Skin-Disorders-Guide.com

Skin has the largest surface area of all of the body organs and is the most exposed organ. Humans are natural hosts for many bacterial species that colonize the skin as normal flora. Skin infections are common and may be caused by bacteria, fungi or viruses. Bacterial skin infections are common and some are self-limited. Bacterial skin infections caused by corynebacteria include erythrasma, trichomycosis axillaris and pitted keratolysis. Bacteria such as some Staphylococcus species, Corynebacterium spp., Brevibacterium spp and Acinetobacter live on normal skin and cause no harm. Propionibacteria live in the hair follicles of adult skin and contribute to acne. Predisposing factors to infection include minor trauma, preexisting skin disease, poor hygiene, and, rarely, impaired host immunity. Bacterial skin infections include erythrasma and related diseases, impetigo, ecthyma, folliculitis, erysipelas and cellulitis. While there are certainly other bacterial skin infections, they are either uncommon or result from systemic illness.

Impetigo is a bacterial skin infection. It is often called school sores because it most often affects children. Impetigo may be caught from someone else with impetigo or boils, or appear out of the blue. It is quite contagious. Impetigo affects approximately 1% of children. Two clinical types of impetigo exist: nonbullous and bullous impetigo. The nonbullous type is more common and typically occurs on the face and extremities. Bullous impetigo, almost exclusively caused by S aureus, exhibits flaccid bullae with clear yellow fluid that rupture and leave a golden-yellow crust. The infection is carried in the fluid that oozes from the blisters. Rarely, impetigo may form deeper skin ulcers. Some bacteria invade normal skin or wounds (causing wound infection). Bacteria, like viruses, may also sometimes result in exanthems (rashes). The goal is to cure the infection and relieve the symptoms. A mild infection may be treated with a prescription antibacterial cream. More severe cases may require antibiotics, taken by mouth. Wash the skin several times a day, preferably with an antibacterial soap, to remove crusts and drainage. For most patients with impetigo, topical treatment is adequate, either with Polysporin bacitracin or mupirocin (Bactroban), applied three times a day for 7 to 10 days. Systemic therapy may be necessary for patients with extensive disease.

Ecthyma is a skin infection similar to impetigo. Staphylococcus bacteria causes this skin infection.  EG may affect patients of any age, although it is commonly reported in infants and elderly patients due to underdeveloped and/or compromised immune systems. Infection may start at the site of an injury with preexisting tissue damage such as scratch, insect bites, dermatitis or excoriations. It occurs when the infection penetrates deep into the dermis, the skin’s second layer, causing painful, itchy sores that develop into pus- or fluid-filled ulcers with hard grayish yellow crusts. The ulcers may cause permanent scarring. Lymph nodes in the affected area may swell. Ecthyma lesion usually begins as a vesicle (small blister) or pustule on an inflamed area of skin. A hard crust that is harder and thicker than the crust of impetigo soon covers this. With difficulty, the crust can be removed to reveal an indurated ulcer that may be red, swollen and oozing with pus. Lesions may stay fixed in size and sometimes resolve spontaneously without treatment, or they may gradually enlarge to a sore of 0.5-3 cm in diameter. The main symptom of ecthyma is a small blister with a red border that may be filled with pus. After the blister goes away, a crusty ulcer appears. Placing a warm wet cloth over the area can help remove ulcer crusts. Drugs Topical mupirocin ointment is very effective. Penicillin should be adequate to treat Streptococci. Surgical Gently debride the crusts

Folliculitis is  of skin infection. Folliculitis starts when hair follicles are damaged by friction from clothing, blockage of the follicle, or shaving. Folliculitis occurs when Staphylococcus bacteria. Most infections are superficial, and although they may itch, they’re seldom painful. A more extensive folliculitis of the sebaceous gland (the oily secreting glands) with some involvement of subcutaneous tissues is termed a furuncle (or boil).  Tinea barbae is similar to barber’s itch, but the infection is caused by a fungus. Pseudofolliculitis barbae is a disorder occurring primarily in black men. If curly beard hairs are cut too short, they may curve back into the skin and cause inflammation. The signs and symptoms of folliculitis vary, depending on the type of infection. In superficial forms of the disorder, small pimples develop around one or more hair follicles. Anyone can develop folliculitis, but certain factors make you more susceptible to the condition. Medical conditions that reduce your resistance to infection, such as diabetes, chronic leukemia, organ transplantation and HIV/AIDS. Obesity — folliculitis is more common in people who are overweight. Hot moist compresses may promote drainage of extensive folliculitis. Treatment may include antibiotics applied to the skin (mupirocin) or taken by mouth (dicloxacillin), or antifungal medications to control the infection. Herpetic folliculitis responds to valacyclovir, famciclovir, or acyclovir.

