Dermatology Made Simple : General Management of Eczema

General Management of Eczema

Main Points/Genral Principls:

1.Treat the patient as a whole and not just the disease.

2.Quantify the psychological impact of the disease and provide support.

3.Identify the type of treatment most suitable for a patient.Some patients may find a cream or topical preparation unsuitable and would desire for tablets or systemic therapy,Others may have the opposite priority.

4.Identify the magnitude / severity of the disease.

Milder forms of disease would respond to topical preparations while the more severe ones only respond to systemic therapy.

In others such as exogenous eczema,mere removal of an allergen can cure the symptoms.

Dry Skin :

For dry skin,the following treatments maybe effective:

Emollients

Moisturizers

Active eczema:

The best treatment for active eczema is topical steroids.

For mild eczema,very low potency steroids are effective such as Hydrocortisone.

For moderate to sever eczema,potent topical steroids are effective such as: 

Mometasone,betamethasone,fluocinolone acetonide)

Other modalities:

Immunomodulators eg Tacrolimus and Pimecrolimus.

Occlusion of topical therapies with bandages.Infection should be excluded before this is being carried out.