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SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF ATOPIC DERMATITIS

Infant, children and adults have a different look of atopic dermatitis (AD). You will see the following signs and feel the following symptoms if you have AD.

Signs and symptoms of AD in:

Infants

This disease usually begins at about 2 or three months after a baby is born. On the baby’s body, you may notice the following.

  • Having a sudden rash:
  • Gives the skin a dry, scaly and itchy feeling
  • Makes scalp to form on the face or affected part of the skin
  • May bubble, ooze and send out fluids
  • Cause periodical itching
  • Always rubbing their skin against the bedding, carpeting, or any other available item to help them relieve the itch
  • Find it difficult to sleep
  • Have skin infections from the constant rubbing and scratching.

AD can occur in many parts of the skin, but the diaper region is not one of them. This region is always moist, and that is not a good place for AD to occur.

Children

Children between the age of 2 and puberty usually have the following signs and symptoms for AD:

  • A sudden rash that may make the knee and elbow to crease. They may also see AD showing up on their ankles, wrists, neck or their buttocks and legs.
  • Scaly patches which itch at the location of the rash.

After some time, AD can make the affected skin

  • Look fairer or darker
  • Develop some bumps which may look like goosebumps which do not go away
  • Look thick and leathery. This is the skin’s way of protecting itself from constant scratching
  • Itches frequently
  • Develops knots on the thickened area.

Dermatologists London call the thickened skin lichenification. This is another word for thickened skin.

Adults

AD is not common in adults as about 90% of people get it before they turn five. About 50% of people that had AD as children continue to experience symptoms that are milder during their adult age. AD in adults looks different from those of infants and children. Adults usually have AD which:

  • Is found in the wrinkled part of the knees, elbows and the nape of their neck.
  • Covers a large part of the body
  • Can look very bad around the eyes
  • Can be noticed on the face and neck
  • Can make the skin very dry
  • Can be continually itchy
  • Can make the skin very scaly; even worse than the one in infants and children
  • Can cause skin infection.

The patches on the skin tend to become very dark after AD has been present for a long time.

Those that had AD in childhood and no more in their adulthood tend to have very dry skin that can easily be irritated. Hand eczema and eczema on the eyelid and cataracts are also common in them.

At Clear Skin Clinic, we diagnose and treat atopic dermatitis. Feel free to find out more by calling our dermatologists London on 020 71833648.