Eczema is a frustrating and uncomfortable ailment that affects more people that most know. It is thought that up to 20% of the children of the world have eczema and that about 8% of the adults of the world also suffer from eczema. The thing is that most of the affected individuals do not know that they have eczema since they have not had an outbreak. Even the majority of the persons that have had an eczema outbreak did not know that they had an eczema outbreak. The reason is that not all of the persons with eczema have severe cases. Eczema can come in any severity along the spectrum from really mild eczema to extreme eczema. To make matters worse there are a number of different types of eczema, about seven types. These seven types of eczema are caused by different things and knowing which you have and what causes it is half of the battle. We have covered other types of eczema in previous articles and in this article we will cover allergic contact dermatitis. Take this eczema information as a supplement to you other research. If you feel that you have eczema consult with a doctor to find out for sure. Do not use this as medical advice since it is not.

Allergic contact dermatitis is a type of eczema that occurs when your body reacts negatively to something that is in regular contact with your skin. This type of eczema develops over along period of time and happens after consistent and repeated contact with the bothersome items. The things that can cause this type of eczema are things like specific metallic things, certain fabrics in clothing or linens and other materials like latex. Latex is a very common material that causes the allergic contact dermatitis version of eczema. Costume jewelry can often be a culprit of the eczema type allergic contact dermatitis.

An easy way to stop this form of eczema is to discontinue contact with the affecting material. If you notice that a particular watch is causing your outbreak then switch watches to a different type made of a different material to see if it eliminates your allergic contact dermatitis. Allergic contact dermatitis seems to be an easy type of eczema to get rid of and seems not to needs any crazy medication or doctors assistance. If this is the type of eczema you have then we are happy for you as there are many worse types of eczema to have.

The causes of dermatitis are poorly understood and are still the subject of active research. It is shown in the research that it develops as a result of interaction between our immune system, the environment, and genetics. The immune systems of the people with this condition are very sensitive and they are more prone to react to numerous irritants and allergens. Most people who have dermatitis have a family history of allergic conditions.
   
A genetic predisposition may be aggravated by factors such as infections, food allergies, temperature, irritating chemicals, stress and humidity. In response to extreme temperature and humidity, dermatitis tends to flare-up. Sweating and psychological stress are other causes of dermatitis flare-ups.

Other causes of dermatitis are irritations. It seems to have the capacity to change the epidermal structure by allowing immunoglobulin E activity to increase. Even after the exposure to allergen has ended or even after it has been systematically controlled, the chronic skin irritation will consequently continue.

Causes of Dermatitis Unknown

Since the causes of dermatitis are still unknown, several theories attempt to explain its pathogenesis. Causes of dermatitis probably represent more than one condition.
Underlying metabolically or biochemically suggests that induced skin disorder is genetically linked to elevate serum immunoglobulin E levels and is one of their theories, regarding the causes of dermatitis while defective T-cell function is the other theory.

Causes of dermatitis or the triggers of dermatitis include a number of health conditions, genetic factors, allergies, and irritants, mental and physical stresses. Wet working is one of the main causes of dermatitis. Direct contact with one of many irritants or allergens results to contact dermatitis.

Different substances cause dermatitis to develop in different people and allergic reactions are genetically determined. When you have burns and sunburn, these will increase the risk of dermatitis. The process and causes of dermatitis involved are much clearer, although little is known about what makes people susceptible to allergic dermatitis.

The Three Main Types of Dermatitis

The three main types of dermatitis are atopic, contact allergy and contact irritant. These all have different triggers, although some are similar. Atopic dermatitis is a genetic disorder that is influenced by environmental factors. But little is known what makes people susceptible to allergic dermatitis. When a highly reactive chemical substance comes into direct contact with the skin, allergic contact dermatitis occurs. Nummular dermatitis usually occurs in cold weather and is common to people with dry skin. The root causes of all these are still unknown.

Dermatitis is one of the most common skin diseases of our times that more and more become affected by it especially when they get to be in contact with some chemicals that could trigger itchiness, rashes, and other symptoms of irritant contact dermatitis.  What is so worrying and disturbing about having this kind of skin condition from time to time is that it spares no one, meaning it could affect babies and children who as we all know are very delicate that is why we only do whatever we can to protect them.

On the other hand, here are some facts that you should know about irritant contact dermatitis to help us educate ourselves about its cures and symptoms. And once that we have known more about irritant contact dermatitis, you would immediately know how to prevent them and take care of yourself and your baby’s skin as well.

How Does It Occur

Though some of you may not really be familiar about irritant contact dermatitis, it usually occurs when chemicals or any other physical agents damage the surface of the skin faster than the skin is able to repair the damage.  Usually, when that occurs, what happens to the affected skin is that it appears to have a glazed surface or that there may be redness, itching, swelling, blistering, and scaling on the damaged area which is by the way, very noticeable and hard to ignore.

But on the other hand, the severity of irritant contact dermatitis usually depends on different factors like the amount and strength of the irritant agent that affected the skin.  Another factor is the length and frequency of exposure of the person to the irritant, skin susceptibility which usually refers to the texture of your skin and if you have been affected by it before, and lastly, the environmental factors also plays a big part.

How Damaging Is It

Contrary to the popular belief that irritant contact dermatitis is hereditary, it could really affect anyone as long as you get exposed to different kinds of physical agents that may be very irritating for your skin that at first, you may thought that you are just having an allergic reaction.  Agents like water, alkali, detergents, acids, metalwork fluids, and even friction could cause for your skin to be affected by irritant contact dermatitis.

What really happens to your skin is that irritants damage the affected area by removing oils and moisture from its outer layer, allowing the irritants to penetrate more deeply and cause further damage by triggering inflammation and other symptoms.  And if this happens, it is best that you contact your doctor immediately to know what would be the best cure for your skin condition.