In a recent interview, Melissa Joan Hart talked about a family problem many people can relate to, eczema. It took her and her husband, Mark Wilkerson, some time to figure out what was wrong with one of their sons’ skin. Their family doctor helped them figure out it was eczema, a chronic skin condition that is often misunderstood. Hart’s mission now is to spread awareness and provide support to others.
At first, Melissa Joan Hart wasn’t sure what was happening to her son’s skin. Hart explained in an exclusive interview with People that it took her a while to recognize the skin condition affecting one of her sons. “It took us a while to figure out what it really was,” the 48-year-old actress said, adding that as a parent, it can be challenging to differentiate between poison ivy and a rash.
“We went to our family doctor and he told us it was eczema,” says the Sabrina the Teenage Witch alum, who has three children with husband, singer-songwriter Mark Wilkerson; Mason, 18, Brayden, 16, and Tucker, 11.
According to the Mayo Clinic, eczema is a chronic skin disease that causes the skin to become “dry, itchy and inflamed,” and it flares up. The severity of the flare-up can range from dry, cracked skin to rashes and oozing. To educate and support those suffering from eczema and other skin disorders, Hart partnered with AbbVie to host a Science of Skin panel on August 8.
“I hope it sheds some light on people who may feel alone,” the former Nickelodeon star says. She sees her friends hiding psoriasis and eczema, and her siblings also suffer from the skin condition, reports People. “They’re constantly pulling at their clothes trying to hide this thing and we all do that with different things, but especially with a chronic skin condition, there’s a feeling of embarrassment.”
As a caregiver, she says the “first thing to do is to work together as a family, with your dermatologist, with your healthcare provider, to really come up with a plan because as soon as you can manage the symptoms, you’re in better control,” adding, “Getting ahead of this is essential for our family.”
The worst times for her son, who has eczema, are dry and cold weather, so she makes sure to treat him before bedtime. She says a plan is the difference between a controlled skin disease and a chronic skin disease. “We want to protect our families in every way possible.”
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