Skin Rashes

By Nurse Diane

It’s a beautiful day; you are taking a nice stroll.... The grass is green, the trees are green, and there are green leaves everywhere!  But beware!  Leaves of 3 let it be!  Yes folks, I’m talking about poison ivy and poison oak.    This is a real problem in the southern states and I’m sure other area as well.  I am highly allergic, just writing is is making me itch!  There was a large oak tree across the street from my school.  I would stand by it after school to wait for my mother to pick me up.  It didn't take too long for me to learn that it was covered with those nasty green leaves.   I touched it and swole up like that blueberry girl on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I had to go to the doctor and get what must have been a steroid shot back then my mother covered the rash with that pink calamine lotion.  Not only was I miserable with itchy seeping blisters all over my swollen face pink colored face, but also I looked like a circus clown.

When my father gets around it, he immediately starts a steroid dose pack to keep from getting a bad case of it.  Not only can you get a reaction from touching the leaves, but also if the leaves are burning and the smoke gets near you, you can get the rash, and also if you touch someone who has it you can get it.

I recently read another article about a new plant that is making its way across the country.  Its called Giant hogweed and it is a plant that looks like a supersized version of Queen Anne’s lace and a touch can cause blisters, burns and blindness.to see a short video about this plant, click here:

http://news.yahoo.com/video/innocent-looking-plant-poses-serious-151214291.html

Symptoms of the rash or contact dermatitis as it is more formally known as include:

Itching at the site

Redness at the site

Heat at the site

Localized swelling or tenderness

Blisters or rash

Treatment

If you come in contact with poison ivy or any poisonous plant, wash immediately with soap and water.  If a rash develops use corticosteroid creams and ointments if the condition becomes unbearable, however sometimes the best treatment is no treatment.  Over treatment of skin rashes may cause you to develop reactions to other irritants.  However, you may need corticosteroid medication if it worsens.  It usually takes 2 or 3 weeks before the symptoms disappear.

Prevention

As my daddy will tell you, if it is green and has leaves, stay away from it!

(Photos from Google) 

Skin Rashes

(Google Image) 

By Diane Forrest, RN

When I was young, I had a round red circle mark on my stomach.  My mother couldn't figure out what it was, so off to the doctor we went.  I was diagnosed with ring worm.  Ring worm is a rash that is acquired from animals.  The doctor prescribed some antifungal cream and told me to stay away from strange animals.  That wasn't a problem since I had almost been eaten alive by a stray Doberman Pincher that hung around my school yard; I kept as far away from animals as possible.

When my son was young, I took him on a trip to visit some friends.  It was summer time, and hot, and his diaper was wet, and he developed diaper rash on his hind end.  I placed him in warm water with an oatmeal soak, and then applied Destin ointment to the area.

(Google Image) 

Then on his first birthday I baked him a wonderful clown cake, made with strawberry cake mix.  He loved the cake and dug right in, but when it came time to clean him up, the red spots wouldn't come off.  He was allergic to the strawberry cake, and broke out in hives, another skin rash.

A rash is a change of the skin which affects its color, appearance or texture. A rash may be localized in one part of the body, or affect all the skin. Rashes may cause the skin to change color, itch, become warm, bumpy, chapped, dry, cracked or blistered, swell and may be painful. The causes, and therefore treatments for rashes, vary widely. Diagnosis must take into account such things as the appearance of the rash, other symptoms, what the patient may have been exposed to, occupation, and occurrence in family members. The diagnosis may confirm any number of conditions.

(Google Image) 

There are many conditions, foods and even medications that will cause a skin rash.  Some are listed below:

• Food Allergy
• Anxiety
• Allergies, for example to food, dyes, medicines, insect stings, metals such as zinc or nickel; such rashes are often called hives.
• Skin contact with an irritant
• Fungal infection, such as ringworm
• Reaction to vaccination
• Skin diseases such as eczema or acne
• Exposure to sun (sunburn) or heat
• Friction due to chafing of the skin
• Irritation such as caused by abrasives impregnated in clothing rubbing the skin. The cloth itself may be abrasive enough for some people
• Menstruation
• Secondary syphilis
• Diseases such as Lupus

(Google Image) 

Treatment differs according to what rash a patient has been diagnosed with. Common rashes can be easily remedied using steroid topical creams (such as hydrocortisone) or non-steroidal treatments. Many of the medications are available over the counter in the United States.  If you notice a suspicious rash on your body that doesn't heal in a couple of weeks, seek treatment from your physician before it spreads and becomes worse.

Skin Rashes that last and last …

by Diane Forrest

Coaster's hit song from 1959 - Poison Ivy:

Your gonna need an ocean

Of calamine lotion

You’ll be scratching like a hound

The minute you start to mess around

It’s a beautiful day, you are taking a nice stroll....the grass is green, the trees are green, there are green leaves everywhere!  But beware!  Leaves of 3 let it be!  Yes folks, I’m talking about poison ivy and poison oak.

    

This is a real problem in the southern states and I am sure other areas as well.  I am highly allergic, just writing is making me itch!  There was a large oak tree across the street from my school.  I would stand by it after school to wait for my mother to pick me up.  It didn't take too long for me to learn that it was covered with those nasty green leaves.   I touched it and swole up like that blueberry girl on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I had to go to the doctor and get what must have been a steroid shot  Back then my mother covered the rash with that pink calamine lotion.  Not only was I miserable with itchy seeping blisters all over my swollen face pink colored face, but I looked like a circus clown.

When my father gets around it, he immediately starts a steroid dose pack to keep from getting a bad case of it.  Not only can you get a reaction from touching the leaves, but if the leaves are burning and the smoke gets near you, you can get the rash, and also if you touch someone who has it you can get it.

Symptoms of the rash or contact dermatitis as it is more formally known as include:

• Itching at the site
• Redness at the site
• Heat at the site
• Localized swelling or tenderness
• Blisters or rash

Treatment

If you come in contact with poison ivy, wash immediately with soap and water.  If a rash develops use corticosteroid creams and ointments if the condition becomes unbearable, however sometimes the best treatment is no treatment.  Over treatment of skin rashes may cause you to develop reactions to other irritants.  However, you may need corticosteroid medication if it worsens.  It usually takes 2 or 3 weeks before the symptoms disappear.

Prevention

As my daddy will tell you, if it is green and has leaves, stay away from it!

For more information, please visit one of these sites:

www.poisonivy.aesir.com

www.webmd.com

www.poison-ivy.org