Hand Eczema

Although people of all ages are affected by eczema, genes seem to have the final word in the spreading of the disease. Where does eczema appear? Well, unfortunately, any part of the skin is exposed to the problem. Symptoms like redness, itching, crusting, skin dryness, skin flakes, blisters and cracks make eczema easy to recognize. 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 has been reported mainly by people who work as homemakers, bartenders, mechanics, hairdressers, surgeons or dental workers, as well as by parents. What is the common trigger in all these situations? Humidity favors hand eczema and all the above mentioned categories will wash their hands very often.

eczema hands

Approximately 75% of people who suffer from eczema are diagnosed with the type known as 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 becomes apparent by skin redness and dryness. Initially it appears on fingers and between them with the possibility for the skin to become scaly and itchy. As it happens with the other types of eczema, in time, hand eczema may also lead to the appearance of blisters and cracks on hand skin. If it is not treated properly and in due time, it will probably spread to arms and feet.

eczema on hands

The most common trigger of hand eczema is therepeated wetting and drying of hands. There are three situations that show a possibility to develop hand eczema: if you had previous episodes of atopic eczema, if you suffer from asthma or hay fever, and in case you have psoriasis. Fortunately there are a few things you can do to ease your hand eczema symptoms and get rid of the condition. Practical advice should always accompany the use of pharmaceutical products. Don’t hand wash dishes, use loose rubber gloves with a pair of cotton gloves inside to avoid both contact with water and detergents and sweating of the hands caused by the rubber or vinyl gloves worn directly on the hands.

hand eczema