Eczema symptoms: how to recognise a flare

Common symptoms

• itch, often worse at night
• dry, rough or scaly skin
• inflamed patches: red or pink on lighter skin, and darker brown, purple or grey on brown and black skin, where redness can be hard to see
• thickened, leathery skin from long-term scratching
• cracks, weeping or crusting during a bad flare

Where it appears

• Babies: cheeks, scalp, body and the outer arms and legs
• Children: elbow and knee creases, wrists, ankles and neck
• Adults: hands, face, eyelids, neck and creases

Signs of infection

Get help quickly if the eczema becomes weepy, crusted with yellow crusts, hot, painful or spreads fast. Seek same-day help for painful clusters of punched-out sores or blisters, or fever, which can be eczema herpeticum.

When to see a doctor

• the itch is stopping you or your child from sleeping
• it keeps coming back when treatment stops
• creams from the pharmacy or your GP have not worked
• you think it may be infected

We measure eczema with POEM, a validated 0–28 score: 0–2 clear or almost clear, 3–7 mild, 8–16 moderate, 17–24 severe and 25–28 very severe.

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