Eczema and psoriasis are two different skin conditions that can result in itchy or painful skin lesions to occur. Despite the similarities between these two conditions, they are distinctly different conditions and almost never occur together.
Age
Eczema, the American Academy of Dermatology explains, typically occurs earlier in life. Sixty-five percent of patients who develop eczema will do so before they are one year old, and 90 percent of all cases occur during the first five years of life. Psoriasis, on the other hand, is more likely to affect adults.
Lesions
The skin lesions of eczema typically begin as a patch of itchy skin that may become inflamed when scratched. The affected part of the skin may then develop small blisters that are filled with clear fluid. Psoriasis is typically marked by the appearance of raised patches of skin that are red and warm to the touch, the National Psoriasis Foundation explains, though another form of psoriasis, known as guttate psoriasis, characterized by small teardrop-shaped red spots that appear on the body.
Response to Sunlight
Although many of the treatments for psoriasis and eczema are the same, psoriasis can be treated by exposing affected regions of skin to ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light can be found in sunlight, or it can be generated by specially designed lamps.
