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| A person with eczema |
GBENGA ADENIJI writes about eczema described by experts as a chronic skin disease
Miss Dolapo Ojo noticed reddish blisters
on her skin one early morning. The blisters were at the lower region of
the left side of her face. Ojo stated that she could not explain how the
skin disease got to her face.
Ojo said her first reaction was to use a medicated soap and hot water to wash the blisters. But the situation worsened.
She added that while she was trying to
treat the infection unsuccessfully, a friend of hers advised her to use a
sulphur-kerosene solution to treat it.
According to her, she was at that point ready to heed any advice on how to cure it.
She said, ‘‘I was at the point of
embarrassment and just needed help. I used the solution but the
situation persisted until I consulted a dermatologist who offered better
treatments.’’
Ojo is lucky when compared with that of Sheriff Atobatele who said his skin burnt after he had used sulphur and kerosene.
Atobatele stated that he applied the
mixture on the affected part and left it overnight as directed only to
wake up with a peeled skin the following day.
‘‘I was surprised to see that the layer of my skin had peeled off, causing me a sharp pain at the slightest touch, ’’ he said.
This form of sulphur-kerosene treatment
is not peculiar to Ojo and Atobatele. In fact, many people with the skin
disease are comfortable with the use of the solution commonly believed
to cure eczema.
The Longman Dictionary described sulphur
as ‘‘a common light yellow chemical substance that burns with a very
strong unpleasant smell, and is used in drugs, explosives and
industry.’’
A public health physician, Prof. Tanimola
Akande, of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, said the use of
sulphur has not been tested and proven medically.
According to him, such preparation has
not been put to clinical drug trials and cannot be said to be
appropriate for the treatment of eczema.
Akande said, ‘‘Sulphur and kerosene as
used by people cannot cure eczema. This type of preparation has not been
showed through clinical drug trials to be useful. Most people apply
this to the affected part with the thinking that they can have relief.
The untrained can readily take eczema for fungal skin infection. The use
of this combination to treat eczema should be discouraged. People
should be encouraged to see their doctors or better still dermatologists
who are skin specialists for proper treatment.’’
Describing eczema as a chronic skin
disease with skin inflammation, usually with changes in skin colour in
form of redness in light-skinned people, the don added that this type of
skin disease is often accompanied with skin itching.
According to him, eczema tends to come on and off for those affected and the skin may also swell, moreso with itching.
He added, ‘‘Everybody can be prone to
eczema particularly children and those who have allergies. Asthmatics
can be prone to eczema as well. The real cause is unknown and there are
different types. Eczema is not contagious unlike fungal skin infections
which also present as chronic skin infection. It is also believed that
it can be commoner among members of same families.’’
Noting that eczema cannot be said to be
curable it controllable, Akande said the treatment is mainly aimed at
reducing the effect of the symptoms and importantly avoiding things that
triggers it if they have been identified with the affected individual.
Akande stated, ‘‘Cases can improve over
time particularly as a child grows up. Eczema skin rash may become
infected and would require antibiotics, otherwise topical skin
preparations containing steroids are often used to treat symptoms.’’
The National Eczema Society in the UK
also reiterated Akande’s position that children are particularly prone
to eczema. The society, however, added a new twist, by urging parents to
clean rather than bath their babies daily to avoid the risk of eczema.
It argued that though most parents prefer
evening bath time for their baby, such practice could increase the risk
of the children developing eczema.
According to the society, the increase in
the water level used in bathing the children can increase the number of
them suffering from eczema.
It added that too much water and ‘many bubble baths dry out skin.’
The research carried out by the society
showed that in 1940s, only four per cent of babies were diagnosed with
eczema compared to 25 per cent of babies in 2010.
Besides, there was a 41 per cent rise
between 2001 and 2005 alone. The Chief Executive of the society,
Margaret Cox, believed that the reason for the development was caused by
daily bathing of the children.
Cox in the research stated, ‘‘People
don’t realise bathing in just simple water can dry out the skin and I
don’t think many people appreciate how damaging soap can be.
“We should take bathing back to cleaning
rather than seeing it as some great experience, as I don’t think we are
doing our skin any good. Very small babies do not get very dirty other
than around their mouths and in the nappy area, so top and tailing with a
cloth and warm water every day plus a couple of baths a week should be
adequate. Older children should be bathed when they are dirty.”
In past studies, skin experts concluded
that daily bathing clears essential oils from the skin’s layer, making
it dry and exposing ‘babies skin to the risk of allergy and developing
eczema.’
Online sources credited to dermatologists
have noted that eczema otherwise called dermatitis is a general term
describing inflammation of the skin.
Some of the common types, according to
the sources, include contact dermatitis caused by contact with a certain
substance. There is also seborrheic dermatitis which is a ‘scaly
patches and red skin, mainly on the scalp.’ There is also dermatitis
herpetiformis described as ‘a chronic, very itchy skin rash made up of
bumps and blisters.’
In a study centred on eczema, the lead
author and associate professor in the Department of Dermatology at the
University of Rochester Medical Centre, Lisa Beck, said, “Over the past
five years, disruption of the skin barrier has become a central
hypothesis to explain the development of eczema.’’
Beck further said that findings of the
study challenge the belief that the top layer of the skin or stratum
corneum is the sole barrier structure.
The dermatologist added that the study
suggested that both the stratum corneum and tight junctions need to be
defective to jumpstart the disease.
Besides, the NES in response to an enquiry on whether eczema can affect an individual from childhood to adulthood, said it could affect someone all their life.
Speaking through Cox, it noted, ‘‘In the
UK at least approximately two thirds of children who have atopic eczema
find that the eczema resolves by puberty, but they will always have
sensitive skin. We don’t know if the two thirds rule applies elsewhere
as we are not aware of any relevant research data, but it is likely to.
There is no way to know who will or won’t retain the condition into
adulthood but generally speaking those who have it most severely are the
ones who retain it.’’
She further said while the vast majority
of eczema starts in early childhood, some people develop it for the
first time as adults and some people who had it as children, and whose
eczema clears up find that it comes back after several years.
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