What Can Make Eczema Flare Up

Stay Cool Avoid Sweating And Drink Enough Water

Trying to minimize sweating is an obvious first line of defense. Staying cool by avoiding excessively warm temperatures and reducing sweating are the most important strategies, Dr. Friedmann says. That might mean sticking to the shade when youre outside or staying indoors in an air-conditioned environment when the temperatures climb, Bard notes. Be sure to drink plenty of water, too. That will keep your body at a normal temperature, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . And opt for loose-fitting clothes in breathable fabrics .

How To Prevent Flares

While there is no medication currently available that cures eczema, there are a few ways to prevent and treat flares.

First, knowing your personal eczema triggers can help you make informed choices around diet and activities. Keeping a journal may help you connect certain foods, weather, products, or activities to flares.

Moisturizing your skin as much as possible can also help, as can bathing after exercising or other high-energy activities.

If your eczema is more severe, your doctor may have prescribed topical and/or immunosuppressant medications to reduce itching. Using these medicines as prescribed can help prevent eczema flares.

Get Tested To Identify Allergies

Theres a close association between food allergies and atopic dermatitis, according to the AAAAI. Specifically, food allergies may worsen an eczema flare-up, according to the AAD. If you suspect you may have a food allergy, ask your dermatologist or allergist about performing a skin prick or blood test. A patch test may also be helpful to identify any chemical or substance being applied to your skin that causes the atopic or contact dermatitis rash. The doctor will apply a number of small stickers on your back each contains a potential allergen , according to the Mayo Clinic. They will then check your skin for a reaction, typically over the course of several days. If you test positive to any of the substances, strictly avoiding that substance is key to avoiding future flares.

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Known Triggers Of Eczema

It takes dedication and perseverance to keep your eczema controlled, so you remain comfortable and trouble-free. Most sufferers work hard to figure out the known triggers. They are often a challenge to detect, and there might be more than one.

Dry Skin: This is often an annual occurrence. In the winter, your homes HVAC system usually sucks the humidity right out of the home if you run a furnace. A woodstove drys out a house even further. Also, winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling dries and damages your skin making you prone towards a breakout. Depending on where you live, the summer can become arid if you reside in locations like Arizona, New Mexico, or other desert landscapes. If your skin feels tight, then you might deal with a flare up soon.

Irritants: We live in a chemical-based society. Very few products are all natural. Take a few minutes to read the label on your laundry detergent, dishwasher liquid, or shampoo. Half the ingredients you wont be able to pronounce, but you can rest assured they are chemicals. When investigating what causes led to the outbreak, you should focus on chemicals first.

Here are just a few known irritants that you will probably find in your pantry or medicine cabinet?

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Stay Under The Sugar Limits

The World Health Organization recommends keeping your free sugar intake to less than 10% of total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams per day would provide additional health benefits.

Free sugars means monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.

If your eczema is really bad, then limiting your free sugars to below 5% of your calories or around 25g is a great place to start! I usually try to stay around or under 20g of free sugar daily.

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Try A Relaxing Activity

Explore and seek programs/activities that may be beneficial in coping up with a stress. You may start with meditation, yoga, tai chi, or other gentle exercises. Such activities are advised in addition to the other treatments implemented to manage certain stress related eczema conditions. Apart from relieving you from stress, such relaxing activities will help keep the body and mind healthy.

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Seattle Children’s Urgent Care Locations

If your childâs illness or injury is life-threatening, call 911.

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Managing Eczema And Stress

âOne of the biggest barriers in managing stress and eczema is to be able to clearly recognize what the stressor is,â states Dr. Levenberg. âA specific stressor is often challenging to identify or even change, and so a more general approach to stress reduction may be more helpful. Seek interventions that are known to lower stress and increase relaxation, such as modifying lifestyle factors, managing emotions, getting adequate rest/sleep, eating a healthy diet, and regular exercise, to name a few. Even one night of sleep loss can increase inflammation.

âIt is also essential to have a support group or friends and family for positive social relationships,â says Dr. Levenberg. According to studies, positive social interaction can play just as an important role as diet and exercise when it comes to health. In the current pandemic, it may be harder to achieve social support. However, it is essential to still ensure people stay in touch with their friends and family network in a safe, socially distanced, or virtual manner. Research shows that being socially isolated can increase the risk of inflammation to the same extent as being physically inactive in the adolescent years.

