Can you get eczema as an adult? This is not a silly question. Most people believe that eczema is a childhood condition and are shocked when at age 20, 30, 40, 50 or even 60 or 70 suddenly develop eczema.
Dermatologists consider eczema that develops after the age of 18yrs adult-onset atopic dermatitis. Which is just a fancy medical way of saying adult eczema. You would receive a diagnosis of adult eczema when you have never had atopic dermatitis before.
Or you may have an adult reoccurrence of eczema. Which is a fancy medical way of saying. You had eczema as a baby or child, it went away but now you are an adult it has made its unwanted return.
So now you know you can develop eczema at any age. I guess you next want to know BUT WHY?
Why does Adult Eczema suddenly appear?
Well as with all atopic conditions especially eczema. Sadly, there is no one why. Here are some of the most common reasons dermatologists suggest adult eczema can develop:
- As we age the skin does become drier which can lead to scaling and itchiness.
- Shaving can trigger dermatitis.
- Hormone changes can trigger an atopic event.
- Stressful life events like loss of a loved one.
- An immune triggered illness.
- Seasonal allergies.
- Drug reactions.
- An allergic reaction to foods.
- Product irritation, caused by soaps, frequent handwashing etc
- Decreased Vitamin D levels.
- Family history.
Any of the above events can trigger eczema to show its nasty red itchy little self. At the time of writing this there is no known way to “avoid” eczema developing.
However, the important thing to note is that you CAN get an eczema flare up under control and we can do our very best to assist with this.
This article was produced with info from the UKs National Eczema Society.
