Baby Eczema Explained
Many parents worry about baby eczema. This dermatological problem affects the skin on the neck, the face, the upper chest and the scalp during the first months of life.
Later on it may appear on the shins and forearms as well. Many factors related to baby eczema require great care and attention. Watch out for blisters that could break or leak and for extensive skin dryness. If the baby’s condition is really serious, it may involve the whole skin. Normally, the diaper area, the nose and mouth parts remain unaffected by the condition.
If the areas of skin on the forearms and shins are thickened between the ages of twelve and eighteen months, parents should not be worried since this happens due to babies are crawling a lot.
The symptoms common to eczema, dermatitis and to baby eczema implicitly include skin scaling, inflammation and reddening of the dermis and even cracking. Though eczema may appear almost anywhere on the body, in babies it mainly appears on the scalp, chest, and forehead as well as around joints. In very severe cases, baby eczema can be so annoying by the itchiness that it will cause discomfort during sleep and keep the baby awake and crying.
Many babies get the condition known atopic eczema which is usually hereditary. This condition tends to occur and develop somewhere around the age of two or three months. Atopic eczema represents an oversensitivity of the immune system with reactions of the sufferers to environmental aspects that normally do not elicit an immune response. The hereditary dimension of baby eczema is far from being clear; for the moment, the causes that trigger this dermatological condition remain only partly explained.
Another situation when infants develop baby eczema results from the prolonged exposure to a specific allergen.
The treatment of baby eczema shares specificity with that for allergies; yet, there is not just a single all-valid remedy, and doctors usually prescribe more complex combined treatments. Fortunately several treatments and remedies have been developed and so far they’ve been really good at alleviating eczema symptoms.
These remedies for baby eczema include moisturizing, careful bath times, avoiding detergents, using cotton clothes, being careful about the babies diets, and keeping pets away. Besides, make sure your baby’s environment is dust free, and always cut the baby’s nails short to reduce scratching.