Eczema is a skin disease that affects people of all ages, but for both genders the common cause is usually genetic. What body parts does eczema normally affect? Well, unfortunately, any part of the skin is exposed to the problem. You can recognize eczema by the following symptoms: dryness of skin, repeated rashes, redness of the skin, skin swelling/edema, itching, crusting, blistering, flaking, oozing, cracking and even bleeding. Besides these, occasionally, temporary skin discoloration might appear due to lesions that have already healed. However, scarring, very seldom accompanies eczema. From all the possible manifestations, hand eczema is pretty frequent. Studies indicate that 4% of men and 10% of women are affected by the condition. Apparently, hand eczema is reported in relation to some special kind of physical work being usually encountered with people with small children and with mechanics, hairdressers, surgeons, dental workers, homemakers and others. What do all these people have in common? Humidity favors hand eczema and all the above mentioned categories will wash their hands very often.

Approximately 75% of people who experience eczema are diagnosed with the type called contact dermatitis. This can be allergic or irritant and it is difficult to make the difference between them sometimes. Hand eczema varies in severity from one patient to another but it usually begins with mild dryness and a little redness. Initially it appears on fingers and between them and it can become very itchy and scaly. Like the other types of eczema, in time, hand eczema may also develop cracking, swelling and blisters on the skin of the hand. If left untreated the condition will gradually spread to the skin of feet and arms.

The most common trigger of hand eczema is thefrequent washing and drying of the hands. There are three situations that show a possibility to develop hand eczema: if you had atopic eczema in your childhood, if you suffer from asthma or hay fever, and if you have psoriasis. Hand eczema can be eliminated if you pay attention to the following elements. Practical advice should always accompany the use of pharmaceutical products. It is good for you to try to avoid washing dishes by hand, but if this is not possible, in case you wear gloves, make sure to put a cotton pair under the rubber one so as to avoid the hand irritation because of detergents or synthetic glove material.

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