What’s the difference between eczema and atopic dermatitis?

Doctor's Answers 1

Yes and no. Eczema is defined as a chronic itchy inflammatory skin disease. There are many causes for eczema and it is labelled accordingly. For example, if it is due to an irritating environmental cause, it can be called contact eczema.

Atopy is a group of diseases including eczema, allergic rhinitis and asthma. We use the terms “atopic dermatitis” and “eczema” interchangeably as most eczema patients have a genetic predisposition for atopy or have eczema together with asthma and or allergic rhinitis.

To learn more about eczema, do come down to National Skin Centre's public forum on Eczema on 27 October 2018 to find out more!

Dr Lucinda Tan, Consultant at National Skin Centre

Similar Questions

What could be the cause of a red, circular and itchy patch on the leg? (photo)

Thank you for the question. The circular patch can go for a patch of eczema. This is often aggravated by scratching and I think it would be advisable to tell your brother to refrain from scratching. Applying moisturizers to the area also helps the eczema. Eczema also responds well to topical steroid creams. If the patch is persistent, you can consider visiting your doctor to get it properly assessment. A fungal scraping may be ordered to rule out a fungal infection if necessary.

Photo of Dr Colin Theng

Answered By

Dr Colin Theng

Dermatologist

Why have laser treatments for my sun spots been ineffective? (photo)

I fully agree with Dr David's advice to take a break from laser treatments for the time being. I also agree with his approach of emphasizing on the diagnosis and holistic approach to skin treatments. IPL is a valuable light treatment and the LASEMD and Dual Yellow are both wonderful lasers for treating solar lentigo and melasma. I highly doubt that adding a picosecond laser would have made a large difference in treating your pigmentation. In fact, there are some studies to show that the long pulse visible light lasers treat lentigenes and melasma better than the pico or nanosecond lasers.

Ask any health question for free

I’m not so sure about a procedure...

Ask Icon Ask a Question

Join Human

Sign up now for a free Human account to get answers from specialists in Singapore.

Sign Up

Get The Pill

Be healthier with our Bite-sized health news straight in your inbox