Itching All Over

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One of the many concerns for dog owners are dog skin infections. As a rule, most dogs are prone to getting skin infections. Dog skin infections normally start with your dog constantly scratching. Dog infections are normally caused by the food they eat, or by their environment. Dogs love to play outside in the dirt. If a pet owner does not clean their pet after playing outside there is a greater probability that their dog will get infected by a bacteria that are present in the area.

If you do not clean your pet this could lead to environmental dermatitis. Some dogs can contract this condition simply from their food. The readymade meals you get from the supermarket can often times cause this condition also. It is important to read dog food labels carefully. This will prevent you from feeding your dog foods that containallergens. Many studies have shown that commercial dog foods have chemicals hidden in them that can be attributed to these conditions. As a dog owner you need to know the symptoms of dogskin infections. Dog owners are encouraged to treatthese infections at home instead of frequent visits to the vet.

One of the most common dog’s skin infections is called hot spots. This usually starts with the dog scratching the infected area which could spread the infection to other areas. This condition normally appears in warmer weather. This condition normally appears as a hairless and moist inflammation. These spots can quickly become quite large. The location of these hot spots can help determine the underlying problem. This could be an ear problem, a flea problem, or an anal gland problem. This can be treated by clipping the hair around the inflammation, cleaning it with a medicated solution. A veterinarian can also prescribe pain medicine and antibiotics to help with this problem.

Another condition that can arise is Atopic Dermatitis. This condition is caused by environmental allergens. Dogs that have this will rub up against the side of a wall, a couch or along the carpet. Ear infections are also common for this condition because of yeast overgrowth. Dust, grass, pollen, trees, and wool are common allergens that dogs are allergic to. Antihistamines are normally prescribed for these allergens.

Acral Lick Dermatitis is a raised lesion that is red and usually found on the legs. This condition stems from constant licking. Possible reasons are: boredom, stress, or anxiety. The treatment is to try to restrict licking and a medication for a behavioral modification might be best.

Determining the source of your dog skinproblem is never easy. Skin conditions can be painful and uncomfortable. The dog owner should be diligent in finding out the source of the problem for a healthier and happy dog.

The dog health guide contains more helpful information on keeping your dog healthy.

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more posts of interest:

• Understanding Skin Allergies
• Dry Skin in Dogs
• Skin Allergies And Rashes
• What Are The Common Forms Of Dermatitis Skin Problems?
• Prepare Your Skin For The Beach This Summer

by Kerry Buckley

All About Eczema
Eczema is known to be a skin disease which includes dryness and repetitive

skin rashes that are a result of many causes. This disease can happen to any

one regardless of age. This is more prevalent among girls compared to boys.

It happens in almost all races. Eczema is common even in infants and older

children. The most common type of eczema is a topic dermatitis.
Eczema Symptoms
Eczema on the other hand, has a direct relation to ongoing stress and

allergies. The symptoms of it include redness, itching, thickening of the

skin affected, which appears mostly on the face, elbows, knees and arms.

Eczema can appear in many ways such as wet and dry eczema. Cracking and

weeping can also happen to the skin affected. The disease can also cause skin

discoloration of the affected areas. Eczema is often associated with

dermatitis. When the affected portion is scratched, the rash tends to worsen

and can spread.
Types of Eczema
The common types of eczema are the following: atopic eczema, contact

dermatitis, xerotic dermatitis and seborrhoeic dermatitis. Atopic eczema is

an allergic condition which is acquired through heredity; it mostly runs in

families who have asthma. The usual symptoms include an itchy rash on the

neck, head and scalp, elbows, at the back of the knees and buttocks.

