Does Childhood Eczema Go Away?

Eczema can affect people of all ages, including children. This childhood atopic dermatitis is a common skin condition, affecting thousands or probably millions children worldwide. It’s not contagious or left-threatening condition, but it can be bothersome a lot. The prognosis can vary, but does childhood eczema go away?

Childhood eczema symptoms and causes

This skin disease can be chronic and typically characterized by several symptoms. The common ones are red, itchy patches of skin.

In babies the redness often occur on the face and cheeks which then may spread to other parts of the body such as the legs and arms. In older children the most commonly affected areas may include knees, elbows, wrists and neck.

The severity of the disease can vary widely. It could be mild which may improve on its own, or it could moderate to severe in which medical intervention is usually required. The disease can also flare up periodically [1].

The exact underlying cause of the problem is not fully understood. But experts believe it has to do with a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

In general, babies and children with a family history of the disease are at high risk of developing the same condition. Other factors (stress, certain allergic foods, irritants like harsh soaps, or changes in weather) could also contribute to trigger the eczema flare-ups.

So, does childhood eczema go away?

Although eczema is actually not a life-threatening disease, it’s always a worth try to ask whether it will go away! But unfortunately there is no single formula to answer this question, because each case is unique.

While some children do find a significant improvement as they age, others may continue to have eczema flare-ups and symptoms into their adulthood. In other words, this depends on several factors.

The severity of eczema may play a role to the prognosis and outlook of the disease.

For instance, children with mild case of eczema are likely to see the condition improves and get the remission (a condition when the disease is inactive) as they grow older. In some cases, the disease might even go away at teenage years.

On the other hand, for more severe cases the prognosis is not too good. Severe childhood eczema may continue to cause symptoms even as adults.

As mentioned earlier, the disease is likely to affect individuals with a family history of the same condition. So there is a strong family history of eczema factor.

For children with this genetic trait — or those with a family history of similar conditions such as allergies or asthma, the likelihood of having eczema in adulthood increases. Some children might have remission for years, but they are usually still vulnerable to have related conditions such as hay fever or asthma [2].

A few environmental factors may have a role too. As your children grow they may encounter different triggers from changes of their environment. And learning to deal and manage these triggers matters to reduce the risk of flare-ups.

For instance, some children who have outgrown their eczema might still find that there is sensitive or more reactive to certain allergens or irritants from their environment.

Steps to help manage childhood eczema

It’s always important for children with eczema to have consistent and effective skin care. This can also affect the prognosis of whether or not they might outgrow it and keep it into remission.

With good skin care habits developed early in childhood, we can reduce the severity of symptoms and the frequency of flare-ups so eventually children can manage this disease easily as they grow. Parents can help educate their children about how to deal with the disease as early as possible.

Some key points to help manage the disease are as follows:

1. Daily moisturizing is a must. Keeping the skin hydrated and moisturized is one of the most important steps to deal with! Adequate moisturizers will help keep the skin’s natural barrier on its normal function, preventing dryness and reducing itchiness. It’s usually recommended to apply moisturizer after your bath.
2. Identify triggers and avoid them! Identifying what the triggers of childhood eczema is another key to manage the disease and prevent the flare-ups. The common ones include dust mites, pet dander, certain foods (especially such as gluten), harsh soaps and detergents.  
3. Do good and proper bathing practices! Bathing can either improve or worsen the problem for children with eczema, depending on how it’s done. General guidelines; choose lukewarm water instead of hot, use gentle & soft soaps (free-fragrance), and don’t make it too long (limit bath time to max 15 minutes).

Childhood eczema long-term outlook and prognosis

In some cases, it’s more than just skin care and other lifestyle measures. Sometimes medical intervention is required if the disease doesn’t respond to home remedies.

For such cases, medications are probably prescribed to manage severe cases of childhood eczema. These could be prescribed antihistamines, topical steroids, or other necessary medications depending on the severity of the disease.

Again, the outlook and prognosis vary from case to case. For some, it looks like a temporary condition in which it goes into remission as they grow older. Going into remission doesn’t mean that the disease is curable, but it goes into inactive condition for years.

And for others the disease can persist, but the symptoms usually might become less severe with age. But in a few cases it can continue to be a very bothersome problem throughout adulthood.

So even though the symptoms improve and disappear, it’s always necessary to keep continuing good skin care habits. Children with eczema usually will have more sensitive skin than others.

That’s why we need to educate them about how to care for their skin and avoid any triggers of the disease. Having this commitment is so crucial to manage their eczema and reduce its impact as they age.

Experts say that there is no cure for eczema, but we make it go into remission. With proper management and care, most childhood eczema is controllable and children can have a comfortable life.