References:

1. Eczema Symptoms & Causes | National Eczema Association. National Eczema Association. https://nationaleczema.org/eczema/. Published 2020. Accessed November 9, 2020.

2. Bieber T. Atopic Dermatitis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008 358:1483-1494. doi:10.1056/nejmra074081

You Have Dark Patches Of Skin

An eczema outbreak doesnt always arrive in red and pink, especially if you have dark skin, on which redness isnt so apparent. Instead, you may see reddish-brown, purple, gray, or deep brown patches, according to the National Eczema Association. Also, African Americans are more likely to develop papular eczema, which presents with small bumps on the torso, arms, and legs, and also around the hair follicles, known as follicular accentuation. If youre not aware of these signs, you may not realize youre experiencing eczema.

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Learn To Manage Your Stress

Two of the most common triggers of eczema are emotional stress and anxiety. This response is due to your bodys fight-or-flight response that increases the production of stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline.

When your body has too much cortisol, it can affect your immune system and lead to skin inflammation. Finding ways to manage your stress and reduce your anxiety by avoiding certain situations or practicing stress management techniques, you can significantly reduce your eczema flare-ups.

Eczema Flare Up Treatment Options

Head for your local pharmacy to talk directly with the pharmacist about over-the-counter and non-prescription treatments to get detailed information. Of course, youll want to ask the druggist how to get rid of the rash and curb the itch.

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Youll probably want to avoid a costly visit to the medical clinic, so buying over-the-counter shampoos, soaps, and lotions are your best eczema flare up treatment option.

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What Causes Eczema To Flare

Eczema is a skin disease that causes itchy and uncomfortable skin. People with eczema usually show symptoms such as redness, itching, dry patches of skin, and a burning sensation on the surface of the skin. The itchiness is very uncomfortable and causes one to scratch their skin, making it even more irritated and itchy.

Eczema can affect all kinds of people. There isnt a particular age group or gender that gets more affected by eczema than others. The severity and symptoms of the disease vary from person to person depending on their skin type and how they take care of themselves. That is, what kind of products they use, what kind of food they eat etc. One should be careful to make sure that they do not dry out their skin even more, when it starts flaring up due to eczema because this could cause even further problems for them later on. That said, here are some of the common eczema triggers

One of the triggers of eczema is irritants. Irritants are products that come in contact with the skin and cause it to become red. If there is someone with sensitive skin, this will be a major trigger for them because of the fact that they would react more severely to irritants than sometimes one can even imagine. Products containing fragrances may also be triggers for some people. Examples of irritants include soaps and shampoos, fabric softeners for clothes and bedding, detergents and dishwashing liquids, household cleaners, cosmetics, including lipstick and perfumes.

Using Relaxation To Manage Eczema Stress

When it comes to relaxation and self-care, what works for one person might not work for another. Thankfully there are many options to explore. Practice deep breathing while listening to soothing music or nature sounds. Download a guided meditation app. Enroll in a yoga or tai chi class. Allot a certain amount of time each day to reading a book or cuddling with your pet. Make it a daily habit to stroll along a nature trail. Distract your mind from negative thinking with creative activities to do with your hands, such as writing, painting, knitting, baking or playing video games or chess.

Learn more about using meditation to ease eczemas itch.

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Wash Soft Furnishings Regularly To Prevent Dust Mites

While allergies are not the primary cause of atopic dermatitis, exposure to allergens like dust mites cause allergic dermatitis and itch, so this tends to flare atopic dermatitis, says Dr. Lee. Thus dust mites can be a problem for people with allergic contact dermatitis and atopic dermatitis.

If dust mites are a problem for you, there are steps you can take to minimize your exposure to them in your home. The Mayo Clinic suggests washing bed linens and curtains weekly in hot water, opting for allergen-proof bedcovers, and thoroughly cleaning your room to keep it free of clutter and dust. You may also choose to remove carpets, upholstered furniture, blinds, and unwashable curtains from your room, as these can collect dust and harbor dust mites.

