How Can You Treat Eczema In Black Skin
There are a few ways experts treat eczema, but it depends on the severity of the case. Moisturizers are one of the most important treatments, Dr. Scott says. We need to restore lost water and seal it in, so thick creams or ointments are the backbone to any eczema treatment and preventing flare ups. Consider over-the-counter options like Vanicream Moisturizing Cream or CeraVe Moisturizing Cream.
Dr. Kagha recommends reaching for a cream thats fragrance-free, bland, and thick. Using products with added fragrances can irritate the skin even more and cause the eczema to worsen.
While a heavy moisturizer can help keep moisture locked into the skin, Dr. Scott says a flare-up will often require a topical steroid. Topical steroids calm down the inflammation and help to control itch, but shouldnt be used long-term. If youre looking for a non-steroid option, talk with your dermatologist to see which option would be best for you. For severe cases that affect most of the body, one treatment option is a light-based treatment called phototherapy. Oral medications or biologic injections might be other possibilities, Dr. Scott adds.
The bottom line: Eczema may be more common on Black skin, but is often misdiagnosed. If you believe you might have eczema, schedule an appointment with a dermatologist to discuss the best next steps.
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Find An Eczema Support Group
Even though eczema is a common disease affecting more than 31 million Americans, many people say they are too embarrassed or ashamed to talk about it. Oftentimes, they report covering up their skin and thus go through life not knowing if the person standing in line next to them also has eczema. Its human nature to want to talk with others who have the same problem and know what youre going through. The National Eczema Association can help. Connect with us on and to discuss the latest news and research with others in the eczema community. Join Eczema Wise, an online support group where people living with or affected by eczema can post discussion topics, exchange ideas and make new friends.
What Questions Should I Ask My Healthcare Provider About Eczema
- How can you tell that I have eczema?
- If I dont have eczema, what other skin condition might I have?
- Is there a specific brand of moisturizer that you recommend?
- Is there a prescription cream that you can prescribe?
- How often should I see a dermatologist regarding my eczema?
- What soaps, lotions, makeup, etc. should I avoid?
- What medications do you recommend?
- What at-home treatments do you recommend?
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Eczema is very normal, very common, and very, very uncomfortable. It can affect your quality of life. At its worse it can keep you from sleeping, distract you and make you feel self-conscious in public. See your dermatologist or other healthcare provider as soon as you start to see signs of it. Explore at-home remedies and prescribed treatments.
Youre not alone! 15% to 20% of people experience eczema or another type of dermatitis at some point in their lives.
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How Can I Reduce My Risk Of Eczema
There are steps you can take that may prevent eczema outbreaks:
- Establish a skin care routine, and follow your healthcare professionals recommendations for keeping your skin healthy.
- Wear gloves for jobs where you have to put your hands in water. Wear cotton gloves under plastic gloves to absorb sweat, and wear gloves outside, especially during the winter months.
- Use mild soap for your bath or shower, and pat your skin dry instead of rubbing. Apply a moisturizing cream or ointment immediately after drying your skin to help seal in the moisture. Reapply cream or ointment two to three times a day.
- Take baths or showers with tepid rather than hot.
- Drink at least eight glasses of water each day. Water helps to keep your skin moist.
- Try to avoid getting too hot and sweaty.
- Wear loose clothes made of cotton and other natural materials. Wash new clothing before wearing. Avoid wool.
- Avoid sudden changes in temperature and humidity.
- Learn to recognize stress in your life and how to manage it. Regular aerobic exercise, hobbies and stress-management techniques, such as meditation or yoga, might help.
- Limit your exposure to known irritants and allergens.
- Avoid scratching or rubbing itchy areas of skin.
How Is Eczema Treated
There is no cure for eczema. But treatments can help with symptoms. The doctor will recommend different treatments based on how severe the symptoms are, the child’s age, and where the rash is. Some are “topical” and applied to the skin. Others are taken by mouth.
Topical moisturizers. Skin should be moisturized often . The best time to apply moisturizer is after a bath or shower, with the skin patted dry gently. Ointments and creams are best because they contain a lot of oil. Lotions have too much water to be helpful.
Topical corticosteroids, also called cortisone or steroid creams or ointments. These ease skin inflammation. It’s important not to use a topical steroid prescribed for someone else. These creams and ointments vary in strength, and using the wrong strength in sensitive areas can damage the skin, especially in infants.
Other topical anti-inflammatory medicines. These include medicines that change the way the skin’s immune system reacts.
Medicine taken by mouth. These can include antihistamines to help itchy kids sleep better at night, antibiotics if a rash gets infected by bacteria, and corticosteroid pills or other medicines that suppress the immune system.
Other types of treatment can include:
- wet wraps: damp cloths placed on irritated areas of skin
- bleach baths: bathing in very diluted bleach solution
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Eczema Coping Tips Diet
In most cases, eczema isnt caused or made worse by diet. If you notice that your eczema seems to get worse after eating a particular food, you may be an exception to this. See your doctor or dietitian for proper allergy testing and dietary advice.Never self-diagnose or you risk depriving yourself of enjoyable and nutritious foods for no good reason. Unnecessarily avoiding certain foods can lead to nutritional deficiencies.
