what is the skin condition

[charl30]

Hi
Was wondering if you can help me, my grandfather has developed a rash he has had it on and off for the past year and a half now, it started as a small patch on his face and has gradually progressed to all over his face back and head, it is big and red and very itchy he says its like his skin is crawling, he has been to the drs and seen a specialist who still cannot explain what it is, his skin has seem to have gone really hard and sort of leathery where the rash is, its driving him mad and he cant sleep at night due to itching, he has tried steroid creams piriton aqueous cream etc and nothing seems to be working, have you any idea from the symptoms what this could be

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It can be due to eczema skin or psoriasis skin. Psoriasis is a long-term (chronic) skin problem that causes skin cells to grow too quickly, resulting in thick, white, silvery, or red patches of skin.It is thought that psoriasis occurs when the immune system overreacts, causing inflammation and flaking of skin.
Get this dry patch biopsied to confirm the diagnosis. It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[Londres70]

He has consulted a Dermatologist or an Allergist already?

Has he had a skin biopsy done?

This could be a number of things from a fungus to something bacterial; hard to say what exactly it is.