Skin Care Information
Acne
Acne vulgaris (or cystic acne) is a common human skin disease, characterized by areas of skin with seborrhea (scaly red skin), comedones (blackheads and whiteheads), papules (pinheads), pustules (pimples), Nodules (large papules) and possibly scarring. Acne affects mostly skin with the densest population of sebaceous follicles; these areas include the face, the upper part of the chest, and the back. Severe acne is inflammatory, but acne can also manifest in noninflammatory forms. The lesions are caused by changes in pilosebaceous units, skin structures consisting of a hair follicle and its associated sebaceous gland, changes that require androgen stimulation.
Acne occurs most commonly during adolescence, and often continues into adulthood. In adolescence, acne is usually caused by an increase in testosterone, which people of both genders accrue during puberty. For most people, acne diminishes over time and tends to disappear — or at the very least decrease — after one reaches one's early twenties. There is, however, no way to predict how long it will take to disappear entirely, and some individuals will carry this condition well into their thirties, forties, and beyond.
Shingles
Herpes zoster (or simply zoster), commonly known as shingles and also known as zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a limited area on one side of the body, often in a stripe. The initial infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes the acute (short-lived) illness chickenpox which generally occurs in children and young people. Once an episode of chickenpox has resolved, the virus is not eliminated from the body but can go on to cause shingles—an illness with very different symptoms—often many years after the initial infection. Herpes zoster is not the same disease as herpes simplex despite the name similarity (both the varicella zoster virus and herpes simplex virus belong to the same viral subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae).
Varicella zoster virus can become latent in the nerve cell bodies and less frequently in non-neuronal satellite cells of dorsal root, cranial nerve or autonomic ganglion, without causing any symptoms. Years or decades after a chickenpox infection, the virus may break out of nerve cell bodies and travel down nerve axons to cause viral infection of the skin in the region of the nerve. The virus may spread from one or more ganglia along nerves of an affected segment and infect the corresponding dermatome (an area of skin supplied by one spinal nerve) causing a painful rash. Although the rash usually heals within two to four weeks, some sufferers experience residual nerve pain for months or years, a condition called postherpetic neuralgia. Exactly how the virus remains latent in the body, and subsequently re-activates is not understood.
Skin Care - Medication Information
Solodyn
Solodyn (minocycline) is a tetracycline antibiotic. Solodyn is a prescription medicine used to treat pimples and red bumps (non-nodular inflammatory lesions) that happen with moderate to severe acne vulgaris in people 12 years and older. Solodyn is not effective for acne that is not red-looking (this means acne that is not inflammatory).
Lidoderm
Lidoderm is a local anesthetic (numbing medication). It works by blocking nerve signals in your body. Lidoderm is used to relieve post-shingles pain. Apply Lidoderm only to intact skin with no blisters.
Lidocaine topical in other formulations is used to reduce pain or discomfort caused by skin irritations such as sunburn, insect bites, poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and minor cuts, scratches, hemorrhoids, and burns. Lidocaine topical can also be used to treat sores inside the mouth, during dental procedures to numb the gums, and to numb the skin for a medical procedure (such as getting stiches).
