DERMATITIS: A GROUP OF SKIN DISEASES

A dermatitis is a group of skin conditions that includes atopic dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, irritant contact dermatitis and stasis dermatitis. The exact cause of dermatitis is often unclear. Dermatitis symptoms vary with all different forms of the condition. They range from skin rashes to bumpy rashes or including blisters. Although every type of dermatitis has different symptoms, there are certain signs that are common for all of them, including redness of the skin, swelling, itching and skin lesions with sometimes oozing and scarring. Also, the area of the skin on which the symptoms appear tends to be different with every type of dermatitis, whether on the neck, wrist, forearm, thigh or ankle. Topical immunosuppressants like pimecrolimus and tacrolimus may be better in the short term and appear equal to steroids after a year of use. Light therapy using ultraviolet light has tentative support but the quality of the evidence is not very good. Most cases are well managed with topical treatments and ultraviolet light. Key Words: Dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, irritant contact dermatitis