Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Eczema Symptoms

The word eczema comes from the Greek and means 'to boil over'. Eczema or dermatitis are two medical terms used to describe numerous skin conditions. Like many allergic conditions the severity of the disease can vary. Although it can sometimes look very unpleasant eczema is not contagious.

What Are Eczema Symptoms?

Sometimes, there's an itch before a rash appears. But typically, eczema shows itself as:

* Patches of chronically itchy, dry, thickened skin, usually on the hands, neck, face, and legs. In children, the inner creases of the knees and elbows are often involved.
* Skin lesions, patches of redness, scaling, and in dark-skinned people, changes in skin color.


Symptoms of Eczema

* Blisters with oozing and crusting
* Dry, leathery skin areas
* Ear discharge or bleeding
* Intense itching
* Rash
o In children younger than age 2, skin lesions begin on the cheeks, elbows, or knees
o In adults, the rash is more commonly seen on the inside of the knees and elbows

Eczema in children: Symptoms

• Itching or burning
• Dry skin
• Location of the rash: for infants, the face, arms and legs are often affected; for children aged four to 10, the rash is most likely found at bends of the elbows, behind the knees, at the backs of the wrists and ankles, or on the sides of the neck and earlobes.
• Red, scaly and crusty, made worse by repeatedly scratching
• Infection is very common

Eczema Symptoms:

Following are the symptoms of eczema:

* Itching
* Redness on skin
* Dry and flaky skin
* Itchy blisters
* Inflammation on skin
* Small bumps on forehead, neck and cheek
* Rough and thickened skin.

Common Eczema Symptoms

Eczema is a serious skin condition that can cause some a lot of grief because there is some pain involved when the condition worsens. You need to be aware of eczema symptoms to be able to move fast to prevent complications. These eczema symptoms are basically easy to notice because there is a degree of discomfort to them.

Unlike most conditions and diseases, eczema does not have a long grocery list of symptoms, although the severity of the condition depends on the person who suffers from it. Eczema usually looks like a rough or dry patch of skin on the body. The patch will be overwhelmingly itchy to the sufferer, who will often scratch or rub it enough that it will create a rash. While eczema is not really limited to any one part of the body, it seems to strike in different places for adults than it does for babies. For babies, eczema seems to strike the face (cheeks and forehead), legs, arms and scalp. On adults, eczema usually occurs on the neck and face, as well as inside the crook of the elbow, ankle and knee. Most cases of eczema result in simply a dry patch of skin, but for others less fortunate, the dry patch sometimes blisters up and fills with pus.