Skin Rashes and Non-Allergic Causes

Recently I saw a number of skin rashes of the hands and feet and legs that were not caused by allergy but due to infestation by mites. Mites can be transferred from human to human or from pets to human.

Itchy rashes can be caused by parasites and fungal infestation. Each of these have their particular manifestation. Psoriasis can be at times itchy. So is a very particular skin condition called dermatitis herpetiformis which is extremely itchy.

So remember, not all itchy skin rashes are caused by allergy and therefore a diagnosis is not always straightforward.

And my learning continues...

Same Allergies, Different Symptoms

There were two patients who saw me on the same day with latex or rubber allergy who presented with different manifestation on their legs and feet.

One with his lower limbs with red, angry looking, wet lesions with skin infections.

The other with dry, thickened and scaly lesions.

The lesson:

Our bodily reactions manifest differently from persons to persons when exposed to the same allergic substance. I have observed this time and time again.

My learning continues.

Allergy in Piety

I had an interesting case of a middle age Malay lady who came to see me because of an extremely itchy thickened lesions at both of her knees and some parts of her ankle. My investigative skills were challenged, but I finally solved it.

Turns out, her allergy was due to her prayer mat which she use to kneel and the cause of the allergy was due to the new detergent she uses to wash her mat. Asking her to revert back to her old detergent solved her problem.

You never know where allergy can pop up!

My learning continues....

*Cough* *Cough*

Chronic cough can be caused by allergy, but it's not always the case.

Recently I saw a young man who had a chronic cough. I did a chest X-ray, and it showed a tumor that was eventually diagnosed as germinal cell cancer. Luckily for him, this tumor is very treatable.

Another case was a middle age man who was diagnosed with tuberculosis from the chest X-ray. In another case, a man with a prolonged runny nose turned out to have a cancer of his throat.

The lesson is to do at least some simple tests to rule out other conditions before thinking of allergy.

My learning continues