Prevention of skin diseases in the elderly

In the elderly, in addition to reduced resistance, collagen fibers and connective fibers of the skin are also fibrotic, and sebaceous gland function is also significantly reduced...

The skin is a special organ of the human body. It covers most of the body's surface. In the elderly, in addition to reduced resistance, the collagen fibers and connective fibers of the skin are also fibrotic, the function of the sebaceous glands and sweat glands is also significantly reduced, so the skin of the elderly becomes wrinkled, less elastic, drier, and more susceptible to disease. However, the disease can be prevented if the elderly and family members really care.

Common skin diseases in the elderly

Keratosis pilaris (age spots): is a very common disease in the elderly, on the skin there are some areas with increased keratinization, dry, rough surface, size less than 10mm and yellow, dark brown. Common locations for keratosis pilaris are areas of skin that are often exposed to sunlight such as the back, hands, neck, face.

Herpes zoster lesions

Atopic dermatitis (allergy): the disease often progresses to become chronic and can be cured but reappears after a while. Itching often appears in the armpits, between the breasts, elbows, knees, groin, and ribs. If scratched a lot, the skin will be scratched, thickened and there is a high risk of infection and pus that can spread to many different areas of the skin.

Stasis dermatitis: often occurs in the lower leg (eg ankle) causing the skin to become rough, red, blistered or, when infected due to excessive scratching, pustules.

Warts: usually appear on the back and neck. Warts are raised papules that are oval or round in shape, quite large in size (from 10 - 20mm), grayish-yellow in color, sometimes there is only one wart, but sometimes there are many warts.

Zonna (also known as shingles): is a disease caused by the Zoster virus, but if severe, it causes a lot of pain, lasting for many days, even months. The disease usually occurs on only one side of the body due to damage to the nerve roots. The patient has fever, pain, burning, itching in the skin area affected by shingles, after a few days, a reddish-pink patch appears in the affected skin area, with blisters growing in clusters close together or in patches.

Skin ulcers in the elderly due to varicose veins: common in women, causing difficulty for blood to return to the heart and blood stagnation causing skin ulcers on the lower legs. The disease can occur on one or both sides of the lower legs.

Streptococcal infection: The disease manifests in some areas causing red, inflamed skin or blisters scattered all over the body, especially the skin on the head, which peels off a lot and causes itching.

Psoriasis: is a disease of unknown cause, the disease often occurs in episodes, red skin patches, different sizes, very clear boundaries, slightly raised on the skin surface, hard base, sometimes white scales are opaque white, shiny like white candles. The scales of the disease have many layers and are very easy to peel off and the scales are created very quickly, when one layer peels off, another layer appears. Psoriasis can be guttate psoriasis or pustular psoriasis and appears in many different locations on the skin (scalp, face, folds, nails...). However, psoriasis is benign.

Vitiligo: caused by the loss of melanin pigment in the skin, making the skin white like the color of a sheet of paper. At first, it is only seen in a small area of ​​the skin, then it appears in many other places, spreads, and connects to form a large area. If vitiligo occurs on the head, it will also cause the hair to turn completely white in the affected scalp area.

In addition, the elderly also suffer from some diseases such as skin ulcers, autoimmune diseases, erythroderma, pityriasis versicolor, ringworm or skin cancer, but the incidence is lower. Pityriasis versicolor and ringworm are fungal diseases, often occurring in hot summer because the skin sweats a lot, creating conditions for fungi to grow.

According to Health & Life - NT