Nothing will send more shivers down the spine of my husband, an emergency physician with over three decades of experience, than an infant with a rash! “Pediatric Pearls” has visited the integrative approach to common rashes (November 2020) in the past, but the topic of pediatric eczema requires its own space and place. So, why do bumps on a little one’s skin make a grown man cry like a baby?
The very term “eczema,” encompasses many other varieties of dermatidities, promoting confusion from its nomenclature. The historical naming of this disorder is attributed to ancient physicians, said to have given the name to “any fiery pustule on the skin.”1 The word likely derives from the Greek word, ekzema, meaning “something thrown out by heat,”2 which creates a strong visual image of the appearance of an eczematous eruption. The actual term “eczema” refers to a group of inflammatory skin conditions in the same family, including nummular eczema, atopic/contact/dyshidrotic/seborrheic dermatitis, and lichen simplex. The most commonly used term in pediatrics is atopic dermatitis (AD), which is also the most common inflammatory skin condition of childhood. It is defined as an often chronic and relapsing disease, usually beginning in infancy or childhood, and can be the beginning of the ‘atopic march’ (followed by allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma).3
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