Neurodermatitis in the baby

Synonyms

atopic eczema, endogenous eczema, atypical neurodermatitis

Definition

Neurodermatitis is a disease of the skin. The word derma means skin, the ending -itis is usually an inflammation. Dermatitis is therefore an inflammation of the skin, which can also affect children or babies. It is important to know that this disease is not contagious and that other babies have no danger of also getting neurodermatitis just because there is a baby with this disease in the crawling group.

Causes

Neurodermatitis can have many different causes, but most of them are not precisely clarified. It is known that there is a genetic influence in neurodermatitis. If the father or mother suffered from neurodermatitis in childhood, there is a probability of almost 50% that the baby also suffers from neurodermatitis.

If both parents had neurodermatitis or still have it, there is a probability of almost 70%. This genetic factor is probably one of the main causes, but it is also possible that a baby gets atopic dermatitis without the parents or other relatives ever having atopic dermatitis. In addition, it is therefore assumed that environmental influences play an important role as a cause in the development of atopic dermatitis in babies.

There are certain factors which lead to the outbreak of neurodermatitis with an increased probability. Such factors that increase the probability of the disease breaking out include, for example, excessive mechanical stress on the skin, for example from toys, allergens such as food, house mites or pollen, infections or excessive physical or psychological (mental) stress. The psychological stress is usually not the only cause that leads to the outbreak of neurodermatitis in the baby, but it can be that an event that has occurred, such as the bite of a dog, which terrified the baby, increases the severity of the attack.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis of neurodermatitis can be made by a pediatrician usually on the basis of the symptoms and skin abnormalities. First, the doctor conducts a conversation with the parents, a medical history. During this, possible causes, such as hereditary factors or environmental influences such as allergens, are determined.

The anamnesis often enables the doctor to make a prognosis as to whether the child will suffer from neurodermatitis permanently or whether it is only a short episode that will probably disappear again. Most important, however, is the eye diagnosis. In babies, the eczema caused by neurodermatitis occurs mainly on the cheek and scalp.

On the scalp, this is known as cradle cap in babies. With this eye diagnosis, the pediatrician can usually draw very accurate conclusions about neurodermatitis. In addition, the symptoms, such as the intermittent occurrence of the disease, are an important indication for a reliable diagnosis.

Two different things are called milk crust. Actually, the word cradle cap is used to describe an escharring of weeping eczema spots on the face and hairy scalp as it occurs in the context of neurodermatitis. So there is no difference between milk crust and neurodermatitis but the milk crust is a manifestation of neurodermatitis.

The name milk crust comes from the fact that the eczematous area resembles burnt milk in its appearance. The layman, however, often refers to something else as milk crust, namely the head gneiss. This occurs in seborrheic eczema, which also often manifests itself in infancy.