Psychosomatics of dermatitis and eczema

What psychosomatics says

In psychosomatics, the skin is linked to touch and contact with people. Dermatitis is described through two opposite wishes: you miss someone’s hugs, or, on the contrary, someone comes closer than you want.

Even the place on the body gives a hint. With the inner side of our arms, our chest and belly we hug and hold close, and a rash there is linked to separation: physical contact was cut off, a loved one left, you were left alone in a hard time. With the back of our hands, our elbows and knees we defend ourselves, and a rash there is linked to someone invading your space.

By the same logic, the face and scalp respond to missing a mother’s or father’s tenderness, or to a situation where you “lost face.” Psychosomatics helps you understand what kind of touch you’re missing and whom you want to step away from.

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What it is

Eczema is the name for a group of conditions that make the skin dry and irritated, with itching and redness. That’s how the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) explains it. The most common types are atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis usually starts in early childhood but also happens in adults, according to the clinical protocol of the Kazakhstan Ministry of Health (2019). In adults the rash is most often in the bends of the arms and legs, on the hands and neck, and the skin is dry and very itchy. You can’t catch it from someone. The NHS says flare-ups are triggered by soap and detergents, heat, skin infections, stress, hormonal changes such as during pregnancy.

Contact dermatitis appears where the skin touches an irritant or an allergen. The NHS names the most common causes: soap, detergents, solvents, regular contact with water. Allergies are more often caused by cosmetics and metals such as nickel.

The Kazakhstan Ministry of Health protocol on allergic contact dermatitis (2022) lists female sex and smoking among the risk factors, as well as wet work: hands in water for more than 2 hours a day, washing your hands more than 10 times a day. The rash appears 12–48 hours after contact with the allergen.

How it shows up

• Dry skin that itches a lot, especially at night
• Red or darkened rough patches
• Cracks on your hands and fingers
• Patches in the bends of your elbows, behind your knees, on your neck
• Small blisters, weeping skin, crusts
• A rash where your skin touched cosmetics, jewelry or detergents

A dermatologist makes the diagnosis by examining your skin. To find out what your skin reacts to, they may order allergy tests such as patch tests.