Sleep disturbance, decreased sexual desire… Spouses of people with eczema indirectly suffer from this skin disease.
- Eczema affects 2.5 million French people of all ages.
- This skin disease is always associated with intense itching that can affect all parts of the body.
The French Eczema Association publishes an unprecedented survey concerning the impact of eczema on the life of a couple. “Confronted with their partner’s eczema on a daily basis, spouses are impacted in their life as a couple and their feelings are largely underestimated”summarize the activists.
Decreased sexual desire
29% of spouses first admit that their partner’s eczema prevents them from sleeping (in the event of severe eczema, this rate rises to 46%). Alongside them, 44% of sufferers declare that eczema disturbs their own sleep.
Regarding sex life, 26% of patients recognize a decrease in their desire because of their eczema, and 42% of spouses believe that their partner’s skin disease reduces their own impulses. When the patient is a woman, 33.7% of spouses declare that their partner’s eczema reduces their own sexual desire, a figure which rises to 46% if the patient is a man.
fear of transmission
33% of spouses also continue to mistakenly believe that their partner’s eczema is contagious, while only 17% of patients feel their spouse’s fear that this is the case. “43% of spouses also admit to fearing a transmission of eczema from their partner to one of their children, while only 28% of patients believe that their spouse fears a hereditary transmission of the disease”, details the survey.
Finally, the impact of eczema on the couple tends to increase with the degree of severity of the pathology. 34% of patients suffering from a mild form of the disease consider that their eczema is a source of tension in their relationship, while 66% of people suffering from a severe form think the same.
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