How to Manage Your Eczema
The first thing to know when you consider how best to deal with eczema is that everyone is different. Eczema has many possible causes, including genetic predispositions. As a result, it’s a great idea to seek professional help to manage eczema for customized, targeted care, including diagnosis, exacerbating factors, and treatment.
Eczema is not unusual – almost one-third of Americans are affected – but it’s not simple either. In fact, “eczema” is a generic term that encompasses a variety of different disease processes. Eczema can appear red or not, itchy or not, cracked skin or not. And did we mention that symptoms can vary depending on age? It may be caused by a hitch in the immune system, called atopic dermatitis, or simply by irritants such as smoke, pollen, and cleaning supplies, true allergic contact dermatitis, or eating nuts or dairy. Hardly sounds like one condition, does it?
Quality skin care and appropriate treatment can minimize or eliminate eczema symptoms and prevent the more serious consequences of unmanaged eczema, such as infection and scarring, sleep disruption, and even a shrinking social life from the self-consciousness that may result. But with so many causes and effects, how can you know which kind of treatment works best for you?
A Professional View of a Common Problem
The kaleidoscope of eczema’s symptoms and causes is a great reason to get a professional’s point of view when you set out to manage your eczema. Imagine how frustrating this disease can be if you’re unaware of the specific cause or overlooking an aspect of the symptoms. At Dermatology Consultants, our board-certified dermatologists are highly trained and have focused for decades on helping people reduce the appearance, discomfort, and disruption that eczema can cause.
A discussion of your symptoms, insights into your family’s experience with eczema, and evaluation of specific triggers for your eczema outbreaks all go into your professional’s assessment. Together, they can lead to possible testing and effective treatment for your particular type of eczema. Without this analysis, the results you can expect from “shooting in the dark” for relief from eczema are likely to be limited.
Many eczema treatments, particularly topical over-the-counter solutions, offer only temporary relief. Targeted prescription care and specific recommendations for products to use and avoid, as guided by your board-certified dermatologist, is the most effective route for a satisfying treatment result.
As a potential aspect of your treatment plan, ask us what light therapy – particularly narrow-band UVB treatments – might offer you. Our team at Dermatology Consultants includes experienced professionals who can give you those perspectives and offer you the options best suited to your own goals and situation. Just contact us to get started.