Modernized countries are predominantly affected by this condition.
Contact dermatitis has many causes (Allergens). Some of these include nickel,

which would be known as an allergic reaction. A direct response to a

detergent, containing sodium lauryl sulfate, would be referred to as an

irritant.
These substances can perform as allergen or an irritant. One great example is

cement. Another cause could be sunlight exposure.
Xerotic eczema is a condition where the skin is dry, especially effecting

portions of the limbs and trunk. It gets worse during cold weather, probably

because of the drying effect of central heating. This may lead to eczema,

which is prevalent among older people. On the other hand, Seborrhoeic

dermatitis is a kind of eczema which results from dandruff. It produces oily

peeling on the scalp, eyebrows and at times in the face and trunk. This can

be cured. Eczema is often caused by asthma and other allergic conditions. In

addition, contact with the skin of soaps, cosmetics and detergents can also

be a cause of eczema.
The abnormal reaction of our immune system is one of the known reasons for it.

This can also be caused by scratching, house dust and mites. Eczema is

commonly diagnosed through physical examination and skin biopsy. The doctor

will identify if there are any abnormal reactions, to materials which a

patient may have contacted or have touched. Eczema can occur with other skin

diseases, infections or reactions to certain medical applications.
Treatment of Eczema
At this time, there is no direct cure for eczema. Prevention can be attempted,

and ointments and creams applied to soothe and heal. Corticosteroid creams

are suggested to lessen the inflammation of the skin. Before doing anything,

you need to consult your doctor, since the main goal in treating eczema is to

stop the itching and inflammation of the affected skin area. To treat Eczema

and its symptoms, such as an itchy rash, one only has to use some ingenuity

and common sense. One easy thing you can do is, to install a humidifier

during the winter.
You can also refrain from hot showers which dry and aggravate the skin.

Natural skin care products like Emu oil and essential oils can be very

healing and soothing for the itch and are also anti-inflammatory – for the

Eczema, this is especially true if they have no chemicals in them.

more posts of interest:

• How to Relieve Eczema
• Contact Dermatitis
• Description Of Eczema And How To Treat It
• Symptoms And Treatment For Eczema.
• Eczema Remedy For Unexpurgated People

by wallygrom (very busy at work)

The condition of dry skin in dogs shows as dandruff in the coat of your dog. If you scratch at the skin of your dog with your finger nail, skin cells will flake off.

Many canine skin problems are due to a faulty skin barrier that binds the surface layers of the skin. This is where the similarities with human eczema exist. There is a parallel between the causes and symptoms of atopy and eczema due to water loss from the skin. The outer layer of the skin has a barrier. If you imagine the outer layer of the skin is like a brick wall where the cells are bricks and between the cells is a layer of “mortar” called ceramide. Ceramide is made up of lipids and proteins that form an impermeable substrate.

In a dog with a barrier defect, the ceramide is missing sphingosine. The ceramide crumbles like old mortar. This layer normally traps moisture in the skin. Dry skin in dogs occurs when water escapes through this faulty ceramide barrier. Atopic dermatitis occurs in many breeds of dogs. Dry skin in dogs therefore occurs in dogs with atopic dermatitis. Many breeds are affected.

Dry skin in dogs with atopic dermatitis is the first symptom of the trouble to come. You may notice flakey skin in the first year of the dogs’ life. This is the beginning of the “allergy march” towards more serious canine skin problems Many dogs with a faulty skin barrier will go on to develop canine skin problems. An itchy, red rash may develop in areas where there is no hair covering the surface of the skin (the bald areas), such as the groin, abdomen, arm pit, the feet and on the inside of the ears.

The skin barrier defect that allows water loss also allows allergens and bacteria to cross the skin surface. Allergens such as pollen and dust mite cross the skin and trigger an allergic reaction. An inflammation and red rash will develop once sensitisation develops. If your dog did not have skin problems early in life and went on to develop a rash and itch between twelve and twenty four months of age, it may have atopic dermatitis. The time delay is because it takes time for the allergens to sensitise the immune system.

Dry skin in dogs is often the first symptom you will see in the “allergy march”. You need to start treating the skin barrier immediately. Delay in barrier treatment will lead to a lifetime of skin problems for your dog.

Find More Dermatitis Articles

more posts of interest:

• What Are The Common Forms Of Dermatitis Skin Problems?
• Skin Allergies And Rashes

by slightlypale

In the first part of this article we found out about what is Allergic Contact Dermatitis and how it is caused. Let us find out more.

