If you or a loved one suffer from eczema, then you’ve probably asked this question: “Will it ever go away?”
If you do what we humans do best in this day and age, you Google it, then you will find an answer… and then another answer… and another answer. You will find as many answers as you have time to read! And many of those answers you’ll find will be contradictory. So is it all true?
Bad News First
A recent study showed that chances are your eczema will not go away. In this recent study from the Journal of the American Medical Association, determined that the majority of children with atopic dermatitis (eczema) grow up to be adults with eczema. In this most recent study however, the long-term medical records of 7,157 patients who have eczema were evaluated. The authors found that atopic symptoms lessened only after age 20 in these patients. They found that at every age (anywhere from 2 to 26 years) greater than 80% of the patients who had eczema were using medication to treat their disease. In fact, by the time patients reached the age of 20, almost half of them finally had one 6-month period where in they did not require treatment. Unfortunately, if you have eczema you’ll probably be treating it long after childhood.
The Good News!
In light of this discouraging research, I want to shed some light on some encouraging research too: eczema can be prevented in many cases!
A recent study from Oregon Health Sciences showed that treating the infant children of parents or siblings who had eczema with a hypoallergenic moisturizer, like those you can find in the TrueLipids Sensitive Skin Care line, actually prevented the development of eczema in a significant number of the babies.
In my clinical experience, I see this on a regular basis. My patients are able to get their eczema under control and are able to keep it at bay. In fact, when a very young child has very mild eczema, if we treat it aggressively and get it under control, then we can then maintain it with products from TrueLipids Sensitive Skin Care, and the eczema often doesn’t come back.
In my experience, the older the child and the more severe their disease, then the more aggressive, persistent and dedicated to getting the eczema under control one must be! This is what I call the “eczema lifestyle”. If you can be persistent enough to get it under control, you will find it is well worth the extra work.
I see patients resume normal activities in their lives all the time once they can keep their eczema under control. They can resume wearing shorts, skirts, and even shoes! These are the finer details of life that most of us take for granted, but for those who suffer from eczema, the simple privilege of shoe-wearing must be earned by hard work and perseverance.