House Dust Mite May Be A Trigger In Some Cases
House dust mite is a tiny insect that occurs in every home. You cannot see it without a microscope. It mainly lives in bedrooms and mattresses as part of the dust. Many people with atopic eczema are allergic to house dust mite. If you are allergic, you have to greatly reduce the numbers of house dust mite for any chance that symptoms may improve.
However, it is impossible to clear house dust mite completely from a home and it is hard work to reduce their number to a level which may be of benefit. It involves regular cleaning and vacuuming with particular attention to your bedroom, mattress and bedclothes.
Therefore, in general, it is not usually advised to do anything about house dust mite – especially if your eczema is mild-to-moderate and can be managed by the usual treatments of emollients and short courses of topical steroids. However, if you have moderate or severe atopic eczema which is difficult to control with the usual treatments, you may wish to consider reducing the number of house dust mites in your home. See the separate leaflet called House Dust Mite and Pet Allergy, which gives more details on how to reduce house dust mites.
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How Can Parents Help
Help prevent or treat eczema by keeping your child’s skin from getting dry or itchy and avoiding triggers that cause flare-ups. Try these suggestions:
- Kids should take short baths or showers in warm water. Use mild unscented soaps or non-soap cleansers and pat the skin dry before putting on cream or ointment. Teens should use unscented makeup and oil-free facial moisturizers.
- Ask your doctor if it’s OK to use oatmeal soaking products in the bath to help control itching.
- Kids should wear soft clothes that “breathe,” such as those made from cotton. Wool or polyester may be too harsh or irritating.
- Keep your child’s fingernails short to prevent skin damage from scratching. Try having your child wear comfortable, light gloves to bed if scratching at night is a problem.
- Kids should avoid becoming overheated, which can lead to flare-ups.
- Kids should drink plenty of water, which adds moisture to the skin.
- Get rid of known allergens in your household and help your child avoid others, like pollen, mold, and tobacco smoke.
- Stress can make eczema worse. Help your child find ways to deal with stress .
Avoid Contact With Certain Materials
Some fibers, such as wool, nylon, and others, can irritate skin and cause eczema. They also may cause overheating, which also leads to flare-ups.
Dress in breathable materials, such as cotton, and avoid wearing too many layers. Also, eliminate unnecessary layers on your bed and make sure bed linens are made from breathable fabrics as well.
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Why Eczema Patients Need Better Mental Health Support
A study in the British Journal of Dermatology revealed that atopic eczema has a significant detrimental impact on patients’ quality of life. When looking at the Children’s Life Quality Index – a measure used to assess the impact of any condition on quality of life – eczema had the second highest score, surpassed only by cerebral palsy.
“From a physical perspective the skin of course is extremely itchy, can burn or become infected. Sleep is often disturbed, leading to further tiredness and physical stress,” says Sheraz. “A factor that is often overlooked with severe eczema is the pain that can be associated with inflamed skin. Over time the skin can thicken, become discoloured or scarred. Scratching behaviour is worsened when patients are frustrated or stressed.”
A survey by the National Eczema Association revealed that more than 30% of people with eczema were diagnosed with depression or anxiety. Additionally, research published in JAMA dermatology in 2018 showed a significant increase in risk of suicidal thoughts in adults with eczema when compared to the general population.
What Is Eczema In The First Place
Eczema is a sort of umbrella term that includes a few itchy skin rashes, but it most commonly refers to the condition known as atopic dermatitis, says Laura Scott, MD, board-certified dermatologist and associate director, skin of color division at UM Frost Dermatology. It’s a chronic condition, she continues, where an overactive immune system leads to an impaired skin barrier that can cause dry, itchy skin, and even skin infections.
What makes this skin condition even more complicated is that its not the same across the board. There are actually multiple forms of eczema ranging in severity and appearance, Caroline Robinson, MD, Chicago-based board-certified dermatologist and founder of Tone Dermatology, says. It can appear as early as infancy and usually shows up on the face, elbow and knees. From there, it can eventually spread to other parts of the body.
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Tips For Healthy Eating
- As we get older, we often have smaller appetites, so tend to eat less. Its important to maintain a balanced diet, which will help to support tissue healing, particularly when the skin is broken.
- Fats, protein and zinc found in dairy foods all help healing. Vitamin C in fruit and vegetables helps combat infection.
- Its important to drink plenty of fluids, as dehydration can reduce the flow of oxygen and nutrients essential for healing.
- A balanced intake of vitamins will help to boost the immune system.
To obtain the information on this page in a PDF format, please download our Eczema in later life factsheet, below.
