Is your scalp itchy? Is it dry and flaky yet still paradoxically greasy? Do you shed a blizzard of flakes? Redness and tenderness to the scalp got you down? You very well may have dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis as dermatologist like to call it.
So why do some people get dandruff? The cause of dandruff is believed to be a complicated interaction between naturally occurring yeast, your skin oil, and the resultant inflammation. For unclear reasons, the yeast finds the composition of some individuals’ scalp oil to be delicious. The digestion of these oils generates fatty acids that penetrate the skin and stir up inflammation (hence the redness and flaking). It is not an infection of yeast per se, but a poorly understood reaction to your skin’s natural inhabitants.
Nobody likes skin tags and unsightly moles. Most of us are not Marilyn Monroe or Cindy Crawford and cannot make our moles sexy. Patients often seek out a dermatologist to have these growths removed.
Skin tags are those little pesky things that crop up around the neck, arm pits and groin areas. Patients call them tags, tabs, doodads, warts, thingies and barnacles. And moles come in all shapes and sizes, from hairy, black and red to just ugly. People sometimes affectionately give their moles pet names. Some mention that “Auntie Nell had a mole exactly in the same place” before adding, “I didn’t like Auntie Nell.”
The headlines are gripping: “Viagra increases risk for melanoma.” And commercials somberly advise,‘If you or a loved one has suffered melanoma, you should contact a Viagra attorney for a free consultation today.” So why aren’t older men dropping dead of melanoma on every street corner?
Both psoriasis and eczema (or atopic dermatitis) cause red, scaly skin rashes and can occur on the same parts of the body which is why sometimes people confuse one for the other. They do have somewhat different symptoms so a dermatologist is the best person to diagnose which skin condition it is and how to treat it. Here are some of the characteristics of psoriasis and eczema and how to tell the difference between the two: