Life in the modern world is constant stress, nervous tension, being in conditions that are far from favorable for health, eating foods with a dubious composition, an abundance of advertised drugs, which you can buy and use without a doctor’s prescription, a catastrophic lack of time to relax. It is not for nothing that scientists say that eczema is a scourge of the 21st century, because all of the above factors may well cause its occurrence, and at any age, in any person. The medical definition of this disease is as follows: it is a non-infectious, inflammatory skin disease of a neuro-allergic nature, which is chronic in nature with periods of remission and temporary exacerbations.
general information
The impetus for the onset of eczematous damage to the surface layers of the skin can be various external (thermal, chemical, physical) and internal (disturbances in the functioning of human systems and organs, diseases, weakened immunity) factors. The clinical picture of various types of eczema may look different – depending on the causes that led to it, the nature of the course of the disease, the location of the lesion. However, the general symptoms of eczematous skin lesions are as follows:
- puffiness of the epidermis;
- redness of certain areas of the skin;
- rashes in the form of small vesicles filled with serous fluid;
- rapid bursting of vesicles (rash vesicles) with the occurrence of skin wetness at the lesion sites;
- the formation of point erosion;
- further drying of the skin and the formation of crusts on the affected areas;
- boring itching and burning in the lesions.
Eczema disease can have acute (periodic outbreaks) and chronic (sluggish) form. Moreover, in different parts of the body, both forms of the disease can be observed simultaneously.
Eczema Classification
Eczema is true . It occurs in people of different ages, is characterized by an acute initial period, which subsequently flows into a sluggish, chronic form. Symptoms of an acute form – rashes in the form of small, rapidly bursting vesicles, swelling of the skin, itching. The lesions are located symmetrically on the body. Most often, true eczema appears on the hands, forearms, feet. In young children, places of localization of eczema are located on the face, shoulders, chest, upper and lower extremities.
When the vesicles burst, many small erosive “wells” are formed in their place, from which serous fluid is released. This phase of true eczema is called weeping eczema.
Gradually, the number of vesicles decreases, erosion wells dry out, and a crust with a scaly-like scaly surface forms in the lesion sites. Eczema disease becomes chronic, accompanied by the appearance of cracks, multiple scales, congestive erythema.
Dyshidrotic eczema (a subspecies of true eczema) occurs mainly on the palms, in the interdigital space of the hands, on the soles. It is characterized by multiple rashes of vesicles with a dense apex, up to 3 mm in size. The lesions have clearly defined forms, edged with a thickened layer of exfoliating epithelium.
Microbial eczema occurs at the site of ulcers, fungal infections of the epidermis ( mycotic eczema ); against the background of varicose veins, lymphostasis or trophic ulcers ( varicose eczema ); in places of injury to the skin ( paratraumatic eczema ). The lesions are asymmetric, have a rounded shape with clearly defined contours. Coin-like eczema (numular) is a type of microbial eczema and is distinguished by foci of exceptionally round shape, which are located on the hands and limbs.
In the development of seborrheic eczema, the main role is played by fungal skin lesions (staphylococcus, Pityrosporum ovale, Candida). The lesions are usually located on the head – under the hair, on the earlobes, behind the ears, on the forehead, neck, neck. It is characterized by a yellowish color of drying serous peels, excessive dryness of the skin, severe itching.
Atopic eczema , unlike other subspecies of the disease, bypasses the stage of skin wetness. In places of inflammation, the epidermis is excessively dry, hyperemic, the surface is covered with abundant scaly peeling. Accompanied by a boring, unbearable itch.
Neither official nor traditional medicine has the methods and means to completely cure eczema. The main goal of any complex of therapeutic measures is to reduce the symptoms of the disease to the optimum minimum and bring it to a stable stage of prolonged remission.