What is Eczema?
Eczema is one of the most inflammatory conditions seen by medical dermatologists. It occurs in babies, children, adolescents, and adults, and can have a major impairment on quality of life and sleep. Identification of eczema is often the easy part, as it is almost always characterized by red, flaky, scaly patches on the skin that itch or feel irritated. These patches can weep clear / yellowish fluid if scratched and may become infected. Getting the diagnosis correct is as important, as there are so many reasons that people get eczema – from genetic reasons, to dry skin, to irritants, to things that the skin develops an allergy. For this reason, Dr. Rieder will take time to understand the process and may recommend specialized testing through his network of colleagues.
What Treatments Are Available?
Although eczema is a difficult condition to live with, we are entering into the golden era of eczema treatments. While dermatologists used to have just creams and immune system suppressing pills at our disposal, we now have other medications that are both safe and can greatly improve – if not completely clear – eczema in many patients.
