Eczema – your one-stop health guide

Do you know how to tell the difference between nappy rash and eczema?

Whether you’re worried your baby or child might have eczema, or they’ve been diagnosed and you need more info on treating and living with eczema, we’ve got vital info and advice to help.

• Babies with eczema - causes, treatments and triggers - how to tell if your baby has eczema, what to do if they're suffering, plus treatments and ways to avoid eczema triggers.
• Eczema - what is it and how can you treat it? Understanding your toddler or child’s eczema, plus how to treat it and prevent flare-ups.
• Your baby's rashes and spots – how to tell the difference between eczema, measles, chickenpox, heat rash, nappy rash and molluscum, and what you should do to treat them.
• Atopic eczema - the symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment of atopic eczema, plus one mum’s struggle with eczema, when her daughter was diagnosed at 6 weeks of age. Atopic eczema is the most common form of the condition, and it mostly affects children.
• Contact dermatitis - the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of contact dermatitis.
• Discoid eczema - the symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment of discoid eczema. Also known as nummular eczema, this type of eczema is rare in children and tends to develop in adults.

Eczema in the news headlines

• Fish may prevent eczema – in 2008, after tracking the health of children from 5,000 families, Swedish researchers said introducing fish to babies early could reduce the risk of eczema by a quarter.
• Apples and fish in pregnancy may prevent asthma and eczema – mums-to-be who eat fish one or more times each week could be reducing their child’s chance of suffering eczema, said researchers at the University of Aberdeen in 2007.

Getting more help with eczema

For more support, you can call the National Eczema Society’s freephone helpline on 0800 089 1122, Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm. You can also email the helpline at helpline@eczema.org