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ThanksView Thread
My Family doc mine was stress induced. Me being a scracher and a hair twister, didn't help only made it worse. So to avoid both I won't let me nails grow (past the tip on my finger I'm looking for a file!) And I wear a bandana if I'm going to be sitting and not useing my hands.
As far as cream/med to apply to the sores, Don'T I WISH! I was given 2 types of antibiotics an told to take benadryl (this time any way, last 2 round was a single anti.. So any help would be grrreat! My list is Very Oily hair (at times) flaky scalp, bumps with oily discharge then harden crusted scabs.(scalp an back of neck), & the tiny go an come seems as they please with oily stuff in them which cause my skin to feel as it's on fire.
And You know I thought really hard before my first Doctors visit as to what had happen,changed an so on. i totally understand the Stress Induced part but the ONLY thing I could come up with as far as "Change" was I had used Noxzema (not sure thats spelled right) for a few days or so before it started.
Any Advice would be GREAT! Doc said to use Head n Shoulders shampoo an Dial soap. Sometimes after showers aswell my skin feels like its on fire. PLEASE HELP! ThanksView Thread
Dermatologists all over the country are dealing with complaints of dry and itching skin now that winter is here. The decreased humidity, temperature extremes, and tendency to become dehydrated in the winter all play a role in this.
Dry skin is a frustrating condition and as you know winter weather makes it even worse. If you have a moisturizer that does not burn, then you should stick with that.
Here are a few more dry skin tips for winter:
- Take warm showers, not hot. When possible, rinse in cooler water. This helps your skin to not over-respond to the hot water by becoming more dry and red.
- After showering, washing your face or hands, be sure to dry your skin completely with a dry towel. I'm not sure why this is, but we tend to only partially dry our hands during the winter, and this will contribute to the development of really dry skin that is prone to cracking and breaking.
- Some people use a sugar scrub that is oil-based, which seems to help hold moisture better than their usual lotions.
- Use a humidifier in your room. Winter air is dry and your skin suffers from this. Raising the humidity in your home will help your overall symptoms.
- Obviously, you want to stay well hydrated, so drink plenty of water and water containing beverages, eat fruit and vegetables. Stay away from caffeine and alcohol because they dehydrate you.
Best,
Dr. EvansView Thread
Wintertime is rough on our skin.
The skin on our face suffers as much, if not more than the rest of our body. It is constantly exposed to the elements, and is especially susceptible to improper care. Here are some of the most common mistakes women make when caring for their facial skin:
- Overcleansing. I'm not sure if this tendency starts in our teens, when acne seems to be most prevalent, but in a misguided attempt to avoid those blemishes, many people turn to harsher and harsher cleansers. Stop doing this. Most of the time, it is best to use the mildest cleanser that will do the job. Using a soft washcloth with a mild cleanser is usually adequate to remove all traces of dirt and/or makeup from your face. Try to avoid using products that have alcohol listed in the ingredients. This works to dry the skin, almost too much.
- Exfoliating. While removing dead skin cells will certainly give your face a beautiful glow, it is pretty easy to be too aggressive when it comes to exfoliation. Most women should only consider exfoliating once a week unless they have a condition that causes them to shed skin cells more rapidly than normal. Overdoing the exfoliation will leave your skin inflamed and more rough than you want.
- Going to bed with makeup on. This is the biggest no-no for women, and yet I hear it all the time, "I was so tired, I figured it didn't matter." I have heard that going to bed with makeup on can lead to premature aging of your skin. While I don't have any scientific data to back this up, not cleaning your face before bedtime can lead to a buildup of makeup in your skin cells, leading to clogged pores, blemishes, and dull and dry skin.
- Overmoisturizing. Your skin tells on you. If you're dehydrated, our facial skin will be one of the first places you'll notice it, especially your lips. It certainly makes sense to try to moisturize to counteract this problem, but you are actually much better off trying to appropriately rehydrate, eat a balanced diet with healthy fats, and keep the humidity level in your home at a comfortable level. This is especially important in the wintertime.
- No, you still should not pick at your face. All this does is make your skin inflamed and more prone to infection.
Best,
Dr. EvansView Thread
With the current economic conditions, I've heard from a number of you, and some of you have had some fairly serious concerns, and yet you do not seek medical attention due to lack of insurance.
While insurance is a very helpful benefit, it should never, ever keep you from seeking appropriate medical care when you are truly suffering. Call your doctor and ask what a brief office visit would cost for an established patient. You may be pleasantly surprised.
As one reader pointed out, going to urgent care cost her $100, but it addressed her problem and she was on the road to recovery very quickly.
Rather than waiting things out, suffering, possibly even putting your future health at risk, consider paying for one visit out of pocket so that you can have a medical evaluation.
This will do two things:
- It will put your mind at ease.
- It will put on the road to health much more quickly.
Please take good care of your health.
Best,
Dr. EvansView Thread
The use of borage oil is a little-known secret that helps to keep your skin healthy. This can be smoothed on top of your skin or taken internally. It is considered to be one of the best skin hydrators in nature.
