Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Introduction
- 1 The Case of Black Sweat
- 2 A Case of Hives That Wouldn't Go Away
- 3 The Painful Bath
- 4 A Shower of Hives
- 5 A Premenstrual Rash
- 6 Uncombable Hair
- 7 The Man Who Couldn't Sweat
- 8 Scratch Blisters
- 9 Skin Deep Photography
- 10 The Bug That Never Was
- 11 Blue Spots
- 12 White Spots
- 13 Same Place, Next Time Rash
- 14 The Brown Spots That Wouldn't Go Away
- 15 The Case of the Painful Fingertips
- 16 A Strange Sunburn
- 17 A Multiple Personality Dermatitis
- 18 Accidental Hives
- 19 Rotten Fish Odor
- 20 Hormone Blisters
- 21 Flower Shop Itch
- 22 “Stress and a Penny” Hives
- 23 The Case of Unilateral Wrinkles
- 24 Fiery Red Legs
- 25 Painful Feet
- 26 Hot Flashes and Cold Cream
- 27 The Blisters and the Skin Test
- 28 A Chilling Pain
- 29 Rough Skin and Sore Throats
- 30 The Premenstrual Purple Chin
- 31 Nine Year Hives
- 32 Golf Course Dermatitis
- 33 The Secret Message
- 34 Herpes Gladiatorum
- 35 Sunshine Allergy
- 36 L'homme Rouge
- 37 Rings of Rash
- 38 The Breasts That Never Stopped Growing
- 39 The Minister's Hives
- 40 Hardened Skin
- 41 Battery Blisters
- 42 Swollen Lips
- 43 The Worm from Outer Space
- 44 A New Light on Psoriasis
- 45 Black and Blue Spots
- 46 The Emergency Room Itch
- 47 The Sleeper
- 48 A Crazy Rash
- 49 Bald Spots
- 50 The Dog Died
- 51 The Abacus Tumor
- 52 No Spit
- 53 The Smell of Burnt Toast
- 54 The Twenty-Three Year Itch
- 55 The Mysterious Treatment
- 56 The Creeping Acne Cyst
- 57 Our First Case
- 58 A Strange Case of Acne
- 59 The Case of the Glass Eye
- 60 The Hand Eczema Caper
- 61 The Sore That Would Never Heal
- 62 Black Blisters
- References
- Index
20 - Hormone Blisters
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Introduction
- 1 The Case of Black Sweat
- 2 A Case of Hives That Wouldn't Go Away
- 3 The Painful Bath
- 4 A Shower of Hives
- 5 A Premenstrual Rash
- 6 Uncombable Hair
- 7 The Man Who Couldn't Sweat
- 8 Scratch Blisters
- 9 Skin Deep Photography
- 10 The Bug That Never Was
- 11 Blue Spots
- 12 White Spots
- 13 Same Place, Next Time Rash
- 14 The Brown Spots That Wouldn't Go Away
- 15 The Case of the Painful Fingertips
- 16 A Strange Sunburn
- 17 A Multiple Personality Dermatitis
- 18 Accidental Hives
- 19 Rotten Fish Odor
- 20 Hormone Blisters
- 21 Flower Shop Itch
- 22 “Stress and a Penny” Hives
- 23 The Case of Unilateral Wrinkles
- 24 Fiery Red Legs
- 25 Painful Feet
- 26 Hot Flashes and Cold Cream
- 27 The Blisters and the Skin Test
- 28 A Chilling Pain
- 29 Rough Skin and Sore Throats
- 30 The Premenstrual Purple Chin
- 31 Nine Year Hives
- 32 Golf Course Dermatitis
- 33 The Secret Message
- 34 Herpes Gladiatorum
- 35 Sunshine Allergy
- 36 L'homme Rouge
- 37 Rings of Rash
- 38 The Breasts That Never Stopped Growing
- 39 The Minister's Hives
- 40 Hardened Skin
- 41 Battery Blisters
- 42 Swollen Lips
- 43 The Worm from Outer Space
- 44 A New Light on Psoriasis
- 45 Black and Blue Spots
- 46 The Emergency Room Itch
- 47 The Sleeper
- 48 A Crazy Rash
- 49 Bald Spots
- 50 The Dog Died
- 51 The Abacus Tumor
- 52 No Spit
- 53 The Smell of Burnt Toast
- 54 The Twenty-Three Year Itch
- 55 The Mysterious Treatment
- 56 The Creeping Acne Cyst
- 57 Our First Case
- 58 A Strange Case of Acne
- 59 The Case of the Glass Eye
- 60 The Hand Eczema Caper
- 61 The Sore That Would Never Heal
- 62 Black Blisters
- References
- Index
Summary
Sometimes despair over a skin disease that fails to yield to treatment can lead to suicide. We have seen that tragedy twice – once in a young man with hair loss and the other in a boy with acne. And it almost happened with this patient. For five long years, a twenty-seven-year-old woman had suffered an extremely severe itch associated with small water blisters on her arms, legs and trunk. They came in groups in arciform configuration. Many of the soft tops had been scratched off, leaving areas of redness, crusting, and scars where she had dug the skin away to relieve her itch. The skin was both hyperpigmented and depigmented.
She stated that it all began a week after the birth of her second child. She was told it was due to sunlight sensitivity, and, indeed, it slowly faded as she dutifully avoided the sun. Two years later it recurred explosively after the birth of her third child and then had remained unchecked for the past three years. She has wandered from doctor to doctor, who have wandered from diagnosis to diagnosis, and from treatment to treatment. She has had numerous biopsies and as many diagnoses. Steroids, antibiotics, antihistaminics, and sedatives were all of no avail. She was told it was due to nerves, that it was due to an allergy to gluten in wheat, and that it was a virus infection. AIDS had not made its entrance or it, too, would have been considered.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Consultations in DermatologyStudies of Orphan and Unique Patients, pp. 68 - 70Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006