What Your Doctor Knows About Exfoliative Dermatitis

Exfoliative dermatitis is a very uncomfortable type of skin disease. Symptoms of exfoliative dermatitis may include extreme skin redness, itching, thickening of the skin and fever. If you happen to experience these symptoms, you should consult your doctor right away. Like any other types of illness, exfoliative dermatitis is easier to cure during its early stages. Do not try to self medicate. Always remember that it's best to see a doctor first before you take any drugs or undergo some medications.

Visiting Your Doctor

During your first visit to your doctor, your doctor will ask you to describe all your symptoms. You may also be requested to undergo some laboratory test to determine if you really have exfoliate dermatitis or not and what types of drugs are effective for the type of skin disorder that you have. The laboratory test will not really take long. Depending on the kind of skin test that you undergo, it will probably take just a few minutes for the test to be completed. Once the skin test is complicated, your doctor will then interpret the results of the laboratory test and then prescribe the right kind of medication for your exfoliative dermatitis.

Your doctor will give you instructions on how to prevent skin infections. Since your skin is swollen and tender due to exfoliative dermatitis, you are prone to infection so you need to be extra careful about caring for your skin. Your doctor will prescribe certain types of soap and body wash for you so make sure that you use these items when you take a bath. You should also be careful with what you eat. Note that certain types of food could cause allergies and skin rashes in some people so be wary about these types of food. To be on the safe side, ask your doctor to prescribe a certain diet for you.

Elderly people are susceptible to cardiac complications so if you are already in your senior years; you need to watch out for any signs of cardiac complications. Ask your doctor for specific instructions regarding this matter. Always remember that cardiac complication is a very serious thing so you should never take anything for granted.

Patient Education

Most doctors spend time to educate their patients about their illness. If your doctor does not bother to explain to you what is happening to your skin, do not hesitate to ask him or her for any information. You need to know what to expect in the next few days after you start your treatment and what you should do to make things easier for you.

Unveiling The Facts About Exfoliative Dermatitis

Exfoliative dermatitis is another form of dermatitis eczema that occurs due to reactions to drugs. However, it can also manifest as a complication from a previous skin condition especially atopic dermatitis. The exfoliative dermatitis exhibits severe inflammation of the entire skin. People suffering from such condition would develop extreme redness of the skin and scaling on other parts. A relative thickness of the skin can also be found. The condition can cause fever and sudden loss of fluids and proteins through the damaged skin. In patients suffering from lymphoma (lymph node cancer), exfoliative dermatitis develops due to the swelling of the lymph nodes.

During the onset of the disease, most of the skin's surface would be covered with lesions. These lesions may sometimes form crusts on the skin surface and secrete fluids. These oozing lesions are the major cause of dehydration to exfoliative dermatitis patients. The disease can cause life-threatening complications if the toxicity level of the patient is high, which causes the disease to affect other organs other than the skin.

It is necessary to consult a physician to acquire the correct diagnosis for the disease since the general signs and symptoms of exfoliative dermatitis may resemble other dermatologic conditions. The diagnosis for exfoliative dermatitis starts with the careful elimination of the known or suspected causes. If the person suffering from the disease is taking any drugs, i.e. penicillin and barbiturates, the physician would suggest the elimination of these factors. Additionally, since the disease can sometimes be caused by a pre-existing condition, the person suffering from the exfoliative dermatitis would undergo several tests for lymphoma and atopic dermatitis. The fact that exfoliative dermatitis can be caused by lymphoma is a warning for those who do not realize that they are suffering from the disease. The majority of the tests to determine if lymphoma contributes to the disease involve several blood tests.

Common Treatment for Exfoliative Dermatitis

In some cases, exfoliative dermatitis spontaneously resolves. However, hospitalization is required to those suffering from severe cases. The severity of the disease to some patients may require them to undergo intravenous fluid treatment, antibiotics, and additional nutritional supplements to stabilize them. Immediate action during the onset of the condition must be taken in order to prevent complications that can be life-threatening from developing. The treatment of the pre-determined skin condition, as well as lymphoma usually clears up exfoliative dermatitis. Patients taking certain drugs before the beginning of the disease are also advised to stop taking such medications in order to fully determine the cause of the condition.

Other alternative treatments for the condition involve applying heated blankets to keep patients warm and providing cool baths. Petroleum jelly can also be applied to the skin, which is usually followed by a gauze wrap. Taking corticosteroids can also provide treatment for the disease.