With fair-skinned victims, these areas start with being reddish and turning into brown later. On darker-skinned people, the areas will either become lighter or darker. The rashes on infants sometimes produce oozing and crusting conditions on the afflicted areas. Usually, they occur on the face and scalp, but they can appear anywhere. Scratching can make the condition worse in the event that the skin is punctured or abraded allowing the entry of bacteria and germs. Keeping fingernails short can also help. To preclude of accidentally or unconsciously scratching yourself while asleep, having short fingernails is a must. Wearing cotton gloves also helps. You see the more you scratch the surface and remove the scaling and the dry skin, the more irritated the skin becomes. Irritation can be a problem because it only exacerbates the condition. Also, when you scratch and peel off the dry skin, bacteria from your nails can be transferred into the affected area, thus infecting the skin irritation further. Doctors use emollients to relieve dry skin, compresses (cold) to relieve the itch, corticosteroids for inflammation reduction, and sometimes sedative antihistamines to help the patient sleep. Today, doctors use a combination of therapies to treat skin discomfort and condition as well as having the patient makes lifestyle changes that help alleviate the illness. Prevention is still the best way to manage the problem. Flare-ups can be controlled if eczema is caused by a known allergen or irritant. Simply take out the allergen or irritant and the episode of itchiness will be gone. Among the common triggers for eczema flare-ups besides soaps are dust mites, food allergies, and some types of fabrics. This can be added to the treatment plan prescribed by a dermatologist to produce clearer skin. Practiced in the United Kingdom, the method is to teach techniques to patients to avoid scratching. From nurses, they receive one-on-one training on how to use moisturizers and their medications. Studies had shown that the combined approach had produced some startling results.