Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic disease that causes inflammation of the skin, leading to the appearance of lesions and itching.
Atopic dermatitis usually affects individuals with personal or family history of asthma, allergic rhinitis or atopic dermatitis. These three illnesses are known or atopic diseases such as atopic triad.
Treatment
Homemade Skin Care
Taking care of your skin at home may reduce the need for medications.
Avoid scratching the rash or skin if you can:
• Relieve the itch by using a cold compress and taking antihistamines to reduce severe itching.
• Keep nails short children. Consider light gloves if the itching at night is a problem.
Keep your skin hydrated (with oils or moisturizers). Use ointments (petroleum jelly like), creams or lotions two to three times daily. Moisturizers should not have alcohol, perfumes, fragrances, dyes or other chemical substances. A humidifier at home also helps.
Avoid agents that aggravate your symptoms. This can be:
• Feeding a small child with eggs (always talk to your doctor before)
• Products irritants such as wool and lanolin
• Soaps and harsh detergents and chemicals and solvents
• Sudden changes in body temperature and stress, which can cause sweating and worsen the situation
• Triggers of allergic symptoms
When washing or bathing:
• Keep water contact as soon as possible and use less soap than usual. Short and cold baths are better than long, hot baths.
• Do not scrub or dry the skin too hard or for too long.
• After bathing, it is important to apply creams, lotions, ointments or moisturizers to the skin while it is damp. This helps to retain moisture in the skin.
Medicines
Antihistamines taken orally can help with the itching with any allergies you have. Typically, they can be purchased without a prescription.
• Some antihistamines can cause drowsiness, but can help reduce the itch during sleep.
• The newer antihistamines cause little or no drowsiness. Some of them are available without a prescription. These medications include fexofenadine (Allegra), loratadine (Claritin, Alavert) and cetirizine (Zyrtec).
Most causes of atopic eczema are treated with medications placed directly on the skin or scalp (called topical medicines):
• In principle, it is likely that a cream or ointment to smooth cortisone (or steroid) are prescribed. If these are not effective, you may need a more potent steroid medication. You may need different doses of steroids for different areas of the skin.
• Medicines called topical immunomodulators (IMT) may be prescribed for people over two years. Examples are topical immunomodulators tacrolimus (Protopic) and pimecrolimus (Elidel). Ask questions to your doctor about a possible risk of cancer associated with use of these drugs.
• Creams or ointments containing coal tar or anthralin may be used in thick areas.
• repair barrier creams containing ceramides
Other medications that can be used:
• oral or injected corticosteroids when the eczema is severe
• antibiotic creams or pills if the skin is infected
• injections against allergy (immunotherapy)
• oral Immunosuppressants, like cyclosporin, methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil
Prevention
Research shows that children breastfed until 4 months are less likely to develop eczema.
If the child is not fed, the use of a milk formula containing cow milk protein processed (called partially hydrolyzed formula) may decrease the likelihood of developing eczema.
Usually, eczema is genetic.
Keeping the skin well hydrated and avoiding irritants is important.