Severe Contact Dermatitis

Contact dermatitis is a localized rash or irritation of the skin caused by contact with a foreign substance. Only the superficial regions of the skin are affected in contact dermatitis. Inflammation of the affected tissue is present in the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin) and the outer dermis (the layer beneath the epidermis). Unlike contact urticaria, in which a rash appears within minutes of exposure and fades away within minutes to hours, contact dermatitis takes days to fade away. Even then, contact dermatitis fades only if the skin no longer comes in contact with the allergen or irritant. Contact dermatitis results in large, burning, and itchy rashes, and these can take anywhere from several days to weeks to heal. Chronic contact dermatitis can develop when the removal of the offending agent no longer provides expected relief.

Seborrhoeic Dermatitis

Seborrhoeic dermatitis (also Seborrheic dermatitis AmE, seborrhea) (also known as “Seborrheic eczema”) is a skin disorder affecting the scalp, face, and trunk causing scaly, flaky, itchy, red skin. It particularly affects the sebum-gland rich areas of skin.

Eczema

Eczema is a disease in a form of dermatitis, or inflammation of the epidermis. The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions. These include dryness and recurring skin rashes that are characterized by one or more of these symptoms: redness, skin edema (swelling), itching and dryness, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing, or bleeding. Areas of temporary skin discoloration may appear and are sometimes due to healed lesions. Scratching open a healing lesion may result in scarring. Eczema may be confused with urticaria. In contrast to psoriasis, eczema is often likely to be found on the flexor aspect of joints.

Dermatitis

Dermatitis is a blanket term meaning “inflammation of the skin” (e.g. rash). There are several different types of dermatitis. The different kinds usually have in common an allergic reaction to specific allergens. The term may be used to refer to eczema, which is also known as dermatitis eczema or eczematous dermatitis. A diagnosis of eczema often implies atopic dermatitis (childhood eczema), but without proper context, it means nothing more than a “rash”.