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Eczema - Diagnosing Eczema in Babies

Thursday, June 5th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Even with millions of sufferers worldwide, medical science has not yet discovered the reason why some people suffer with eczema and others do not. Typically, contact with some external allergen triggers an allergic reaction, leading to the typical skin symptoms and changes seen in sufferers. Baby eczema is a rash seen on their face which gradually gets worse unless treated, eventually becoming causing cracking and flaking. Anything up to one fifth of infants in the USA will suffer with this awful skin complaint.

With most babies, this skin complaint has all but cleared up by the time they are 24 months old. However, in a small number of cases, the condition doesn’t clear and becomes a chronic condition which may even carry on into adulthood. Although many believe the condition only starts in childhood, this is only partially true; it is just more common in babies and infants. Although statistics vary, almost all sufferers will have experienced bouts of this condition since their fifth birthday but almost one third before they were a year old.

The most common type in babies is atopic eczema and this type of baby eczema is characterized by itching, and red, scaly skin on the scalp, face, arms or legs. Atopic eczema often runs in families, and can be triggered when a baby’s skin isn’t moisturized properly. In some babies, wearing clothes that have been washed in certain detergents or treated with fabric softeners may trigger the condition. Some recent research has indicated that baby eczema may caused by babies that are weaned early so breastfeeding for a longer period be beneficial.

Other medical conditions, such as respiratory infections, may also act as triggers. It has also been found that if the baby’s mother has asthma, they are more prone to suffer with this condition but other contributing elements include food allergies and allergic rhinitis. The number of childhood cases where food is responsible for the condition is considerable at almost 30 percent; discovering the foodstuffs responsible should be a relatively simple matter, which once this is done, can be removed from the diet completely. Although the process of diagnosing which food is responsible is often a case of trial an error, there are some that are often found as the cause including:

*Sea and freshwater fish *Milk *Products using wheat as an ingredient *Egg based meals *Foods where peanut oil may have been used

Doctors also know that baby eczema can also be the result of the antibiotics received by the baby at birth. Treating babies requires a little more thought as they cannot tell us what irritates them so only bath them in lukewarm water and use fragrance free, hypoallergenic creams. Once they have dried, they need to be dressed in soft natural clothing made from cotton. A baby with this condition can easily cause infection to damaged skin if their nails are not kept short because they will undoubtedly scratch themselves constantly. Unfortunately, baby eczema sometimes needs further help and in these cases, the doctor might prescribe the use of antihistamines to relieve the itching; when required it is not uncommon for the child to have steroid cream applied to the affected area but this cannot be done for very long. Whilst this may be a common complaint around the world, at the present time, easing the symptoms of the condition is the best we can do.

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Article by Ray Lam

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