Itching All Over

Allergic contact dermatitis, like atopic dermatitis, almost always begins on the dorsal surface of the fingers and hands. This predilection is most likely due to the protective effect of the thick keratin found on the palmar aspect of the fingers and hands. Allergic contact dermatitis differs from atopic dermatitis in that excoriations are less prominent and a visible eruption precedes the scratching. Before a diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis can be proven, however, several things must occur: a suspected contactant must be identified; a positive result to patch testing must be obtained; and the patient must demonstrate improvement when the contaclant is removed. The most readily identifiable type of allergic contact dermatitis is that of nickel allergy because the emplion occurs in such close proximity to the offending ring, bracelet, or watchband. Many industrial chemicals cause allergic contact dermatitis of the hands. The agents most commonly involved are chromates and epoxy resins. Cosmetics (cinnamates, lanolin, Peruvian balsam) are occasional offenders. Soaps and detergents cause irritant, rather than allergic, contact dermatitis.

Irritant contact dermatitis is characterized by the presence of chapping, cracking, and fissuring. Inflammation, weeping, crusting, and excoriations are considerably less prominent. The changes of irritant contact dermatitis occur most commonly on the volar aspects of the fingers, but the palms and dorsal surface of the hands, particularly over the knuckles, may also be involved. The skin is dull red and often has a shiny or glistening surface. Tingling or burning pain is present; pruritus is not prominent. The diagnosis is based on the clinical appearance and on the history of frequent exposure to soap, water, or other solvents. Irritant contact dermatitis is an occupational hazard for mothers, housewives, waitresses, bartenders, and those in the health professions. A second type of irritant contact dermatitis occurs because of moisture retention and maceration under wide rings. Thus, eczematous changes around rings may be either allergic or irritant in etiology. Patch testing to metals may be necessary to differentiate between these two possibilities.

Scabies is an infrequent cause of hand eczema. It is characterized by initial development of solitary vesicles or inflammatory vesicopapules in the web spaces. From there, eczematous changes can spread onto the dorsal surface of the hands and fingers. The diagnosis is based on this distribution pattern, evidence of contagion, recovery of the mite, and the presence of typical lesions at other body sites.

Autoeczematization (or autosensitization) is a reaction pattern in which eczematous disease elsewhere on the skin induces “metastatic” eczematous lesions at some distant site. The hands, particularly the palms and fingers, are frequently involved in this reaction. A vesicular component that resembles dyshidrosis is often present. A diagnosis of autoeczematization is likely: (1 ) if vesiculation is explosive in onset, (2) if there is minimal grouping of the vesicles, and most importantly, (3) when marked eczematous disease is found on the feet or elsewhere on the body.

The diagnosis and therapy for hand eczema are complicated because more than a single process is frequently involved. Thus, dyshidrotic eczema, allergic contact dermatitis,

and scabies are often complicated by the concomitant presence of either the itch-scratch cycle (atopic dermatitis) or irritant contact dermatitis resulting from soap and water exposure. With so many processes occurring at once, it is easy to see why many clinicians give up trying to sort out the individual processes responsible for the problem and simply label it “hand eczema.” Nevertheless, since the treatment varies with each of the processes, it is important to identify them individually. As mentioned above, where this cannot be done on the basis of history and examination, it may be necessary to use a short course of systemic steroids so that the initial characteristic changes can be identified as they recur.

more posts of interest:

• What Causes Contact Dermatitis?
• Eczema Treatment: Get Cautious, not Scared
• Skin Care- Know All About Irritant Contact Dermatitis
• Are You A Victim Of Occupational Eczema?
• What is Irritant Contact Dermatitis?

Well, summer is here again, and for most of us its a time to lay back anjoy the sun! If you are one of those people whos idea of a heavenly holiday is lazing around on the beach, soaking up the rays then there is a high probability that you will have fallen victim to sunburn at some point during your life. However, just because it’s a commonplace condition, it doesn’t mean that it can’t have serious side effects.

What are the effects of sunburn?

The best known types of ultraviolet sunlight are UVA and UVB. Too much exposure to either of these types of rays will eventually damage your skin causing wrinkles and brown spots, premature ageing , and in a few instances, serious consequences such as skin cancer.

As anyone who has experienced sunburn will be all too aware, its effects are very unpleasant indeed!. Short term exposure may result in painful burning and reddened and peeling skin. Sunstroke is much more serious: it dehydrates the sufferer and can cause high temperatures, vomiting and headaches.

The most devastating damage, however, is undoubtedly skin cancer. It is estimated that 90% of non-melanoma skin cancers and 60% of melanoma skin cancers (the more serious form) are caused by over exposure to the sun. Worryingly, melanomas are not just caused by prolonged and consistent over exposure: any episodes of sunburn, no matter how infrequent, also increase the risk due to the damage this does to your skin cells.

How can I prevent sunburn?

Whilst everyone should take precautions to protect themselves from exposure to the sun, there are some group of people who are more at risk than others:

• People with fair complexions and fair or red hair.

• People who work outdoors.

• Children: the amount of sun exposure is thought to be linked to the probability of developing skin cancer in adulthood.

The good news is that sunburn and sunstroke is entirely preventable: all you need to do is take sensible precautions and be aware of the damage that the sun can do to your body.

In hot places or during a hot day, stay out of the sun between 11am and 3pm when it is at its fiercest.

Cover up: wear a hat to protect your face and neck – the areas most commonly damaged by the sun; and wear loose clothing. Be aware that wet clothing lets through more UV rays than dry.

Use a good sunscreen with a minimum of SPF (sun protection factor) 15. Apply before going into the sun and reapply frequently throughout the day. Ensure the lotion you choose blocks UVA and UVB rays and be aware that products have a limited shelf life. No sunscreen can completely protect you from the effects of UV rays.

