Is your skin red, itchy, inflamed, or painful? These symptoms can indicate a host of skin conditions, including rosacea, dyshidrotic eczema, contact dermatitis, ringworm, impetigo, pityriasis rosea or rubra, actinic keratosis, tinea versicolor, cellulitis, and seborrhea.
Many skin conditions have no known cause, while others are due to such disparate causes as sun exposure or genetics. A few skin conditions, like ringworm and impetigo, are the result of your skin coming into contact with a microorganism, like a fungus or certain bacteria.
Jeffrey Weinberg, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and associate clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai in New York City, says all of these skin conditions are treatable and generally not life-threatening. He adds that while a majority of skin conditions — at least those not related to an infection — are never completely cured, most can be managed.
Ringworm, also known as “tinea” or “dermatophytosis,” has nothing to do with a worm. The “ring” part of its name comes from its ring-shaped rash that’s red and itchy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Rather than a worm, though, it’s caused by a contagious fungal infection that lives on skin, surfaces, or items like towels, clothes, and bedding.
Can’t stop blushing? It could be rosacea, a chronic, long-lasting skin condition that affects roughly 14 million Americans, most often adults between the ages of 30 and 60, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The skin condition usually hits men harder, though women are 3 to 4 times more likely to develop rosacea than men. And it usually affects pale-skinned people, says Joyce Davis, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City.
Eczema, also known as dermatitis, is a general term for multiple conditions that cause inflamed, irritated, and itchy skin. A common type of eczema known as atopic dermatitis is a chronic skin condition that affects 10 to 20 percent of children in developed countries around the world, according to research, appearing before age 5 for the majority (90 percent) of those who have it. It may improve with age, however, says Lisa Anthony, MD, a dermatologist at Summit Health in Rye, New York.
