Dermatitis Overview: 2014

Matthew J. Zirwas, MD

Are you treating dermatitis? Dr Zirwas provides us with ten clinical pearls…

  1. The main goal in dermatitis patients is figuring out WHY they have dermatitis.
  2. Acute allergic contact dermatitis starts 1-3 days after exposure to the allergen and takes 1-3 weeks to go away.
  3. Chronic allergic contact dermatitis takes 3-6 months to go away.
  4. Hypoallergenic rubber gloves are not hypoallergenic.  Hypoallergenic gloves include: vinyl gloves, Microtouch Nitra-Free, Dermaprene Ultra.
  5. Shampoo and conditioner are the main causes of eyelid dermatitis, both irritant and allergic.
  6. Atopic dermatitis is the combination of inadequate skin barrier and an immune system that was genetically primed to go in an allergic direction.
  7. Food avoidance and chelation do not work in adults.
  8. There are probiotics that work, but it is very specific – patients can’t just take any old probiotic.
  9. Seborrheic dermatitis is an inflammatory reaction to Malassezia yeast on the skin – treat by reducing amount of yeast and targeting the inflammation.
  10. Xerosis is too little water in the skin.  Need to add water and prevent it from just evaporating away.