On a normal day at work, I have been seeing patients and at around noon my next appointment was a fifteen-year-old who came in with her mother. She has acne/pimples which is a common malady in her age group. By my assessment, the acne was of mild grade and I wrote the prescription and explained certain things that have to be changed in her diet and lifestyle to obtain better control of acne. Now came…
Skin tags or acrochordons (the medical term) are growths on the skin which are benign(noncancerous). Skin tags are commonly seen on skin folds. Neck, armpits, eyelids, under the breasts and inner thigh are the areas where skin tags usually grow. Skin tags are virtually harmless. Sometimes because of the size and location of tags they might get painful and hence needing removal. Are skin tags and warts the same? Skin tags are called warts colloquially…
Psoriasis is a common immune mediated chronic inflammatory disease affecting skin, nail and joints. Genetic and environmental factors influence the incidence and its manifestation. It is seen in about 0.4% to 4% of Indian population. Red scaly skin lesions are characteristic of psoriasis. In patients with a genetic and family history of psoriasis, the disease develops at an early age. In some patients with psoriasis joint pain/ joint involvement occurs along with skin lesions and…
Have you ever noticed what your dermatologist’s degree is ?! MD DVL, DDVL, DNB DVL ! A board certified dermatologist possesses one or more of these degrees. D and a V and a L! Must be another medical mumbo jumbo term?! Is it? Nah. These alphabets abbreviate to all the medical conditions that a dermatologist treats. Surprise, surprise. Come along, let’s play Sherlock. Let’s decipher DVL. Here comes D. D for Dermatology, no surprise there,…
Wheals or hives are intensely itchy bumps seen in patients with urticaria. Hives may be associated with angioedema wherein there is swelling of eyelids, ears, lips and genitalia and sometimes can be life threatening when there is involvement of tongue and throat tissue. Urticaria can be both acute and chronic. How do hives look? They are usually pink to red in colour and appear as bumps/welts on skin. Deeper swelling of skin and mucosa leads…