Health Advice An answer to your medical questions » Dermatitis

Seborrheic Dermatitis

Kevin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:41:18 +0000

Dermatitis is general term for the collective skin conditions that causes the skin to swell, become red and irritated and to itch like crazy. One very common type of dermatitis is called seborrheic dermatitis.

Seborrheic dermatitis is a skin condition that often affects the scalp and causes dandruff. Actually, for the adults and children that suffer from seborrheic dermatitis it is normally just called dandruff, unless a person has a severe case. When an infant is unlucky enough to suffer from seborrheic dermatitis it is usually called cradle cap.

The symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis are simple to recognize. They are red and itchy skin on the scalp and of course the flaking and peeling of the skin that is commonly referred to as dandruff. Though it is most common in the scalp that is not the only place that people can suffer from it on. It can also be on a person’s face, the chest, in creases of the arms or the legs, and on the groin. The skin of these places often looks greasy, flakey, or scaly when a person has a problem with seborrheic dermatitis.

Though the actual cause of seborrheic dermatitis is not actually known there are two theories. One of them is hormones. This is believed because people will often suffer from it as infants and have it disappear before they hit puberty. Another thought is that fungus causes it. It is called malassezia. It is normal for this to be on the skin in small numbers, but at times these numbers increase dramatically causing people to have some skin problems.

Treatment for seborrheic dermatitis is rather easy. There are shampoos that you can buy that treat the irritation as often as you need and they usually help to stop the dandruff completely. These shampoos can be as simple as over the counter dandruff shampoos like Head and Shoulders or, if your seborrheic dermatitis is bad enough your doctor can prescribe a shampoo that you usually use weekly to control the itching and flaking of your skin. If you don’t get any relief from any of the everyday shampoos you should go to your doctor to see about your other options.

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Atopic Dermatitis

Kevin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:33:12 +0000

One of the more common dermatitis that people have is atopic dermatitis. It is generally very long lasting and people normally think of it as a type of skin allergy or just skin sensitivity. Most people know it as eczema, but it is also just called dermatitis or atopy. The atopic triad includes, on top of eczema, asthma and allergies which can also be referred to as hay fever.

It has been shown that this skin condition has a hereditary component that is known and it has proven to be worse in some families than it is in others. As with other forms of dermatitis, atopic dermatitis itches and has rashes in different areas of the skin.

The literal meaning of atopic dermatitis is a hereditary inflammation of the skin, atopic meaning hereditary and dermatitis meaning inflammation if the skin. People who suffer from atopic dermatitis often have close family members that does as well since it can run through the family.

Atopic dermatitis causes areas of people’s skin, sometimes even large areas, to become red and swollen. Often the infected areas are cracked, crusted, weeping, and at times even scaling. Atopic dermatitis tends to be extremely itchy as well and there is often a complaint of dry skin which causes some of the actual rash symptoms that people tend to have.

Atopic dermatitis usually affects young children and infants more than others; however for some people it follows them into adulthood. For a few people though the symptoms don’t even begin to appear until they are already adults. When a person suffers from atopic dermatitis they often suffer from it for a long time. Of course during that time there are periods were it is really bad and periods were it is hardly bothersome to them at all.

There are many different things that can make atopic dermatitis even more irritating to the skin than it already is. They are dry skin, allergies, especially those that are seasonal, the use of soaps and detergents that are harsh on the skin, the use of new types of creams and other skin products, and of course cold weather.

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Allergic Dermatitis

Kevin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:31:10 +0000

Allergic dermatitis is just what it sounds like, allergic reactions that cause the skin to swell, become red and itchy. There are several different things that can cause allergic dermatitis and it can vary greatly in how bad it is from person to person depending on just how sensitive their immune system is to the allergen that they come into contact with and whether or not they get treatment for it.

A dermatologist or doctor can help to find out what the cause is and treat it if the reaction is bad enough.
The most common cause of allergic dermatitis is animals. Animals, especially dogs, cause a reaction on the skin that can cause you to break out in a rash, or just make your skin red, itchy, and sometimes cause it to peel.

For the most part, unless you have a really bad reaction, this goes away quickly when you avoid the allergen and treat it. Allergies, even those that cause allergic dermatitis, are hard to control though partially because they are chronic in nature.

If you know the cause of you allergies though you can undergo treatments that will help to reduce or eliminate you allergic dermatitis sometimes without having to get rid of your pet.

Once your immune system comes across an allergen that it sees as dangerous then it releases antibodies against that allergen. It is for this reason that you do not have a reaction the first time you come across something that you are allergic to, your body doesn’t produce the antibodies until it has come across it and can immediately recognize it.

The antibodies that are produced because of allergies are different from those that are made to fight illness though, and it is this difference that causes the reaction that you get. The antibodies used to fight allergens are stored in mast cells which are the cells that cause inflammation which you can see as redness and swelling. It is caused because when the antibodies come across the allergen it releases chemicals like histamine that causes the swelling and rashes that you get with allergic dermatitis.

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Dermatitis Advice

Kevin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:28:38 +0000

In general, dermatitis is a word that describes the inflammation of skin. There are a number of different types of dermatitis. Two types are seborrheic dermatitis and eczema or atopic dermatitis. Those are only two types though. There are many different causes and they can occur in a large number of different forms. Usually somebody that is suffering from dermatitis suffers from itchy red and swollen skin.

Dermatitis is one of those things that is not at all contagious and no where near life threatening, it doesn’t even make you sick. The only thing that dermatitis actually does is make a person feel uncomfortable and with some people it also makes them feel self conscious because they are constantly itchy and sometimes shift around a bit trying to get comfortable.

Thankfully for those people who have dermatitis it is possible to treat it with steps for self care and different medications. For different types of dermatitis that people can suffer from there are slightly varying symptoms that they can suffer from.

One type is contact dermatitis.
This basically is a rash that occurs when a person comes into contact with either an irritant or some sort of allergy-producing substance, like poison ivy, repeatedly.

Another is neurodermatitis and it is localized in specific areas of the skin. This tends to be extremely itchy.

Seborrheic dermatitis is a very common form of dermatitis. It is an itchy scalp condition that tends to cause bad dandruff.

Stasis dermatitis is generally caused when fluid builds up underneath the skin of a person’s legs.

Atopic dermatitis is most commonly called eczema. This is a very itchy rash that has the tendency to come and go.

Another type of dermatitis is perioral dermatitis. This type of dermatitis is a bumpy rash that forms around the mouth.

Though all of these have there own individual symptoms they all have some of the same symptoms as well. These common symptoms are swelling of the affected areas, redness in those areas, itching, sometimes even severe or chronic itching, and skin lesions. If you suffer from these things you can go to a doctor to have the type diagnosed and treated.

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