What is eczema? What does it look and feel like?

What is eczema? What does it look and feel like?

Eczema (also called atopic dermatitis) is a condition that causes your skin to become dry, red, itchy and bumpy. It’s one of many types of dermatitis. Eczema damages the skin barrier function (the "glue" of your skin). This loss of barrier function makes your skin more sensitive and more prone to infection and dryness.

Eczema doesn’t harm your body. It doesn’t mean that your skin is dirty or infected, and it’s not contagious. There are treatments that can help manage your symptoms.

In the word “dermatitis,” “derm” means “skin” and “itis” means “inflammation.” The word as a whole means “inflammation of the skin.” “Eczema” originates from the Greek word “ekzein” which means to “boil over” or “break out.”