The term eczema refers to an inflammation of the skin which results in the formation of vesicles or pustules. It is a common and troublesome condition of the skin. The disease has a wide variety of forms, the majority of them being of chronic variety.

Eczema is also called dermatitis. Primary lesions may include papules, erythematous macules, and vesicles which can coalesce to form patches and plaques. In severe eczema, secondary lesions such as weeping and crusting may predominate.

Long standing dermatitis is often dry and is characterized by thickened and scaly skin.

The histologic changes correlate with the clinical findings. The histologic features of dermatitis have been divided into three patterns: acute, sub acute and chronic. Acute dermatitis shows a mixture of epidermal and dermal edema, epidermal vesiculation and a mono-nuclear cell infiltrate.

Chronic dermatitis demonstrates epidermal acanthosis, hyperkeratosis, upper dermal fibrosis, and a predominantly perivascular mono-nuclear cell infiltrate. Mixtures of these two histologic reaction patterns occur in sub acute dermatitis.

Any of these patterns may be associated with the various clinical forms of dermatitis, and the histopathologic findings are rarely diagnostic.

Symptoms

Eczema in its acute form presents redness and swelling of the skin, and the formation of minute vesicles. If the vesicles rupture, a raw moist surface is formed, from which a colorless discharge oozes, forming crusts on the skin where it accumulates. The main symptoms are inflammation with redness of skin, itchy, dry, brittle and thinness of skin. The symptoms usually worsen at night. The skin itches at all stages and it is one of the most trouble some feature of eczema and it is constant.

Its symptoms are scaly and fissured condition of the cuticle and a sticky watery discharge. There is itching or even pain. This kind of skin afflicted with inflammations pave way to the easy affliction of pathogens. However, the skin inflammations are always found to aggravate with stress. One has to find ways to get rid of stress to avoid worsening of the condition.

It is essentially a constitutional disease, resulting from a toxic condition of the system and failure of the human system to excrete the poisons from the various orifices of the body. Other causes include faulty metabolism, constipation, nutritional deficiencies, menstrual stress, jealousy, frustration and a host of other emotions. Suppressive drug treatment of another disease is also a potent, subsidiary causative factor in many cases.

Herbs useful in Atropic dermatitis

Certain herbs when used in the form of washing lotions are found to be useful in treating this skin disease. These include water in which Neem leaves have been boiled, rice starch water obtained by decanting cooked rice and turmeric water prepared by boiling water to which turmeric powder has been added.

Diet and other measures

The patient should have a well balanced diet. One should include fruits, vegetables and nuts in their diet. He should avoid beverages like tea, coffee and also alcohol. He should also avoid all condiments, sugar, white flour products, denatured cereals and highly flavored dishes. Exposure to sunlight is also beneficial as it kills the harmful bacteria.

The patient should get as much as fresh air as possible. Restrictive clothing should not be worn. Drink plenty of water. Those who develop allergic reactions to certain soaps and bars are advised to avoid such allergens. It is recommended to bath in cold or warm water and not in hot water. Soaps should be used sparingly while taking a bath. Baby soaps are preferable. The patient should avoid using detergents with his hands. Avoid scratching of the skin even if it itches.

Too much of heat and sweat can make your skin itching. Try to avoid such activities that make the skin sweat too much. Applying moisturizers in such cases would be beneficial for the skin. It will also keep the skin hydrated and reduce dryness of the skin. Too much of dryness usually causes itching of the skin.

Hence Doctors recommend using mild soaps and plain water to avoid dryness of the skin and to keep the skin free from itching. Also wearing cotton fabrics would be pleasant rather than synthetic fabrics as it would be more irritating for the skin.

Herbal Pack for Atropic dermatitis

• Kaishore guggulu – 2 tablets twice daily

• Neem Capsules – 2 capsules twice daily

• Gandhak Rasayan – 2 tablets twice daily