The word ‘eczema’ comes from Greek words that mean ‘to boil over’. ‘Dermatitis’ comes from the Greek word for skin and both terms refer to exactly the same skin condition. For simplicity eczema is the term generally used here, although the two words are interchangeable.
Eczema is an itchy inflammation of the skin associated to a varying degree with other features such as:
redness of affected areas of skin
generally dry skin, which is often thickened in the areas that have been scratched
lumps or blisters in affected areas
signs of superficial infection such as weeping or crusty deposits.
It is important to let your doctor know if you are suffering these symptoms and which parts of your body are affected as there are several types of eczema and these may need specific kind of treatment. If you suffer from recurring episodes of eczema then it is useful to keep a diary of when and where your symptoms appear, and also your lifestyle habits, like food, medicines, cosmetics used and so on. Some of the common kinds of Eczema include Atopic, allergic contact, irritant contact, discoid, Seborrhoeic and many others.
