Dermatitis Symptoms

Do these symptoms describe your skin condition? Red, itchy and irritated with open cracks that won’t heal? You may have developed dermatitis. Dermatitis is a general term that describes an inflammation of the skin. Scabies on the other hand is caused because of the infestation of mites. A person infected by scabies can be generally identified by the burrows on the skin. Dermatitis usually involves swollen, reddened and itchy skin.

There are several types of dermatitis, including:

Contact dermatitis: Occurs on exposure to a substance that triggers an allergic response. Fluid-filled bumps or blisters, oozing cracks or fissures, tenderness and redness of the skin often occur with contact dermatitis. Redness of skin also occurs when a person is infected by the Norwegian scabies. But this form of scabies only occurs in those people whose immunity is low.

Neurodermatitis: It is also known as lichen simplex chronicus .The primary symptom of neurodermatitis is itchy skin – often on the neck, wrist, forearm, thigh or ankle. In scabies the similar areas are affected. Sometimes neurodermatitis affects genital areas, such as the vulva or scrotum. The itchiness tends to come and go. The affected patches of skin often have a leathery or scaly texture. The patches may be raw, red or darker than the rest of your skin like that in Norwegian scabies.

Seborrheic dermatitis: In scabies there is mostly no occurrence of dandruff. Seborrheic dermatitis is a common scalp condition that often causes dandruff. In more severe cases, yellowish to reddish scaly pimples appear along the hairline, behind the ears, in the ear canal, on the eyebrows, on the bridge of the nose, around the nose, on the chest, and on the upper back. In scabies however burrows appear within the skin.

Stasis dermatitis (varicose eczema): While scabies is caused by infestation of mites this is caused by a buildup of fluid under the skin of the legs. Progression of the condition can lead to the blistering, coloration of the skin, oozing skin lesions seen with other forms of eczema, and ulcers may develop in affected areas

Atopic Dermatitis (eczema or atopic eczema): Scabies can cause eczema.Atopic dermatitis usually involves a small area of skin that does not itch much and goes away with adequate moisturizing. For scabies also we need certain lotions which have to be applied regulary.Severe atopic dermatitis involves a large area of skin that is itchy and doesn’t go away with moisturizing.

Perioral dermatitis: Perioral dermatitis is a red, bumpy rash around the mouth and on the chin that resembles acne or rosacea. Scabies are also responsible for acne. As mentioned earlier scabies can cause formation of burrows and redness of skin. This disease can however, cause appearance of skin lesions.

Pompholyx: Unlike scabies the cause of this disease is unknown. Pompholyx is a chronic dermatitis characterized by itchy blisters on the palms and sides of the fingers and sometimes on the soles of the feet.Like scabies it is common in infants and children.