurrence: dermatology after long-term observation, the use of moisturizers with skin barrier protection after bathing can play a role in aiding treatment and significantly reduce recurrence.  3, usually wear cotton soft underwear, avoid scratching and rubbing the skin.  4, many patients believe that eczema is caused by diet, but there is no evidence of the existence of foods that can cause eczema. Therefore, unless the evidence is conclusive, do not abstain from eating to avoid malnutrition.  5, treatment: reasonable topical glucocorticoids, do not be overly fearful of its side effects; in acute episodes with a lot of exudate stage can also be small doses, short injections or oral hormones to control acute inflammation. For eczema occurring on the face, non-hormonal types such as tacrolimus ointment can be preferred. Narrow-wave ultraviolet irradiation is also a very effective way to control the condition and reduce the amount of hormones. Severe eczema on the hands and feet can be used NB-UVB phototherapy.  6, careful search for the cause: if the original no eczema, suffering from hypertension and take medication after the onset, may be related to the calcium ion antagonist in antihypertensive drugs; suffering from dermatophytosis (such as ringworm, nail fungus, ringworm, etc.) after the onset of eczema, especially in patients over 50 years old, may be related to the body immune imbalance.