Health Equity In Eczema Treatments
Just because different treatment options exist doesn’t mean people are going to pursue them. According to a 2015 study published in JAMA Dermatology, cost was a major treatment barrier among the over 60,000 study subjects:
- 17.6% delayed care due to concerns about cost
- 13.1% did not seek care due to concerns about cost
- 15.7% report an inability to cover the cost of prescriptions
Furthering the divide is a new injectable biologic medication called Dupixent. It was approved in 2017 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat some 300,000 people suffering from severe eczema who havent responded to other treatments. The high cost of the druga whopping $37,000 per yearis out of reach for most, and is the subject of continued advocacy efforts between drug makers and insurance companies, according to The New York Times.
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Drink Plenty Of Water
Keeping your body hydrated can help keep your skin hydrated. Drink at least eight glasses of water per day. This will help moisturize your skin. Those eight glasses can include cups of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or your other favorite warm winter beverage.
Slice up lemons or other citrus fruits and add them to the water for a mild flavor.
Why We Need Better Care For People With Eczema
Atopic eczema, the most common form of the skin condition eczema, affects one in five children and one in ten adults in the UK. Not only does it cause the skin to become itchy, sore, dry and cracked, the discomfort and appearance can lead to considerable psychological distress – affecting people’s sleep, work and more. Despite this, many people with eczema wait many months for treatment and suffer in silence.
Reviewed byDr Sarah Jarvis MBE
22-Dec-21·5 mins read
Around 1.5 million people live with moderate or severe eczema in the UK. However, a recent report by Allergy UK and Sanofi highlights a number of problems they face when trying to access care.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines are evidence-based recommendations for health and care in England. Yet for adolescents and adults with eczema, there are no standardised guidelines to reduce the variation of timely care and treatment seen across the country. As a result, nearly half of the healthcare professionals surveyed in the report, including GPs and dermatologists, said they did not have clear guidance and support around when to diagnose and refer people with severe eczema.
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Eczema On Face: Best Creams And What To Avoid
For most of us, the last place we want to have eczema in on our face. It is our most distinguishing body part which we generally spend the most amount of time caring for. We preen it, we nurture it, and we are identified by it.
Eczema can occur on any, and sometimes every, part of the body. Unfortunately for many people, the face is the area which seems to attract the worst and prolonged bouts of eczema, bringing misery into the lives of less fortunate sufferers.
Creating sometimes disfiguring images of the person who lies underneath, the symptoms can include swollen and crusty eyelids, split mouths, shedding, and burning red skin that could fry an egg.
In actual fact, eczema on the face most commonly occurs in infants, and because the majority of people with eczema are under the age of five years old, then eczema on the face is one of the most common areas to present with this unfortunate symptom.
How Is Eczema Treated What Medications Are Used
Treating eczema can be difficult if the cause is something you cant control, like genetics. Fortunately, you may have some influence over your environment and stress levels. Do your best to figure out what triggers or worsens your eczema, and then avoid it. The goal is to reduce itching and discomfort and prevent infection and additional flare-ups.
Consider these treatment tips:
If your child has skin problems, such as eczema, you can:
- Avoid long, hot baths, which can dry the skin. Use lukewarm water instead and give your child sponge baths.
- Apply lotion immediately after bathing while the skin is still moist. This will help trap moisture in the skin.
- Keep the room temperature as regular as possible. Changes in room temperature and humidity can dry the skin.
- Keep your child dressed in cotton. Wool, silk and manmade fabrics such as polyester can irritate the skin.
- Use mild laundry soap and make sure that clothes are well rinsed.
- Watch for skin infections. Contact your healthcare provider if you notice an infection.
- Help them avoid rubbing or scratching the rash.
- Use moisturizers several times daily. In infants with eczema, moisturizing on a regular basis is extremely helpful.
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What Questions Might My Healthcare Provider Ask To Diagnose Eczema
The conversation with your healthcare provider will need to cover a lot of information. Be sure to be specific about your symptoms.
- Where is your eczema located?
- What have you used to try to treat your eczema?
- What medical conditions do you have? Allergies? Asthma?
- Is there a history of eczema in your family?
- How long have you had symptoms of eczema?
- Do you take hot showers?
- Is there anything that makes your symptoms worse?
- Have you noticed that something triggers or worsens your eczema? Soaps? Detergents? Cigarette smoke?
- Is there so much itchiness that you have trouble sleeping? Working? Living your normal life?
Summer Exposures That Are Bad For Your Skin
Aside from the weather, there are a number of activities we do only in the summer months that have the potential to worsen your skin.
For example, swimming in a chlorinated pool can wreak havoc on your skin and hair. For one thing, chlorinated water can definitely dry out your skin.
Also, to prevent skin cancer, premature aging, and sunburn, it is a good idea to use sunscreens. Because people with eczema have sensitive skin, some of the UV actives, such as avobenzone and oxybenzone, can lead to an allergic or photoallergic reaction. Photoallergy is defined as a skin reaction triggered by the combination of chemical and light exposure.
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