Treating Eczema - Diagnosis and Tests For Eczema Detection

When the symptoms of eczema show up on your skin, it is essential to schedule a visit with the doctor to establish what the problem is. General medical testing will help to identify whether your skin condition is actually eczema or something else.

An early diagnosis of eczema is usually made founded on what the skin looks like. Select areas of the body are considered to be eczema-sensitive areas, for example the face, the chest and skin creases. When skin in these areas of the body is itchy, swollen red, or dry, this will lead doctors to believe eczema is the cause.

Medical History

Doctors will want to talk about other aspects of the patient's life in order to form an improved idea of what is going on. Other items that need to be considered are a patient's dietary habits, family history, lifestyle, allergies, medications the patient is now taking and any chemicals or hazardous materials the patient is exposed to in their home environment or workplace.

The range of other information a patient should share with his or her physician takes in such thing as, when the skin condition made its first appearance; all of the condition's symptoms, circumstances where the skin condition worsens, like high stress, excess sweating or dry air.

Bloodwork

If a doctor conjectures that the skin condition is due to some allergen, then he or she will order a blood test to check for antibodies in the blood. If eczema is the cause of the symptoms, then the patient's blood will show a raised "IgE", also known as eosinophilia.

Blood sometimes additionally has to undergo a test known as a Radioallergosorbent Test (RAST) or Paper Radioimmunosorbent Test (PRIST). This test mixes the blood separately with an assortment of different allergens, then antibody levels are carefully measured. Blood that is shown to have a great deal of antibodies in it means that there is for sure an allergy to some specific trigger.

Skin Patch Test

Certain physicians will order a specialized test called a skin patch test. For this, when something is suspected to be an irritant to the skin, it is pressed to the skin, then held there with an adhesive patch. A second adhesive patch without anything on it is also applied as a baseline for comparison. Patches are left in place for anywhere from one day to two days. After that, they are removed and the skin underneath is scrutinized. If the skin is red, itchy or inflamed then probably it is the suspected irritant that the patient has allergies to.