Vigilance for acute eczema flare-ups
Following success with The Combined Approach for chronic atopic eczema, there is the new useful habit to get into...
vigilance for acute eczema flare-ups. A daily review is recommended.
The first signs of acute relapse need an immediate response with appropriate topical treatment - emollient and topical steroid - for a few days only.
If vigilance, and when indicated, response, is maintained for several months, the frequency and severity of relapses diminishes, and the need for topical treatment gets less and less.
How can this useful habit of vigilance be best established?
We suggest link vigilance with another appropriate habit for atopic eczema: a daily bath or shower.
A daily inspection for any flare-up is best carried out when all the skin is available for scrutiny: daily bathing or showering is an ideal opportunity.
The necessary treatment for flare-ups - the Zap Pack - can be kept in the bathroom, ready for use.
To begin with the need to remember to look for acute eczema may need a prompt: print off this page and fix it to the bathroom wall.
As a new behaviour is repeated regularly, it becomes a habit: in time, taking a daily bath or a shower will be sufficient to prompt an appropriate review - and the experience of success will further reinforce the new useful habit.
SEE ALSO:
- Understanding acute eczema
- Recognising acute atopic eczema flare-ups
- Four rules for follow-up
- Topical Tip #8: Zap The Relapse!
- Cleanliness and atopic eczema