Ways To Reduce Eczema

There are also many options you can take to reduce your eczema symptoms in general. First, visit your dermatologist so that they can properly diagnose you and perform tests to see what type of eczema you have and why you have eczema. There are many different types of eczema, some of which include atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, dyshidrotic eczema, and seborrheic dermatitis. There are a variety of treatment options for eczema like:

• OTC Products
• Bathing
• Prescription Products Many of these include topical creams with medications like corticosteroids, PDE4 inhibits, hydrocortisone, or topical calcineurin inhibitors to help relieve symptoms. Using hydrocortisone for eczema is a common practice and one that we explore in additional detail in our blog.
• Light Therapy
• Systemics
• Biologics

In addition to treating your eczema treatment, if you are suffering from the other common co-occurring conditions such as anxiety, depression, or auto-immune diseases, you should schedule an appointment with your general doctor as well. They will be able to offer treatments for these conditions that will help not only help them, but eczema symptoms as well. If you have questions on eczema or any other skin conditions, do not hesitate to contact us today!

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Does The Sun Make Eczema Worse

Eczema is a skin condition that can undoubtedly cause embarrassment. The unfortunate truth is that there are few to no real cures for eczema. And, the triggers of the condition are not clearly known. They tend to vary from one sufferer to the next. Suffice to say, if youre suffering from eczema, youll have to experiment with it as you go. This will ensure that youre able to find out what causes your condition to flare up and what makes it better.

Now for the matter at hand, does the sun make eczema worse? Youll find out in the thorough article Ive written below. Read on!

Practice Good Bath And Shower Etiquette

Take warm baths or showers and keep them short. Long, hot showers can dry out your skin, making it more prone to flare-ups. Use unscented bath products, and not too much of them. When youre done, use a soft towel to pat yourself dry. Dont rub. Slather moisturizer on your skin immediately after a shower, while your skin is still damp, to help your skin best absorb the moisture and lock it on.

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Skin: Condition: Infomation Antibiotics And Antiseptics

If your AE becomes wet, weepy and crusted, it may be infected and a course of antibiotics may be needed. Antiseptics, when applied to the skin alone or as part of a moisturising preparation, can be helpful in stopping the infection. Incorrect use of antiseptics can, however, irritate the skin and make AE worse. Antiseptics should not be used continuously because this can result in excessive drying of the skin.

Bathe Or Shower Daily To Keep Skin Clean

Taking a bath or shower each day can help clear the skin of bacteria as well as sweat and dust that may have accumulated over the course of the day. A study published in Asia Pacific Allergy found that children with eczema saw their symptoms improve as a result of bathing daily plus moisturizing immediately afterward in the summer months. Always be sure to wash with a mild soap that doesnt include dyes or fragrance, according to the Mayo Clinic.

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Consider Working With An Allergist

An allergist will perform a skin test. Positive results allow you to determine what foods youre allergic to, but the tests arent always conclusive for intolerances. Food intolerances can affect your body in numerous ways.

Here is an example, which is a personal experience. After consuming dairy, a lactose intolerant person can have digestive symptoms one time, then have digestive issues and a flare the next. During an active flare, a persons symptoms worsen when consuming a trigger food

Treating Eczema Rashes After Trigger Exposure

Anyone can get eczema, from newborn babies to elderly adults. While eczema may go away periodically, it is a chronic condition that can come back.

If you or a loved one has eczema, talk to your doctor. There is no cure for the condition, but as the AAAAI notes, there are over-the-counter and prescription treatments that may ease the symptoms, including:

• Emollients

In addition to treating eczema, preventing flare-ups is crucial. Prevention tips from the Mayo Clinic include:

• Choose mild cleansers and creams without dyes or fragrances.
• Manage your stress and anxiety.
• Shower in warm not hot water.
• Use a moisturizer all over your skin twice daily, especially after showering.
• Wear gloves to wash dishes.
• Wear soft gloves at night to avoid scratching.
• Use a humidifier to add moisture to the air in your home.

And, yes, identifying and avoiding your personal eczema trigger, or triggers, is an important part of your overall eczema treatment plan.

Here, discover which triggers may lead to an eczema flare-up, so you can better understand if one may be your personal trigger.

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Check Your Cosmetic Bag For Triggers

Finding cosmetics that dont aggravate atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis can be challenging. Products containing alcohol, fragrances, lanolin, or retinoids may cause eczema breakouts for many people, according to the NEA. Carefully check labels: Unscented does not mean the product does not contain fragrance it could mean the fragrance is masked. Look for fragrance-free instead. When trying out a new cosmetic, cleanser, or lotion, the NEA advises testing it on a small patch of skin and watching for any reactions after 48 hours before applying it to larger areas.