Borage is a wildflower, also known as a starflower. Fortunately, you don't have to scavenge for this as borage oil is sold in most health food stores. It is the richest known source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) an essential fatty acid that works to maintain your skin's moisture content. This is especially important as we age.
Many skin conditions can be improved by the ability of this oil to minimize inflammation and improve your skin's ability to retain moisture.
Best,
Dr. EvansView Thread
I'm asked quite frequently:
"Does dry skin cause wrinkles?"
No. Dry skin does not cause wrinkles. However, dry skin can make your wrinkles much more obvious, making it look as if you are older than you are.
One of the best ways to prevent your wrinkles from looking so pronounced is to drink plenty of water and eat foods that have a high water content and good, healthy fats. This will keep your skin hydrated and minimize the appearance of your wrinkles.
There are certainly cosmetic products that contain ingredients that temporarily puff up your skin, reducing the appearance of your wrinkles, but this is only a temporary fix.
Your diet is still the best place to start when it comes to improving the appearance of your skin. As we age, our skin naturally dries. For women, this is due to the decreasing levels of estrogen. This hormone prevents our skin from aging by increasing the moisture content of our skin and by maintaining the thickness of the skin.
With lower levels of estrogen, our skin does thin and its ability to hold moisture diminishes. By eating foods with Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C, you will be less likely to wrinkle as you age.
Here is a list of wonderful foods that fight both dry skin and wrinkles:
- avocado
- borage oil
- grape seed oil
- olive oil
- kelp
- lentils
- pumpkin
- zucchini
- watermelon
- tea (herbal)
Stress is a big problem with eczema. Finding ways to handle stress are helpful overall for general health as well as eczema.
Try to avoid irritating your skin. Take short and relatively cool showers rather than soaking in hot baths or saunas. Do not scrub hard. Very gentle exfoliation with a washcloth is appropriate once or twice a week, but avoid irritating the surface of the skin where you're having an eczema outbreak.
Take the medications that your doctor has prescribed, and ask what you can expect when taking them. Topical steroid cream is most commonly prescribed. More severe eczema requires stronger medications.
For the most severe eczema, you may need to include more than one doctor in your care. Your dermatologist may have a great deal of expertise in eczema, but because it is a complex and complicated condition, you may also be seeing an allergist too.
For now, there is no absolute cure for eczema. It is considered to be a life-long condition, and learning to manage your flare-ups becomes a way of life. Having a good line of communication with your doctor(s) is the best tool in this battle. When your flare-ups aren't responding to medication, go back and ask for a re-evaluation. Your doctor won't know something is not working unless you provide feedback.
Eczema is becoming a more and more common problem throughout the world with 1 in 5 children being diagnosed with this condition. As more is learned about eczema, better ways to handle it will result.View Thread
Of all the skin conditions I see, the most frustrating for both me and my patients has to be eczema.
The most common form of eczema is atopic eczema, which is believed to be similar to an allergy, and is essentially a hypersensitivity of the skin. This leads to long-term skin inflammation. Some people outgrow it as they get older. It does tend to run in families.
Most people with eczema also have trouble with hay fever, allergies, or asthma. Because of this, anything that would irritate an allergy will aggravate your skin. Here are a few things that make eczema worse:
- Having allergies to animal dander, dust mites, pollen, or mold
- Being sick with a viral infection
- Touching rough materials like cardboard boxes or wood
- Having excessively dry skin
- Being exposed to irritants in the environment
- Water
- Being too hot or too cold
- Dyes and perfumes in soap, cream, and lotion
- Stress
Eczema almost always causes itching, which can sometimes begin even before any skin lesions or rashes appear. Eczema will usually present as oozing blisters that crust over as they heal. Areas of the skin that are affected are sometimes lighter or darker than the surrounding skin. There is usually redness/inflammation around the blisters. And yes, they itch!
People who have been affected with eczema for a long time develop leather-like skin in those areas; a result of the irritation and the scratching.
Obviously, you want to avoid scratching if you possibly can. Use cold compresses to help alleviate the itching. Take antihistamines to help with the most severe itching.
Try to find a moisturizer that you can tolerate because your skin needs to be lubricated, as dry skin makes eczema even worse. The moisturizer should not have any alcohol, fragrance or dye in it. You will have to experiment to find what works for you.
To be continued in Eczema - Part IIView Thread
Bedbugs are making a comeback in the U.S. They had all but disappeared through the 1970's and 1990's. Recently they have been making headlines coast to coast. This is frustrating, especially for the people getting bit.
What I'd like to point out is that while bedbugs are an irritant, they are not dangerous and they do not transmit disease through their bites. There are ways to deal with a bedbug infestation in your home, but please make sure that whatever method you employ, you don't go overboard and try to kill them with pesticides that are designed only for outdoor use.
