What exactly is skin eczema and why do babies get them?
In: Biology
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Eczema is a a type or dermatitis. Dermatitis can happen from a multitude of things- Allergens, cold temperatures, Dry temperatures, stress…
Babies get for similar reasons. Sometimes it’s inherited.
I’ve had eczema my entire life, finally did allergy testing as an adult, and found all the things I was reacting to…it’s a pretty extensive list. Most of my outbreaks have to do with environmental issues that i have little or no control over.And I am old enough to have been a teen prior to all the hypoallergenic products being readily available. My first “make over” sent me to the hospital for 3 days. I have used every prescription and none prescription product on the market to try to keep any outbreaks to a minimum. I actively avoid specific things, foods, self care products because most have ingredients I react to. I use handmade goats milk soap, kind of expensive shampoo and conditioner as many still have parabens and paba. I know that some folks had it as children, but, grew out of it, lucky! I treat mine with tea tree oil and Eucerin cream.
Eczema (aka dermatitis) is a pretty broad group of skin conditions which don’t always share an underlying cause.
Eczema can occur in the form of atopic dermatitis or contact dermatitis, which are related to allergies; seborrheic dermatitis (aka cradle cap), which is an irritant reaction that happens when you have too much of your normal skin yeast; and stasis dermatitis, which happens when blood pools in your legs for too long.
Eczema is a symptom of irritated skin, and it can be caused my many different things. touching a chemical irritant and over-active immune system (“atopic syndrome”) are the most common causes of eczema in babies.
Eczema isn’t serious but it should be taken seriously because it can be very uncomfortable and can interfere with sleep.
Since this was removed for being at the top (anecdotes not allowed at top) I’ll resubmit now that there are a few more comments.
I don’t have the depth of knowledge to answer this but I wanted to share a bit of my experience, for whatever it may be worth. My son had severe eczema from age 5 mos to about 9 years. Allergists and immunologists tested him for suspected food allergies and other allergies. He tested positive for almost everything but they said the results were unreliable. It turned out he has Asperger’s/autism. It was diagnosed when he was about 8 years old. Then I learned there is a connection between elevated IgE and autism. He’s now 15, can eat whatever he wants, has no skin issues, and you wouldn’t know he’s autistic unless you were very familiar with autism and spent some time with him.
After what we went through it was obvious how mysterious eczema and allergies still are. Things may have changed in the last 5-10 years but I suspect the answer to this question is “Nobody really knows.”
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