I’ve kept a stash of Band-aids in my backpack for as long as I can remember. Not so much for cuts and scrapes, but rather for my eczema, a chronic, inflammatory condition that plagues my hands and fingers with dry, itchy patches of skin.
On the best days, my hands are just a tad dry; nothing a bit of lotion can’t fix. But the worst days bring a firestorm of vigorous itching, where I’ll scratch and scratch until my skin oozes and bleeds.
So I turn to the adhesive bandages, mostly to conceal my hands, once they’ve begun to look like something out of a zombie apocalypse film. For others with the condition, eczema can mean hiding in the bathroom during a date to scratch a persistent itch, or wearing certain types of clothes to conceal an unsightly patch of skin. Eczema, much like other skin conditions such as psoriasis, affects every patient differently, with varying degrees of severity.
For a condition that over 30 million Americans suffer from, it’s surprising how little is understood about it. We still don’t know what causes eczema, and it’s currently incurable. But scientists today are researching new treatments based on the idea that eczema is more than skin deep. Genetics and environmental conditions offer insight into how the condition can manifest. And differences at the cellular level offer hints as to why eczema seems to be linked to other conditions such as asthma and food allergies.
