The Causes Of Eczema

Eczema is a skin condition that affects the lives of many people, it can be quite distressing as it can affect your physical appearance. Before the condition can be successfully treated, it is important to firstly establish the causes of the condition. Treating the symptoms will do nothing if the underlying causes remain, all problems no matter what they are should be tackled at the root.

Eczema is known as an 'auto-immune' response, it's actually the body's response to attempt to remove what the body sees as a foreign threat. Research has suggested that there can be a variety of different causes for the condition, including intolerance to certain food-stuffs, or just because of a poor diet. Allergies to certain types of food can adversely affect the immune system, which can ultimately lead to an increase in the frequency of auto-immune reactions, in particular eczema. If you are suffering from allergy-induced eczema, it is highly possible that simply eradicating that food from your diet will be sufficient to stop your suffering!

Many sufferers are completely oblivious as to what causes their condition, although the vast majority of people are willing to seek help in any way they can. With just a small amount of effort you can train yourself to discover which foods make your eczema worse and which make it better, you can discover this using trial and error testing. If you can find out what makes your eczema bad then perhaps you can reduce the need for any medical intervention.

At one time, it was proposed that eczema may stem from deep emotional triggers such as stress and depression. Although these conditions certainly make the symptoms of eczema worse, now scientists think that these have no direct link to eczema. Eczema can also for a variety of completely unrelated reasons.

Many children who suffer from this condition get upset because the other children might avoid them. I myself suffer from psoriasis, which is very similar to eczema, I remember at school everyone asked me if it was contagious. Well contrary to popular belief, eczema is not contagious, so there's no reason to avoid any sufferers!

There are a wide range of factors which can contribute to the severity of a sufferer's eczema. Firstly, the habitat and environment in which the sufferer lives can have a marked impact on the severity of their condition. People that live in dryer, warmer climates tend to suffer from more severe symptoms. Diet can also affect the symptoms experienced by eczema sufferers. It is common to find sufferers with low levels of amino acids and fatty acids in their diets, which can contribute towards restricting skin growth and repair. The use of fragranced grooming products can irritate the skin and can cause the skin to dry out, this can ultimately cause the eczema to itch. To reverse these factors, it is important to ensure the environment is as humid as possible, the sufferer should eat a healthy balanced diet, and also avoid using perfumed products until the condition has been fully resolved.

It is also possible for eczema to stem from a bacterial infection, which can cause a reaction within the immune system which can trigger the condition. It is therefore important to consult your doctor regularly to help to identify the cause of your symptoms, and to treat them at source to avoid the spread of your eczema.