Rashes Treatment in Suwanee, GA
One of the favorite medical trivia question has always been; What is the largest organ in the body? Answers always included the Liver, Blood, Intestines, but they were all wrong. Are you taking a guess? It is the Skin. Yep, the largest by volume as well as weight is the skin. It contains multiple distinct layers, glands, hair, pigment, hormone production, distinct types of muscle, and can weigh from dozens to hundreds of pounds. Definitely a complex organ with multiple jobs and not just a covering to keep our guts and stuff inside.
An entire industry is based on the skin; cosmetics, shampoos, oils, powders, paint, just to select a few. Naturally, such a complex organ would present with symptoms when something is wrong. We simply call them Rashes.
Rashes includes everything from simple bumps to skin cancer. My own pet peeve is when someone ask me to diagnose a rash on the phone. Even worse is when they send you a picture. I just don’t need to see ‘those’ parts of the human body with a red, bumpy, draining, scaly rash. Then, god forbid, someone sees those pictures on my phone, instant pervert. But seriously, rashes can be more than just inconvenient, and can last weeks without treatment.
Most commonly in the south we see Poison Ivy, Poison oak and Poison Sumac are all the same plant just where it grows. Even the roots can cause a reaction. Deep down in the skin are cells called Langerham Cells. They constantly send their minions to the surface just to look for the signs of the Poison Ivy oil (called Rhus). And when they find it, all hell breaks loose. The local reaction of anywhere the plant touched swells up and starts to ooze. Then the second phase begins; the Langerham Cells send out a signal to the entire body warning that the Poison Ivy is out there, go find it! That’s when the second and third batch start cropping up.
Contrary to popular opinion, you cannot spread it by scratching. The “spreading” is the secondary patches that were noticed when the first contact primed the body to go look for it. If left alone, the rash can last weeks and even lead to secondary infections.
Treatment is a series of actions. Topical medications for the most part just dont work. However, the first thing that needs to happen is to get rid of the offending oil. Realized that almost everything in your bathroom is designed to PROTECT your skin. Oils and emollients, gentle soaps and scented shampoos. You need to get that oil off and that takes something strong that will strip all the oil off the skin. One of the best is simple Dawn soap or Go-Juice at the auto parts store. You need to strop every remaining molecule of pil off the skin. Second, Heat, Hot water and the hotter the better. The cells that drive the itching are called Mast Cells. They contain Histamine which causes the itching, but they only contain a certain amount. Heat will release the histamine (hot shower or even a blow dryer). Then, they are out and cannot cause itching until they make more histamine, which can take several hours. Plus, the hot water or blow dryer is almost the same as scratching without the trauma to the skin and possible secondary infections.
This takes care of the symptoms, the cure is steroids. Not that awful pink calomine lotion. It takes a week or more of oral steroids to quench the reaction. If it’s a small spot you can use a topical high potency steroid but the Over the Counter “maximum strength” hydrocortisone is essentially worthless and only 40 times lower in potency than what is needed.
We see all kinds of rashes and even the occasional Tropical Skin Parasite (use the mosquito netting they give you to sleep under). Each one requires a different treatment. Sometimes we are stumped and have to call in the Dermatologist, but most of the time we can recognize infection from allergic, contact from ingested, and treat appropriately. Just don’t send us a picture with your Phone.
