Infant Eczema – Disease And Disorder Of The Skin

The word eczema is derived from the Greek meaning to boil over, describing the bubbly and hot appearance of active eczema. The words eczema and dermatitis mean the same, referring to a particular type of skin inflammation, which has potentially multiple different causes.

More specifically, atopic eczema refers to a very characteristic itchy skin rash, which typically starts in infancy or childhood. It tends to affect different parts of the skin at different stages of the persons development, but at some point usually involves the skin creases (flexures) of the arms and legs.

It is more common in those with a family history of atopic eczema, asthma or hay fever. Eczema is a complex disease and multiple factors contribute to its development. However, genetic factors play a big role and various environmental triggers (for example, the house dust mite, bacterial toxins, hard water, climatic factors, air-borne allergens and pollution) may aggravate it.

Eczema tends to follow a fluctuating course. You can expect the childs eczema to flare at times when he/she is stressed, for example, by teething pain.