Bandages and wet wraps
by Admin
Posted on 09-03-2023 08:43 PM
In some cases, a gp may prescribe special medicated bandages, clothing or wet wraps to wear over areas of skin affected by eczema. These can either be used over emollients or with topical corticosteroids to prevent scratching, allow the skin underneath to heal, and stop the skin drying out.
Try to reduce the damage from scratching
Eczema is often itchy, and it can be very tempting to scratch the affected areas of skin, but scratching usually damages the skin, which can itself cause more eczema to occur. The skin eventually thickens into leathery areas as a result of chronic scratching. Deep scratching also causes bleeding and increases the risk of your skin becoming infected or scarred. Try to reduce scratching whenever possible. You could try gently rubbing your skin with your fingers instead. If your baby has atopic eczema, anti-scratch mittens may stop them scratching their skin.
Keep your nails short and clean to minimise damage to the skin from unintentional scratching.
How to use emollients
Ensure appropriate potency of topical corticosteroid is being used. Inadequate control of the underlying atopic eczema is the most frequent cause of repeated infections. Consider antiseptic emollients / shower / bath preparations (e. G. Dermol® range) to reduce bacterial colonisation.
There is no cure for eczema but the symptoms can be managed well if appropriate treatment is used, and aggravating factors avoided. Emollients are needed to soften and moisturise the skin and steroid creams to reduce inflammation. There are also special bath creams which add moisture to the skin which should be used instead of bubble bath or soap. Antihistamines are not useful for treating eczema. More intensive treatment is sometimes needed in more severe cases. This can include ‘wet wraps’, which involve application of emollient and steroid cream covered with layers of wet wrap clothing. The aim of wet wraps is to increase the moisture in the skin and calm down the inflammation.
One of the many jobs of normal skin is to act as an effective barrier to help protect the body from harmful substances in the outside world. As the skin becomes dry, this ability to act as an effective barrier becomes impaired, allowing irritants to get into the skin and cause it to become inflamed and itchy. Therefore, the mainstay of managing eczema effectively is through the application of appropriate lotions and creams (known as ‘emollients’) to battle dry skin and avoidance of certain irritants that can cause inflammation. Education about applying emollients regularly and avoiding irritants has been shown to significantly improve the symptoms of eczema in scientific studies.
Master your bathing technique. Bathing helps to eliminate dirt and other potential irritants from your baby’s skin. When bathing your baby , use lukewarm water, and only wash your baby’s dirty or smelly parts using a mild, fragrance-free cleanser. Avoid scrubbing your baby’s skin, and limit your baby’s bath to five to 10 minutes. Immediately after the bath, apply a fragrance-free moisturizer, keeping in mind that thick creams and ointments are generally more effective than lotions or oils. Moisturize your baby’s skin twice a day or as often as necessary to achieve relief. Consider topical corticosteroids. Commonly used to treat eczema, these medications help reduce inflammation and symptoms, such as itching.
Emollients are the first-line treatments during both acute flares and remissions of the condition. The use of topical steroids should be considered for red, inflamed skin. The lowest potency and amount of topical corticosteroid necessary to control symptoms should be prescribed, depending on the severity of the flare. If there is persistent, severe itch, or urticaria, a one-month trial of a non-sedating antihistamine should be considered. If itching is severe and affecting sleep, a short course of a sedating antihistamine should be considered (if appropriate). If there is severe, extensive eczema, a short course of oral corticosteroids should be considered. If eczema is weeping, crusted, or there are pustules, with fever or malaise, secondary bacterial infection should be considered, and antibiotic treatment should be prescribed.
Mild anti-itch lotions (caladryl or calamine), or topical corticosteroids (hydrocortisone), may soothe mild, dry, scaly patches. Area where skin is thickened may be treated with ointments or creams that contain tar compounds (such as psoriasin), corticosteroids, and ingredients that lubricate or soften the skin. Oral corticosteroids may be prescribed to reduce inflammation in severe cases. Examples include prednisone (deltasone) and methylprednisolone (medrol). Rarely, in severe cases where adults have not shown improvement with oral corticosteroids, physicians may prescribe medications that suppress the immune system. Your doctor may prescribe antihistamines at night, such as diphenhydramine (benadryl), to prevent scratching. These medications may cause drowsiness.