<s>[INST] How is eczema related to food allergy? [/INST] Whilst food allergy can trigger or worsen eczema symptoms in some people, food allergy is rarely the cause of eczema. Most food allergy causes hives (urticaria), vomiting and irritability within 30 minutes of eating the offending food. Food allergy only occasionally triggers delayed eczema flare ups.

Many babies with moderate or severe eczema will also have a food allergy. In some babies with severe eczema, short term removal of certain food/s using a medically supervised elimination diet may result in better eczema control. An elimination diet should be supervised by a clinical immunology/allergy specialist (or other medical specialist trained in allergy), in association with a dietitian with specialised knowledge of food allergies.

If there is no improvement in two weeks on the elimination diet, it means that food is unlikely to be the cause of the eczema. If the skin improves, foods are introduced one at a time as a medically supervised food challenge, to confirm which food causes the eczema to flare.

If food allergy is not the cause of eczema, removal of the food/s will not reduce symptoms.

Children with eczema and/or food allergy can have false positive allergy tests, and this can lead to unnecessary removal of foods which may affect growth and development. Removal of foods may also increase the risk of developing allergy to those foods. Therefore, allergy test results should always be interpreted by a clinical immunology/allergy specialist. Source: ASCIA. Link: https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/skin-allergy/eczema. Field: Dermatology. Disease: Eczema </s>