The Clinical Look:

The allergy may not be only confined to the place of contact. If you handle a material with your hands and then touch your eyelids, your eyelids will also develop allergic reaction. Unless the dermatitis is severe, it is confined to the area of contact. The skin may become red, itchy and blistered. With repeated allergic reactions, skin deteriorates further and becomes thick and cracked.

Common Allergens:

Common allergens include nickel, poison ivy, some makeup preparations, latex, hair dye, antibiotics such as neomycin, etc. You may find out if you are allergic to any substance with a patch test. By applying the suspected allergen to a small spot for few days and watching the reaction of the skin will indicate the allergy causing potential of that material. Your doctor will guide you more about how to conduct this test. Some examples are – a jewelery piece containing nickel, nickel straps, latex gloves, reaction to permanent hair dye, reaction to topical antibiotic such as neomycin, etc. If the allergy arises, after the skin that had come in contact with the allergen is exposed to sunlight, it is called photo allergy. In this case, the other contact sites will not develop allergy, but only those parts that get exposed to sunlight.

Treatment:

The first need is to avoid contact with allergens. In case of dermatitis developing, it may be treated with topical antibiotics, steroids, or immuno-modulators. Systematic medicines such as antihistamines, steroids, antibiotics, may be used depending upon the severity of the reaction. Your doctor is the best person to prescribe treatment.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.

By: Leslie Nguyen This is my public service announcement for my Health Science Technology class. I have eczema myself, but it’s not as severe as the pictures seen in the video. I do use the corticosteroids every now and then, and it does reduce the scaley, dry, reddened skin very well. I have had eczema ever since I was a child and still have it til’ this day [ I will probably have it for the rest of my life] and that means that I have Chronic dermatitis or eczema. Doing this project has really taught me quite a bit about this “skin rash” I have had for years.

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more posts of interest:

• Contact Dermatitis
• Cleanness In Excess Can Cause Allergy
• Rubbing The Itchy Truth About Dermatitis
• Ezcema Dermatitis
• Different Types Of Dermatitis

Contact dermatitis can be divided into two groups: Irritative dermatitis and allergic dermatitis.

Irritative dermatitis

Irritative dermatitis is caused by irritants in the patients environment. Repetitive exposure will eventually exceed the regeneration ability. These irritants can be water, soap, oils, alcohol etc. This causes certain professions to be of a high risk: hair dressers, care workers, cleaners etc., and people with a history of atopic dermatitis are especially at risk.

Allergic dermatitis

Allergic dermatitis can basically be caused by anything that the patient develops an allergy towards; most frequently the cause is nickel, perfume or additives. However, finding the culprit can be like finding a needle in a haystack. The methods available are epikutan testing or bullet testing.

Epikutan test works by placing samples of different suspects on the patients back. The dermatologist will have a standard sample assembly, but anything the patient works with, his/her perfume, soap, crmes anything basically can be tested at the same time. All the samples are covered with patches and after two days the results are studied. If the patient develops eczema under a specific patch, that test is considered positive.

In a bullet test samples of a couple of suspected causes are tested by placing a drop of a solution and allowing it to enter the skin by pricking a hole in the skin with a needle. This can be used for allergens such as latex, protein, fresh foods or pollen. The allergen will cause a histamine triggered response causing eczema. In order to decipher the result correctly and avoid false positive/negative results, two control drops is used: one with normal saline to rule out contact urticaria and one with histamine to rule out an inability to respond to histamine.

Treatment

Treatment of either irritative or allergic dermatitis involves avoiding the triggering factor. This can be extremely difficult and require months of experimenting with different causes not to mention eventually requiring a change of jobs.

Medical treatment includes focally applied steroids (in severe cases systemic steroids can be tried), disinfecting red baths, anti-inflammatory medicine, ultraviolet light and antibiotics in case of secondary infection.

more posts of interest:

• Ezcema Dermatitis
• Eczema Treatment: Get Cautious, not Scared
• Skin Rash | Skin Rashes | Skin Rash Types | Skin Rash Cures
• Symptoms And Treatment For Eczema.
• Rubbing The Itchy Truth About Dermatitis