What Causes Eczema?
One of the best ways to understand something is to find out what causes it. When I was a kid, I used to take things apart—cameras, toy cars, musical instruments—trying to find out what made them work. Since deconstructing Hot Wheels are a bit below my thrill level now, I’ve given some serious attention to finding out why people get eczema. What causes it?
There are several causes. Some general. Some specific. Some simple. Some technical. But the bottom line is, we don’t really know what causes eczema—the root cause, that is. Here’s an overview of the two major causes of eczema. These are general categories. The specific mechanics—the technical how-it-works-stuff—will be explored in more depth in separate articles.
- Genetics. Everything your body is and does goes back to one simple component: genes. Your genes are the body’s programming language. That’s why you have the hair color you have, the four moles on your left forearm, and weird-shaped toes. Genes affect everything. Everything includes eczema. Your genes can be blamed for nearly every kind of eczema, except of course for the kind caused by physical stressors. Genes are integrally linked to every body system, so saying that eczema is caused by genetic factors means that a lot more than genes is involved—things like hormones, peptides, bacteria, and other similar actors participate in the eczema outbreak.
- Environment. The environment has a role, too. Your skin is the your body’s major shield. It keeps the stuff inside from falling out, and it keeps the stuff outside from coming in. Your skin is under a lot of stress from both internal and external factors, and occasionally it responds accordingly—meaning that you get eczema. Some of those external factors can be dry skin, constant rubbing, emotional stress, strong odors, irritating fabrics, and even different types of soap.
Part of the challenge of reaching a conclusive answer to “what causes eczema?” is the amazing complexity of the human body and the bewildering array of types of eczema. Science is getting us closer and closer to answers, but we may never really be 100% confident of the causes of eczema. What we can do is find the best way to treat it.
