Hand Eczema
Although people of all ages are affected by eczema, genes seem to have the final word in the spreading of the disease. What body parts does eczema normally affect? Well, unfortunately, any part of the skin is exposed to the problem. 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. Besides these, occasionally, temporary skin discoloration might appear due to lesions that have already healed. However, scarring, very seldom accompanies eczema.
From all the possible manifestations, hand eczema is pretty frequent. 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? Humidity favors hand eczema and all the above mentioned categories will wash their hands very often.
Approximately 75% of people who suffer from eczema are diagnosed with the type called contact dermatitis. This can be irritant or allergic and it is difficult to make the difference between them sometimes. Hand eczema varies in severity from one patient to another but it usually becomes apparent by skin redness and dryness. Initially it manifests between fingers and on them and it can become very itchy and scaly. Like the other types of eczema, in time, hand eczema may also develop blisters and cracks on hand skin. If it is not treated properly and in due time, it will probably spread to arms and feet.
The most basic cause of hand eczema is therepeated wetting and drying of hands. There are three situations that show a possibility to develop hand eczema: if you had previous episodes of atopic eczema, if you suffer from asthma or hay fever, and if you have psoriasis. Hand eczema can be eliminated if you pay attention to the following elements. Practical advice should always accompany the use of pharmaceutical products.
It is good for you to try to avoid washing dishes by hand, but if this is not possible, 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.
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