Long term skin condition

[skhan1]

I'm searching for a diagnosis of skin condition that I have since childhood. The symptoms include extreme itching on skin with white/cloudy scaling, followed by darkening of the affected area. After scratching the area and removing scales, the skin burns. The symptoms start showing at random on skin. So far I've had the condition on legs (behind knees), arms (elbow joint) scalp (rear head), partially on lip and pelvis area. The legs, arms and lips areas do not have itching and scaling anymore, yet the dark skin is still there. I'm still suffering from the symptoms on the rest of the affected areas.

[skhan1]

Thank you for your help. Just to let you in on my medication history, when the condition started showing initially long time back, I got it treated by some steriod and a bleaching cream. As it was very long time back, I do not remember the name of the ointments. It took quite sometime but it worked. My worry is that the condition keeps appearing and I'm unable to know the cause so far. The best I got from the dermatologist is that its due to stress. I take antihistamine for allergies and it does not seem to work on the condition.

The condition on the scalp is 17 years old and i've lost a patch of hair to it as well. I'll try calamine lotion for sure and get an appointment with the doctor. Thank you once again for your help.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Without examination,confirmation of a diagnosis is tough but it sounds like eczema. It is a form of chronic dermatitis (rash).Allergic reaction is one of the important causes of eczema.

Wash the areas several times with fresh water. Do not use any cosmetic products at the sites. You can apply some calamine lotion at the rash as it will help in soothing the skin. You can take some OTC oral antihistamine medications like Benadryl or Claritin and see if it helps.

For mild-moderate eczema a weak steroid may be used (e.g. hydrocortisone as dermacort), whilst more severe cases require a higher-potency steroid (e.g. clobetasol propionate, fluocinonide).

Eczema can be exacerbated by dryness of the skin. Use good quality moisturizers to prevent moisture loss from the skin.

If still the symptoms do not improve then pls get a clinical examination done by a dermatologist.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or in case you have any additional doubts.Kind regards.