Eczema
Although people of all ages are affected by eczema, genes seem to have the final word in the spreading of the disease. Where does eczema appear? Well, unfortunately, any part of the skin is exposed to the problem. You can recognize eczema by the following symptoms: dryness of skin, repeated rashes, redness of the skin, skin swelling/edema, itching, crusting, blistering, flaking, oozing, cracking and even bleeding. Besides these, occasionally, temporary skin discoloration might appear due to lesions that have already healed. However, scarring, very seldom accompanies eczema. The hand eczema is a very common condition. It affects 10% of women and 4% of men, according to Ronald Vender, MD, FRCCP. Apparently, hand eczema is reported in relation to some special kind of physical work being usually encountered with people with small children and with mechanics, hairdressers, surgeons, dental workers, homemakers and others. What do all these people have in common? Humidity favors hand eczema and all the above mentioned categories will wash their hands very often.
Approximately 75% of people who experience eczema are diagnosed with the type known as contact dermatitis. This can be irritant or allergic and it is difficult to make the difference between them sometimes. Hand eczema differs in severity from individual to individual but it usually begins with mild dryness and a little redness. Initially it manifests between fingers and on them and it can become very itchy and scaly. Like the other types of eczema, in time, hand eczema may also lead to the appearance of cracking, swelling and blisters on the skin of the hand. If left untreated the condition will gradually spread to the skin of feet and arms.
The most common trigger of hand eczema is therepeated wetting and drying of hands. Three situations favor the development of the problem: if you had previous episodes of atopic eczema, if you suffer from asthma or hay fever, and if you have psoriasis. Hand eczema can be eliminated if you pay attention to the following elements. Besides the practical advice that any health care provider will give you in such situations there are also some pharmaceutical products from which your doctor will surely select the best. Don’t hand wash dishes, use loose rubber gloves with a pair of cotton gloves inside to avoid both contact with water and detergents and sweating of the hands caused by the rubber or vinyl gloves worn directly on the hands.
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