Eczema is a form of dermatitis - an inflammation of the skin. The word eczema is related to a great range of persistent skin conditions. These include dryness, rashes, swelling, itching crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing, or bleeding.

The term eczema refers to a set of medical characteristics and is used to describe the same condition to a certain number of diseases. Eczema may be described by location - hand eczema - by specific appearance or by possible cause (varicose eczema). Further adding to the confusion, many sources use the term exzema as similar to eczema. Eczema can affect people of any age, although the condition is most common in infants and eczema treatment is quite difficult. Eczema will permanently resolve by age 3 in about half of affected infants. In others, the condition tends to recur throughout life. This is also known as chronic eczema.

Eczema can be mistaken with yeast infection, or Candidiasis in medical terms. Yeast infection is a very common cause of vaginal irritation, or vaginitis, but it can also occur on the male genitals. The European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) published a position paper in 2001 which simplifies the nomenclature of allergy-related diseases including atopic and allergic contact eczemas.

Tags: eczema, excema, treatment, cure, relief, pictures, cream, natural, psoriasis, skin, remedy, medicine, children, baby