‘Eczema’ is often the term used for the dry, scaly, itchy skin conditions affecting one in five children and one in twelve adults. Derived from the Greek word ‘ekzein’ meaning to boil, eczema can be a synonym for dermatitis presenting in a number of ways on different parts of the body.1

The National Eczema Society lists eight common forms:1

·       atopic: the most common, usually affecting skin flexures (eg knees, elbows or armpits); children especially experience it, often but not always growing out of it by adulthood.

·       contact: a response to irritant chemicals or allergens, it is the most common work-related skin condition, affecting 9% of people.

·       adult seborrhoeic: affecting sebaceous glands especially on the scalp or side of the nose, it often first appears as dandruff-like flakes, but becomes inflamed and crusted.

·       infantile seborrhoeic: appears as cradle cap up to six months after birth, but it can affect other parts of the body, including the face, flexures and nappy area.

·       discoid: usually affecting adults, dry skin appears as coin-sized discs of itchy, inflamed skin, often oozing pus and becoming crusty.

·       pompholyx (or dyshidrotic): initially appears as very itchy, watery blisters on the palms, but then dries out so the skin cracks and bleeds; nail bed skin may also swell.

·       asteatotic: affecting mainly adults aged over 60, the skin surface dries and cracks resembling ‘crazy paving’ and usually starting on the shin.

·       varicose (or gravitational/stasis): a lower limb condition associated with poor circulation, typically seen in older women, but can appear from the teens onwards.

Dermatologists would like more accuracy in eczema terminology if it is atopic. Following a recent International Eczema Council survey, dermatologists are calling for “physicians in all specialties and in every country to shift their own use of terminology to atopic dermatitis (AD) or atopic eczema (AE) in writing, presentations and discussions with patients and other health care personnel as a first step.”2