These types of pesticides are dangerous to humans, especially to younger children. Please don't put your children in danger as you try to eradicate a minor irritant. Make sure any extermination company you hire is authentic and has a history of successfully dealing with bedbugs. As this problem becomes more widespread, there are a number of businesses that pop up claiming to be experts at getting rid of bedbugs, but all they manage to do is to make your family ill.
A good extermination company will be costly, but they will work with you until the problem is solved and most importantly, they will make sure you family suffers no ill effects from the chemicals they use.
Best,
Dr. EvansView Thread
Stretch marks are the result of the underlying skin tissue tearing due to rapid growth or over-stretching. This damages the collagen fibers in the underlying layers of skin. This is the most common skin lesion complaint, but only for cosmetic reasons. There is no medical problem associated with stretch marks.
While most people associate stretch marks to great weight gain or during pregnancy, one of the most common times for people to develop stretch marks is during puberty. During this time young men and women grow rapidly, not necessarily becoming overweight, but their skin cannot keep up with the growth. For young women, the most common places for stretch marks to appear during puberty are their hips, thighs, buttocks, and breasts.
Young men can develop stretch marks for similar reasons, especially as they eat more to quench the overpowering hunger they feel during puberty. An additional reason for young men to develop stretch marks is from weight lifting.
There really is nothing you can do to prevent the formation of stretch marks, especially during puberty or during pregnancy. You can certainly use creams and lotions, massage and rubbing vitamin E oil can help to increase circulation to certain areas.
There is some suggestion that the term "stretch marks" is somewhat of a misnomer as during pregnancy, puberty, with weight lifting, and with great weight gain there is an increase in the hormone glucocorticoid in the blood. There is some speculation that this hormone prevents the dermis from functioning properly, allowing the skin to be stretched and small tears appear.
More studies in this area need to be done as it is not clear exactly why stretch marks appear.
If the appearance of the marks bother you, there are a few things that you can do to help diminish their appearance. Talk to your dermatologist about topical chemical peels, retinoid therapy, or pulse dye laser therapy.
Best,
Dr. EvansView Thread
Also known as spider veins; varicose veins are one of the biggest complaints of my patients.
Spider veins are not attractive and we feel very self conscious when they appear, making us reluctant to wear shorts, bathing suits, or shorter skirts.
What can be done to combat them?
Unfortunately, most over the counter products that are touted to "cure" spider veins, really do very little to change their appearance.
Varicose veins (spider veins) are caused when the valves in our bloodstream weaken and allow blood to flow backward. This leads to pooling of blood, and when enough blood accumulates, it causes bulges and visible veins. They are usually blue in appearance. They twist and stick out from the surface of your skin. Some people even have spider veins appear on their face.
Varicose veins are caused by a number of things: hereditary, hormonal changes, sun damage, and rosacea.
How do you get rid of them?
There are no over the counter remedies that actually work. There is a pulse dye laser treatment that can zap those dilated blood vessels, and help to eradicate or at least minimize the appearance of spider veins.
You'll need to visit your dermatologist for three months in a row to achieve the best results, but once they're gone, you'll be really glad you made that first appointment.
Best,
Dr. EvansView Thread
Most people experience a burn when they are exposed to the sun for an extended period of time. There are other people who seem to be even more sensitive to sun as shown by how quickly they burn, or if they develop other reactions when exposed to sunlight. This is called "photosensitivity", which is sometimes called an allergy to the sun.
People who suffer from this seem to have a strong immunological response to UV light and will break out in a rash when exposed to sunlight. The severity of this allergy varies from person to person. Those with the most severe form of this will even react to fluorescent lighting indoors.
You may begin to suspect you have this condition if you develop a rash that has blisters, is blotchy, has scaly areas or even raised spots after you've been out in the sun. These areas my itch and burn and will last for a few days.
There are treatments for this condition that you'll want to discuss with your doctor. These could include taking oral beta-carotene, steroids, or other medications. Some people find that with small doses of sun exposure they are able to build up a tolerance to the sun.
Everyone must practice safe sun exposure methods as sunscreen and protecting your skin with clothing, or seeking shade whenever possible.View Thread
The symptoms of swimmer's itch include a prickly stinging feeling on the areas of the skin that were exposed to water; most often the torso is affected. This can into an itchy rash that looks like small red pimples or blisters. The itching will likely last about a week or so and will gradually go away.
Most people do not need medical attention for this condition as it is self-limiting, and usually does not evolve into a bigger problem. If the rash spreads, becomes infected, or lasts longer than about two weeks, it is certainly appropriate to see your medical care provider for an evaluation.
What you can do to help alleviate the itching is to use over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream, cool cloths, bathe with baking soda or Aveeno oatmeal baths, or use Calamine lotion.
While it IS difficult, try not to scratch as the rash could become infected. It is important to note that if you have developed swimmer's itch from exposure to water at a specific beach, you will likely have a similar reaction, possibly even stronger, each time you enter that body of water.
Best,
Dr. EvansView Thread
It is distributed by ALVA-AMCO Pharmacutical Cos, Inc. Niles, Il 60714 USAView Thread
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