When Oscar Brann imagined retirement, he pictured days spent fishing with his grandson, or doing yardwork at his home in Skowhegan, Maine.
But itchy and flaky red rashes appeared across his body a few years ago, making it excruciating to move, he said. The pain forced Mr. Brann, a 62-year-old former shoe manufacturer, to retire early. Instead of gardening in his backyard, he spent hours on the couch, trying to find relief.
“The skin that came off my feet, it was just unbelievable,” Mr. Brann said. “I had to sweep my floor every day.”
Mr. Brann, who still copes with the debilitating rashes, is one of millions of people with eczema, a broad term for a group of skin conditions that affects about 10 percent of the U.S. population. The most common form of eczema is atopic dermatitis, and the terms are often used interchangeably.
The condition often crops up during childhood, experts said. And while some people outgrow it, atopic dermatitis can last into adulthood, or appear later in life.
Sometimes, the rashes are an itchy nuisance that flare up once in a while. But that’s not always the case, said Dr. Brittany Craiglow, an adjunct associate professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine. When it’s severe, “it can be dramatically life altering,” she said.