Keep babies and small children out of the sun completely if possible.

Do not wash yourself with soap all the time. Soap removes the oil from the skin, known as the acid mantle, that is there to keep it supple and resilient. At the same time be sure to take good quality omega 3 oils preferably together with broad spectrum (water and lipid soluble) antioxidants.

And of course..

Taking aloe vera capsules, such as Aloeride® before and during a holiday much helps the skin to stand up to a sudden change in sunlight exposure.

Aloeride can also help to rejuvenate the skin following exposure. But what is the proof that aloe vera can help sunburn beyond the fact that people have used it in this way for centuries? Other than the extensive research on burns, there is actually good quality research on the anti-ageing effect and effect on UV light exposure by Danhof, McKeown, Strickland and Yagi. But be aware, not all aloe vera products will give you the necessary molecules that help your skin to stand up to UV light or not enough of them.

more posts of interest:

• Sunburn Relief Is Here
• Guide to surviving sunburn – Part 7
• Sunburn Cure – Nature Has Your Answer
• Sunburn- How Sunburn Damages Skin?
• Guide to surviving sunburn – Part 8

Seborrheic dermatitis is one of the more common types of eczema where the oil glands of the skin are affected. Seborrheic Dermatitis affects thousands of people worldwide which can cause much frustration to the sufferer and if it is not controlled, it can significantly reduce the lifestyle quality of the person. There are the usual conventional prescribed treatment for this type of eczema, which is not guaranteed to work. To really heal from Seborrheic Dermatitis, we need to go back to basics and really understand why this happens in the first place.

Seborrheic Dermatitis is usually caused by an internal source, such as diet and lifestyle. For seborrheic dermatitis sufferers, a diet which contains too much saturated fats, processed sugars, and junk food is the major contributor to the imbalance of body system which promotes candida overgrowth. Candida overgrowth can increase histamine activity and causes an eczema flareup. Candida yeast will travel to the most vulnerable areas of a persons body and promote irritation. The weak points in an individual varies from individual to individual. With sebhorrheic dermatitis, the sebaceous glands or oil glands seem to be the most vulnerable points of attack. The most abundant areas of the oil glands in a human body are the scalp, sides of the nose, behind the ears, and the center of the chest.

The first step towards treating seborrheic eczema is change your diet. Reduce saturated fats and processed sugars in your diet as this two are the common factors which cause seborrheic dermatitis. Increase the intake of fiber in your diet. Fiber helps to eliminate candida overgrowth. Do not forget about replenish your essential fatty acids and vitamin E levels through diet as these two essential nutrients help the skin cells to retain moisture. Increase your intake of green vegetables,such as brocolli, spinach, collard and kale, which are extremely rich in minerals and fiber as well as the much needed beta carotene to boost your immune system and restoring your body system balance.

Regarding caring for your skin and scalp, go for natural skin care products that will replenish the deficient nutrients to promote the

healing. Products which contain essential fatty acid sources like borage oil or safflower oil are especially great for moisture replenishment, vitamin E for moisture replenishment and regulation of the exfoliation process, vitamin C for anti-oxidant & natural anti-histamine functions, and beta carotene sources, (like carrots or apricots), for their immune boosting properties. As there are so many of these natural skin care products available in the market, you will need to find the one which suits you. No two person have the same skin type, so what is good for one person, may not be suitable for you.

Another often neglected factor is regarding your household water system. If you have not install a good functional water filtration system to filter out chlorine and fluoride, do so now as these harmful chemicals are often the cause of irritation in sensitive skin. At one stage, a domino effect can occur. What is a domino effect? An initial cause of eczema flare up can create a more vulnerable atmosphere for the occurance of another cause. Take for example, the first cause of the seborrheic dermatitis could be due to your diet, this will weaken your body immune system and make it easy for another allergen which could be the chlorine in the water to worsen your dermatitis condition. They are both still eczema reactions: one describes more of an internal cause; whereas, the other describes a direct external cause.

The most important factor in treating seborrheic dermatitis, or any type of eczema in general, is to understand your body immune system and how it is related to how your skin works. Find out what your body needs and work to replenish those deficiency with whole food sources and plenty of pure, clean water. Most of the times you will find that the solution is much more simple to fix than what doctors would have you believe. Let’s use an analogy of a car to make things clearer. Your car often break down may be due to the wrong fuel in your gas tank. You might be using diesel fuel in an unleaded gas tank which is causing the problems. So the simple solution is to add the right fuel to the gas tank. In other words, replenish what is deficient and watch the car go. Similarly, with the human body, putting the wrong fuel, ie. food, in the body, causing deficiencies of nutrients and thus causing the body to breakdown, ie. getting diseases and sickness. If you understand this principle, the most important thing that is needed is not medication to suppress the symptoms; but rather, the right food to replenish the deficient nutrients and promote healing. This same principle applies to treating Seborrheic Dermatitis.

In conclusion, these are some of the basic but very essential steps you can take towards treating seborrheic dermatitis the natural way. Start with the right diet and half the battle is won. What is most important is to listen to your body and understand you skin and how healing can take place. With the right approach , you are on your way to natural eczema healing. Visit http://www.EczemaFreeNaturally.com for more practical tips on eczema home remedies.

more posts of interest:

• Seborrheic Dermatitis Treatment: The Basic Steps
• What Really Causes Dermatitis in Men and Women?
• Capillus Scalp Serum containing Hemp oil Treatment for Dandruff, Seborrheic Dermatitis, Psoriasis, Atopic Eczema and Itchiness 8x5ml/0,2Floz
• Atopic Dermatitis, and Other Types of Eczema
• Skin Care- Know All About Irritant Contact Dermatitis