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Eczema

What is Eczema?

Summary & Participants

Millions of people suffer from the skin condition eczema marked by red, itchy patches that sometime become infected. Listen to experts talk about the causes, triggers and treatments of eczema.

Medically Reviewed On: June 10, 2008

Webcast Transcript

A. PAUL KELLY, MD: Your eczema can get worse if you are allergic to a certain preparation. Something in skin cream that you're using, a perfume, for instance, that can make you break out.

DORIS DAY, MD: Some people have their eczema worse in the summer and some people are worse in the winter. So you can definitely see patterns.

ANNOUNCER: Eczema can range from mild to severe and can span a lifetime

DORIS DAY, MD: The amount of body surface area, the discomfort level, the amount of itching, and even if there's an infection or not associated with it. And that's a way that we have of grading the eczema within any given individual.

ANNOUNCER: Sometimes warding off a flare-up can be a simple procedure.

A. PAUL KELLY, MD: The first line of defense usually is something to keep the skin from being this dry. So we use what we call emollient creams or lubricating creams or ointments.

ANNOUNCER: Traditionally, steroid creams or ointments were used for flare-ups, but they had side effects when used long term.

DORIS DAY, MD: The concerns I have with topical steroids are that over time, if you use it without taking breaks, you can get thinning of the skin. You can actually have acne-like breakouts, get broken blood vessels, something called neo-vascularization, and stretch marks.

ANNOUNCER: But now non steroidal preparations offer a treatment that is not only effective but seems free of long term side effects.

DORIS DAY, MD: We have some very new, very exciting medications that are prescription-strength that actually are non-steroidals that help clear eczema and maintain clearance.

A. PAUL KELLY, MD: It often burns and itches a little bit. So sometimes you use it every other day to start with and maybe go to everyday after that.

ANNOUNCER: Eczema isn't always active and especially in the case of children, it may even disappear as they grow older.

A. PAUL KELLY, MD: Remission in eczema can last for a few weeks, it can last for a year sometimes. And some people "outgrow" it; that's what people say, "Well, I've outgrown my eczema."

ANNOUNCER: But for many, eczema remains a life long condition.

DORIS DAY, MD: Right now there is no cure for eczema. As we do more research and we understand it better, we're hoping to find a cure and work in that direction. But fortunately, with a lot of the treatments we have, we're able to control it, and that's where we're at right now.

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