subject: Dealing With Eczema Issues [print this page] When eczema symptoms are displayed on your skin surface, it's critical to schedule a visit with the doctor to establish what the real problem is. General medical testing will help to identify whether your skin condition is actually eczema or something else.
An early eczema diagnosis is typically made depending on what the skin looks like. Select areas of the body are considered to be eczema-sensitive areas, for example the face, the chest and skin creases. When skin in these areas of the body is itchy, swollen red, or dry, this will lead doctors to believe eczema is the cause.
Medical History
Doctors will wish to discuss other aspects of the patient's life to form a strong idea of what's going on. Other items that need to be considered are a patient's dietary habits, family history, lifestyle, allergies, medications the patient is now using and any chemicals or hazardous materials the patient is exposed to inside their house or workplace.
The range of other info a patient must share with his or her physician such thing as, when the skin condition made its first appearance; all of the condition's symptoms, circumstances where the skin condition worsens, like high stress, excess sweating or dry air.
Bloodwork
If a doctor discovers that the skin disorder is because of some allergen, then he or she will order a blood test to check for antibodies in the blood. If eczema is the cause of the symptoms, then the patient's blood will show a raised "IgE", also known as eosinophilia.
Blood sometimes additionally has to undergo a test known as a Radioallergosorbent Test (RAST) or Paper Radioimmunosorbent Test (PRIST). This test mixes the blood separately with an assortment of different allergens, then antibody levels are carefully measured. Blood that's known to have plenty of antibodies within in it means that there is for certain an allergy to some certain trigger.
Skin Patch Test
Certain physicians will order a specialized test called a skin patch test. For this, when something is suspected to be an irritant to the skin, it is pressed to the skin, then held there with an adhesive patch. A second adhesive patch without anything on it is also applied as a baseline for comparison. Patches are left in place for anywhere from one day to two days. After that, they are removed and the skin underneath is scrutinized. If the skin is red, itchy or inflamed then most likely it's the suspected irritant that the patient has allergies to.
