impedigo skin conditions dieseases

Impetigo, which is caused by bacteria, is a contagious skin infection, especially in infants. It is characterized by yellowish crusts, often on the face, that look as though they had been deliberately pasted on the skin. A doctor can easily cure impetigo before complications have a chance to develop. Folliculitis is similar to impetigo except that the infection affects the hair follicles or the pore openings of the skin. Barber's itch is a special case of folliculitis which involves the beard and makes shaving a problem for men afflicted with this frequently stubborn name for barber's itch is sycosis vulgaris. It may take some time to cure even a mild case of folliculitis. You may need one visit to the physician for instruction in removing infected hairs. Fever blisters (herpes simplex) are virus-caused and usually occur with a fever or cold, appearing around the mouth and nose.

Sometimes the blisters follow exposure to sun and wind. Usually they clear within a week or so. A drying lotion such as 1 : 500 aluminum acetate in cold water is comforting when applied with bits of cotton. Spirit of camphor is a helpful application in mild cases. Cold cream may help to bring relief during the onset period. Troublesome, recurrent fever blisters should be seen by a physician who may be able to eliminate the cause. Shingles (herpes zoster) is also virus-caused and actually involves infection of a nerve, along with the eruption that appears on the skin. Once it was commonly believed that shingles could be fatal if the infection completely encircled the body and "met." This has no basis in fact. There are potentially serious complications from shingles in the eyes and nerves.

Shingles should be treated promptly by a physician. The itch (scabies), caused by a tiny mite, is extremely contagious. Fortunately, it yields quickly to treatment. While almost any part of the body may be affected, favorite areas for the mite to burrow into the skin include hands, genitals, and skin folds. It is not always easy to determine whether or not one has scabies, and a physician should be consulted for a diagnosis. The remedies used for scabies can aggravate other skin troubles that may be confused with it. A physician will tell you how to kill the parasites in bed linen and clothes. 

Acne Skin RosaCea allergies

ACNE ROSACEA

Although somewhat similar in name to common acne, acne rosacea bears no resemblance to it in appearance or mechanism. Popularly, it is often termed "whiskey nose," which could hardly be more erroneous. Rosacea occurs in people who have never touched alcohol. It involves excessive flushing of the blood vessels of nose and cheeks. A nervous reflex may be a factor in such excessive flushing, and drinking alcohol may encourage the reflex, but the alcohol is not essential. With long-continued abnormal flushing, the blood vessels become more apparent, and nose size may increase. Even the worst case of acne rosacea can be cured. And, in mild or early stages, the problem often can be controlled by simple measures: frequent application of cold water, witch hazel, or ice to help contract the blood vessels. Pat or rub on gently; do not massage. It is also often helpful to minimize intake of alcohol and of hot and spicy foods.

SKIN ALLERGIES AND SENSITIVITIES The skin, if a tough organ, is also a sensitive one. It can mirror emotions; it can also mirror internal allergic states. People have long been familiar with one form of allergy manifested in the skin-hives. In hives, superficial areas filled with a watery fluid appear and disappear on the skin, often itching quite severely. Hives may pop up after a particular food is eaten. Nettle rash, drug rash, and urticaria are other names for similar conditions. Itching from allergic reactions can be relieved by application of calamine lotion available in any drugstore or by bathing in water containing a cupful of bicarbonate of soda per bathtub of water.

Of course, the best thing to do, when possible, is to identify and avoid the substance that produces the reaction. Sometimes, this is not difficult. Many people have been able to determine for themselves that they get hives or "break out" after eating strawberries, for example, or after using a perfumed soap, wearing certain types of fabric, or taking a certain medication. It is certainly not difficult to discover that one is allergic to poison ivy or poison oak. There are instances, however, when it requires the detective skill of a specially trained physician-a dermatologist or allergist-to determine whether, in fact, a condition is really due to allergy and, if so, what the culprit substance or substances maybe. 

Acne- Skin pimples- skin blackheads- skin white heads- membarane conditions- how to care for the skin?

ACNE

Acne, with its pimples, blackheads, and whiteheads, is a disorder that affects almost all teen-agers and some adults. Severity varies greatly. Acne may sometimes take the form of only a few blackheads. On the other hand, there may be many blackheads plus pustules and cysts or inflamed sacs deep in the skin. The exact cause of acne is still not clear, although much is known about the problem. As sexual maturation approaches in both sexes, glandular activity increases, and, as part of this, there is a stepping up in the outpourings of the sebaceous glands of the skin. In girls, this may be particularly pronounced at the time of menstrual periods. The sebaceous glands, which keep the skin moist and soft, pour an oily substance, sebum, onto the skin surface through hair follicles. Normally, the sebum is liquid and passes readily through the follicles.

However, if the flow is hampered-through some obstruction of the pathway or through over-thickening of the sebum itself-an inflammation may follow. Acne can be looked upon as a disorder of body chemistry, even though its manifestations appear on the skin. Adolescent acne accompanies a natural but sudden increase in the production of sex hormones and other glandular changes. Activity of the sebaceous glands is stepped up, too. Usually, acne disappears in later adolescence or early adulthood, even though sex hormone activity continues. The sebaceous glands function more efficiently after the rapid adolescent glandular changes have passed. Blackheads, or comedons, develop when excess oil accumulates in the pores. Their blackness represents not so much dirt as the discoloring effect of air on the fatty material in the clogged pore. If inflammation occurs, as it often does, a pimple results. Acne is a problem that, in effect, often feeds on itself. An unsightly pimple is something the owner wishes to have disappeared.

The seemingly simple and beguiling solution is to squeeze the pimple. But the squeezing, while it may reduce, immediately, the size of the elevation, breaks a membrane-a kind of inner capsule around the pimple below the skin surface. As a result, infectious material, previously contained within the pimple through the good offices of the membrane, now may spread to surrounding tissue. And, of course, infectious material squeezed out of the pimple spreads over the skin surface. One consequence may be more pimples.