A common and widely defined kind of
dermatitis (or
skin irritation), Atopic Dermatitis is characterized by chronic
dry, flaking skin, scaly skin, redness or red rash, itchiness, bumps and scabs (largely from scratching irritated areas at night). It can appear anywhere on the body, but the most commonly affected areas are: the
face, inside crook of
elbows, underside of
knees,
nipples. It's basically full-body
dandruff - no serious impact on
health, but extremely irritating and somewhat embarassing when its visible. It is most common on fair-skinned people, especially those who had episodes of
dermatitis of any kind in infancy. It often crops up in the teen years only to gradually disappear in adulthood, but many sufferers find it to be a chronic problem that follows them throughout their life. Most people find that it comes and goes, but it is often very hard to determine the cause.
Allergies, environmental irritation (such as air quality and use of soaps and fragrances), stress and climate can aggravate it - or alleviate it. A. Dermatis is a nightmare to diagnose.
The most common treatment is topical cortisone or a corticosteroid cream, sometimes with urea or aloe. This generally clears up the symptoms, but only during the treatment - it is not a cure. Also, cortisone tends to lose effectiveness gradually over time, and has many undesirable side effects - it can cause cataracts, thin your blood, cause serious heart problems, and others beside - which make it a less than perfect solution. Many people turn to homeopathy, traditional chinese medicine, naturopathy, and other solutions in alternative medicine. Some have great success, but no one treatment has been found that has success in a significant number of cases.