There are fundamentally two main medical causes of eczema. The most common of these is the skins response as an organ to allergens of all forms. The second most common medical cause of eczema can be caused by systemic conditions such as cancer, lupus or some form of infection of the skin. These infections can be fungal or bacterial.
Allergic Reaction
Text books list hundreds of allergens capable of being the primary medical cause of eczema. From gasoline to shampoo almost any chemical can cause skin irritations. Skin irritations are often known as dermatitis or eczema. Hence, there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of medical causes of eczema resulting from an allergic reaction. One’s body can even change over time such that a favored lipstick or cosmetic may suddenly result in ungainly rashes. As the body ages and is exposed to the environment it changes.
Examples of allergic reactions can include the skin’s reaction to base metals such as copper, zinc or to some of the so called precious metals such as gold or silver. There are many first time wearers of jewelry that all of a sudden break out in a purple or bright red rash in the area that the jewelry is being worn. All though the medical causes of eczema resulting from jewelry is pretty obvious, there are those that might put metaphysical meaning into rashes caused from wedding bands or expensive jewelry prophesizing love everlasting. The medical cause of eczema in this case is the combined chemical reaction of the skin and the metals in the jewelry. Sometimes this reaction can be stimulated by chemicals on the skin from our environment, or the composition of our own excretions and sweat. The primary mechanism in limiting the extent of the irritation is to make sure that there is very little moisture anywhere near the contacting surfaces. Although there are some folks who will still exhibit an allergic reaction even when there is no moisture of excretion to provide the medium, it is certainly relatively rare.
Another frequent medical cause of eczema is the reaction of the body to certain plant chemicals. Of course the most famous forms of these reactions are those nasty, nasty rashes that result from Poison Ivy or Poison Oak. There are less severe reactions but all are clear examples of what is known as contact dermatitis.
Infections
Infections result from yeast, fungus or bacteria causing an inflammation on the skin’s surface or actually in the skin itself. These can be the primary medical cause of eczema or they can even be the secondary result of inflammation resulting from allergic reactions.
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