Erysipelas is a bacterial infection of the skin. Erysipelas caused by Streptococcus pyogenes (bacteria). Erysipelas is also known as St. Anthony’s Fire. Bacterial inoculation into an area of skin trauma is the initial event in developing erysipelas. Erysipelas may affect both children and adults. The risk factors associated with this infection include a cut in the skin, skin ulcers, and problems with the drainage through the veins or lymph system. People with immune deficiency, diabetes, alcoholism, skin ulceration, fungal infections and impaired lymphatic drainage (e.g., after mastectomy, pelvic surgery, bypass grafting) are also at increased risk. In the past, the face was most commonly involved site of infection, yet now accounts for only up to 20% of cases. The legs are affected in up to 80% of cases. Symptoms and signs of erysipelas are usually abrupt in onset and often accompanied by general illness in the form of fevers, chills and shivering. Affected skin is distinguished from other forms of cellulitis by a well-defined, raised border. The affected skin is red, swollen and may be finely dimpled (like an orange skin). It may be blistered. Bleeding into the skin may cause purpura (purple patches). Treatment for adults is with antibiotics usually a penicillinase – resistant penicillin, cephalosporin, or erythromycin IV or oral depending on the sensitivity. For children less than 3 years old prompt treatment with IV cephalosporins i.e. ceftriaxone is indicated

Cellulitis is an infection of the skin. Cellulitis appears as a swollen, red area of skin that feels hot and tender, and it may spread rapidly. Cellulitis caused by infection with staphylococcus, streptococcus. Cellulitis may progress to serious illness by uncontrolled spread contiguously or via the lymphatic or circulatory systems. Symptoms and signs are usually localised to the affected area but patients can become generally unwell with fevers, chills and shakes. Cellulitis is most common on the lower legs and the arms or hands, although other areas of the body may sometimes be involved. If it involves the face (erysipelas), medical attention is urgent. People with fungal infections of the feet, who have skin cracks in the webspaces between the toes, may have cellulitis that keeps coming back, because the cracks in the skin offer an opening for bacteria. Cellulitis is also a common complication of obesity. Cellulitis is also extremely prevalent amongst dense populations sharing hygiene facilities and common living quarters. Military installations which require communal showers provide such an environment, as it is prevalent among many recruits going through boot camp. Most patients can be treated with oral antibiotics at home, usually for 5 to 10 days. Oral antibiotics used commonly are penicillin, flucloxacillin, cefuroxime or erythromycin. The usual intravenous antibiotics used are penicillin-based antibiotics (e.g. penicillin G or flucloxacillin) or cephalosporins (e.g. cefotaxime or cefazolin) for a few days. Bed rest and elevation of affected limbs is also recommended

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Take a little bit of the exfoliating cream, gel or scrub suited for your skin type and gently rub it on your already cleansed face.
Lightly rub the mixture all over your face avoiding the eyes and the area around the lips. Rub for only about ten seconds to avoid irritation.
Rinse with warm water, until you cannot feel the grains.

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The exfoliating mask is designed to remove dead cells From the surface of the skin and to encourage the growth of new cells. It helps in increasing blood circulation and brings a glowto the skin. A good home-made Face scrub is made froma mixture of wheat husk or chokker, a Few drops of milkand rose water. Apply it on the Face.when it is almost dry,rub off the scrub”by using circular strokes. Regular use of the scrub also discourages the growth of Facial hair. Wash off the face with cold water.

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You can make your own homemade skin toner by making mixture of 2-tablespoon each cucumber and carrot juice. This is an excellent toner for the skin, especially during winters. Vodka makes a good pore-tightening astringent cum toner for a oily skins. To tighten skin pores, cover the body with a mixture of 2 piece cucumber, 2-tablespoon mint, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and 2-3 drops of vinegar.

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In olden times, people used to massage their scalp and other parts of the body with some oil on a regular basis. This enhanced the softness of the skin and the massage helped to improve the blood circulation and induce relaxation of muscles. Professionals, who specialised in massaging, developed techniques to produce maximum relaxation and a feeling of well being. Although the oil applied on the skin was used mainly to facilitate a smooth movement of the hands on the skin, in due course professionals starting using a variety of other oils to obtain some therapeutic benefits. The majority of such oils contained rubifacients and mild counter-irritants which primarily helped to improve the blood circulation.

With the advent of modernisation, the practise of using oils and massaing the skin has progessively declined. This is partly due to the fact that most people have realised that applying oil on the skin and the hair is useless, and massage is time-consuming. However, massage is a relaxing experience provided the individual can spare the time. Those who donot like to apply oil, can massage by applying talcum powder on the skin to facillitate a smooth movements of the hands. 

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Signs of atopic dermatitis appearing during infancy are called infantile atopic dermatitis or infactile eczema. The earliest manifestations usually appear when the infact is only two-months old and consist of severely itchy eruptions with exudation, which commonly start on both the chicks and quickly spread to other parts of the face, and then two other regions of the body. Sometimes however, the manifestations can start from some other region of the body rather than the face.

The most characteristic feature of infantile atopic dermatitis is the itching which is for more severe when compared to the intensity of the skin lesions. If the patient is not treated properly, it can lead to heavy crusting over the lesions with superadded bacterial infection, and the child can be very uncomfortable. The intensity of the dermatitis can very from time to time and the pattern also varies in different patients. The disease runs a variable course - it can remit spontaneously in a year or two to reapper at a later stage as a childhood atopic dermatitis, it may not appear at all throughout the rest of the life of the patient, or it may manifest as asthma or allergic rhinitis at a large scale. In some cases infantile eczema does not remit at all and slowly changes into the childhood face of atopic dermatitis.

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