Hand eczema
Eczema is a skin disease that affects people of all ages, but for both genders the common cause is usually genetic. What body parts does eczema normally affect? Well, it can be seen almost everywhere on the skin. You can recognize eczema by the following symptoms: dryness of skin, repeated rashes, redness of the skin, skin swelling/edema, itching, crusting, blistering, flaking, oozing, cracking and even bleeding. Healing lesions could also be associated with a slight discoloration of the skin. However, scarring, very seldom accompanies eczema. The hand eczema is a very common condition. Studies indicate that 4% of men and 10% of women are affected by the condition. Apparently, hand eczema is reported in relation to some special kind of physical work being usually encountered with people with small children and with mechanics, hairdressers, surgeons, dental workers, homemakers and others. What is the common trigger in all these situations? The answer is that they work in wet environments; therefore, humidity is a favoring factor for this skin condition.
Approximately 75% of people who experience eczema are diagnosed with the type called contact dermatitis. This can be irritant or allergic although the difference is hard to tell sometimes. Hand eczema differs in severity from one patient to another but it usually becomes apparent by skin redness and dryness. Initially it appears on fingers and between them and it can become very itchy and scaly. As it happens with the other types of eczema, in time, hand eczema may also develop cracking, swelling and blisters on the skin of the hand. If left untreated the condition will gradually spread to the skin of feet and arms.
The most common cause of hand eczema is thefrequent washing and drying of the hands. Three situations favor the development of the problem: if you had previous episodes of atopic eczema, if you suffer from asthma or hay fever, and in case you have psoriasis. Fortunately there are a few things you can do to ease your hand eczema symptoms and get rid of the condition. Besides the practical advice that any health care provider will give you in such situations there are also some pharmaceutical products from which your doctor will surely select the best. Don’t hand wash dishes, use loose rubber gloves with a pair of cotton gloves inside to avoid both contact with water and detergents and sweating of the hands caused by the rubber or vinyl gloves worn directly on the hands.
