Overview of dermatitis

[Sonia]

Dermatitis (sometimes called eczema) is inflammation of the upper layers of the skin, causing itching, blisters, redness, swelling, and often oozing, scabbing, and scaling.

Known causes include dry skin, contact with a particular substance, certain drugs, varicose veins, and constant scratching.
Typical symptoms include a red itchy rash, blisters, open sores, oozing, crusting, and scaling.
The diagnosis is typically based on symptoms and confirmed by results of skin tests or skin samples or the presence of suspected drugs, irritants, or infection.
Avoiding known irritants and allergens reduces the risk of dermatitis.
Treatment depends on the cause and the specific symptoms.

(See also Itching.)
Dermatitis is a broad term covering many different disorders that all result in a red, itchy rash. Eczema is synonymous with dermatitis but is often used to mean atopic dermatitis. Skin infections, such as fungal infections, are not classified as dermatitis.
Some types of dermatitis affect only specific parts of the body (such as contact dermatitis, nummular dermatitis, stasis dermatitis, or pompholyx), whereas others can occur anywhere (such as atopic dermatitis or exfoliative dermatitis).
Some types of dermatitis have a known cause (such as allergic contact dermatitis), whereas others do not (such as nummular dermatitis).
Dermatitis may be a brief reaction to a substance, lasting for just a few hours or for only a day or two.
Despite its type or cause, dermatitis is always the skin