National Eczema Week 9-16 September 2023
This week is National Eczema Week in the UK and we want to make people aware of this condition.
Individuals afflicted with eczema experience a uniquely personal condition, with a range of responses to potential triggers and treatments.
Given this variability, a period of experimentation may be necessary to establish an optimal self-management regimen.
7 Tips to help your skin
Here are 7 tips for those afflicted with this skin condition:
- Keep an ideal, cool temperature in your home around 18C is ideal to ease itching.
- Go fragrance-free. Anything with a strong scent, from air freshener to soap, may be irritating your skin.
- Mind the gap! Leave at least 10 minutes or ideally longer between applying an emollient and a topical steroid. This stops the steroid spreading to areas of skin unaffected by eczema or being diluted. It doesn’t matter which is applied first.
- Pinch itchy skin rather than scratching it. This avoids damaging your skin’s barrier.
- Use your emollients at least twice a day to prevent dryness. Use at other times whenever your skin feels itchy and dry.
- Go back to basics with your skincare regime. Check with a healthcare professional for advice on cream application and managing your eczema triggers the best way possible.
- Don’t cut certain food out of your diet without medical advice unless you or your child have been diagnosed with a food allergy. Removing certain food from your diet without support and advice may cut out on important nutrients.
Dermal Laboratories creates app to help your skin
Dermal Laboratories is an independent UK Pharmaceutical Company founded in 1963 to research, develop, and market dermatological products.
The company has over 60 years’ experience in topical innovation, developing highly effective, cosmetically acceptable and clinically proven therapies for the management of dry skin conditions.
Dermal have developed a fun educational app to help manage eczema, as 1 in 5 children in the UK affected by eczema.
The app named EmolliZoo can help children with eczema and their families gain a better understanding of eczema, their skin and the emollients used to manage the condition.
Children can learn about eczema and emollients through playing games which teach correct emollient application, and earn rewards for good emollient use.
The app also features a specific parents’ area with detailed information on eczema, emollients and advice which has been accredited by National Eczema Society.
Parents can also set up treatment schedules and application notifications, make notes and track the severity of their child’s eczema.
Download the App
EmolliZoo is available to download free of charge on the App Store and on Google Play. If you or your patients would like more information about EmolliZoo, then visit the website www.emollizoo.co.uk to find out more.
The information about eczema in this app has been accredited by National Eczema Society.
National Eczema Society does not recommend or endorse any specific products or treatments.With this week being National Eczema Week (9-16 September 2023), National Eczema Society is raising awareness of the true impact of eczema.
Their More than “Just an Itch” campaign will highlight the debilitating nature of eczema and its profound effect on people’s lives, shining a light on the mental health impacts of eczema that are so often overlooked.
See eczema.org for more information.
If you are having problems with a skin condition, contact the reception of your local GP surgery so they can signpost you to the right service.
