Eczema harhue

In eczema of the hairy portions of the face, the disease not infrequently descends into the hair-follicles, and especially involves the root-sheaths, and may be accompanied with considerable infiltration of the tissues between the follicles. The most frequent form is the pustular, each pustule being pierced by a hair. When the hair is extracted, it is generally accompanied with the root-sheaths, which are swollen and loosened from the follicle. It is of the first importance that this affection be not mis­taken for tricophytosis.

If the eczema be purely superficial that is, if the inflammation has not descended into the follicles - it may be treated very much as an eczema situated elsewhere. If, however, it is sycosiform in character, with infiltration and pustules, epilation must be performed. Every hair in the affected region must be plucked out with forceps. As a rule, they come out easily and without much pain, in con­sequence of the loosening of the root-sheaths. The necessity for epilation will be apparent when we consider the fact that the loosened hairs, while in the follicles, are, to all intents, acting as foreign bodies, and thus tend to keep up the inflammation. After epilation, white precipitate or zinc ointment should be applied two or three times a day.