Childhood eczema medically is referred to as atopic dermatitis. This can present right from birth and can present as red , itchy, dry scaly patches present on the child’s face including the face the forehead and can even involve the back of the elbows, knees , ankles and wrists. Sometimes it can lead to a little bit of oozing and weeping of the skin. Sometimes it can have multiple reason and trigger factors. The commonest trigger factor being the food. In food you have to look for non veg food including eggs and sea food can be the culprit. Nuts are another common cause of trigger. Fruits, citrus fruits such as oranges, mosambis, tomatoes, tamarinds can be the cause, wheat, dairy products, food colouring agents preservatives can also be the culprits. So once you know what is the cause you can eliminate that food item from your diet for around of 4 to 6 weeks. Once you have eliminate that particular products, you can see how your eczema response is. Once you are getting better to the product, you can see how your eczema response to it. If it is getting better than that particular products the likely culprit. Medically also there are certain tests available such as the sin prick test, or the patch tests which help one to identify what the allergy can be due it. Once you have stopped taking the product, then you can gradually reintroduce it back to or diet and see how the eczema behaves. This has to be done with medical supervision. Sometimes reintroduction of foods can also trigger serious allergic reactions.
