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Anaesthesia numbness
Apthae occurs in the mouth, on the tongue and inside the cheeks. They start as red vesicles and then ulcerate until it looks like a burn. Very painful especially with acid or salty foods. Bor, Merc, Kali-b, Hydr, Sul-a, Nit-a. See ulcers.
Boils (furuncle) An acute round inflammation of the internal skin layers, or hair. When deep, the blood clots in the vessel and forms a core which can be very painful. The core is expelled or absorbed eventually. Caused by bacteria. Can progress to meningitis or septicemia if large and on the face.
Bran-like - like the outer coating or husk of a cereal grain, flaky
Bullae (plural of bulla) large blisters or skin vesicles filled with fluid. A bleb.
Carbuncle Latin for small glowing ember. A round inflammation of the skin and internal skin layers which will eventually get pushed out and is accompanied with pus. Caused by bacteria. Starts with a tight reddish skin over the eruption which gets thin and erupts with pus in several openings. Found most commonly on the back of the neck, upper back or buttocks.
Cicatrices scar from a wound. Also called keloid tissue.
Circinate circular
Collosity (callosity) - the quality or state of being callous as a marked or abnormal hardness and thickness of the skin
Comedones blackheads
Condylomata Warty growth, usually around the genitals. Its either a pointy type or a broad flat form which is common is syphilitics. Greek for wart.
Confluent eruptions merge together
Decubitus - bedsores
Desquamation shedding of the skin. Exfoliation.
Dropsical obsolete term for generalized accumulation of tissue fluid (edema).
Ecchymoses A form of macula (discolored spots or patches) appearing in large irregularly formed hemorrhagic areas of the skin. Color can be blue-black changing to greenish-brown or yellow. Not a bruise resulting from an injury.
Ecthyma Skin infection usually caused by neglect of impetigo. Has shallow lesions with crusts or scabs, followed by discoloration and scarring.
Eczema A general description of skin eruptions and not a disease. Could be an allergic reaction, vesicles, thickened skin, itchy, or pustular. Also called tetters. A clear psoric eruption and always a chronic symptom.
Erysipelas acute disease with fever, localized inflammation, redness of skin, and skin lesions.
Excoriated abrasion of the outer skin layers.
Excrescences outgrowths from the surface of a part.
Fistulous abnormal tubelike passage from a normal cavity or tube to a free surface or another cavity. Abcesses, injuries or inflammation can cause this.
Formication - like insects crawling on the skin. A common side-effect of cocaine withdrawal.
Ganglia cystic tumors developing on a tendon or aponeurosis (flat fibrous sheet of connective tissue found next to the tongue, sole of foot, etc.). The back of the wrist is common. The other definition has to do with nerves.
Goose-flesh - a skin reaction caused by erection of skin papillae from cold or shock. Temporary roughness.
Herpes groups of deep vesicles on red and inflamed bases. Includes cold sores and fever blisters.
Hidebound - referring to disease, when the skin hardens and thickens with loss of elasticity.
Humid - moist, damp
Ichorous resembling watery pus.
Icthyosis dry and scaly skin, resembling fish skin. Common on older patients in winter on the legs.
Impetigo Inflammation with isolated pustules which become crusty and rupture. Usually around mouth and nostrils. Caused by bacteria.
Indolent Not active or painless.
Indurations hardening of tissue
Intertrigo a superficial dermatitis (itching, redness, and lesions) in the folds of the skin.
Lardaceous resembling lard, waxy, fatty.
Lousiness infested with lice.
Lupus any chronic, progressive, usually ulcerating, skin disease. Usually referred to tuberculous lupus characterized by reddish-brown tubercules in groups of nodules or patches. Systemic lupus erythematosus is the one that is known by the reddish butterfly rash across the nose which can be quite serious.
Lying-in women pregnant and in bed.
Moles A discolored spot from birth, elevated above the surface of the skin. Tying a string around a mole to remove it is not recommended.
Mycosis any disease from a fungus. Most doctors treat with an anti-fungal agent (Mycostat, etc). Psor, Sep, Ars-I, Graph, Hel. See herpes.
Naevi birthmarks
Nettlerash see urticaria
Nodular having small masses of solid tissue
Papular like having pimples. Seen in measles, smallpox, prurigo, syphilis, eczema, and after usage of coal tar preparations, iodides, or bromides.
Pedunculated - having a stalk or a stem. Usually referred to warts.
Pemphigus acute or chronic disease characterized by successive crops of bullae suddenly appearing and disappearing, leaving pigmented spots. Usually fatal if untreated.
Petechiae small purplish hemorrhagic spots appearing in some severe fevers indicating great prostration. As in typhus. Also, like red spots from the bite of a flea.
Phagedenic like a sloughing ulcer that spreads rapidly. Hospital gangrene or bedsores.
Psoriasis diffusa, inveterata, syphilitic - dermatitis with discrete pink or dull-red lesions surmounted with characteristic silvery scaling.
Purpura haemorrhagica, miliaris, senilis - hemorrhages in skin, mucous membranes, internal organs, and other tissues. First shows red then darkening into purple, then brownish-yellow and finally disappearing in two to three weeks.
Rhagades linear fissures in the skin, especially at the corners of the mouth or anus, causing pain. In syphilis they form a radiating scar when healed.
Rheumatism general term for acute and chronic conditions characterized by inflammation, soreness and stiffness of muscles, and pain in joints. It includes arthritis due to rheumatic fever or trauma, degenerative joint disease, bursitis, and many other conditions.
Rhus poisoning caused by poison ivy
Rupia an eruption, usually from tertiary syphilis, with large elevations of skin filled with fluid. The bulla bursts and scabs.
Scabies a highly communicable skin disease caused by the itch mite. Symptoms are papules, vesicles, pustules, burrows, and intense itching resulting in eczema.
Scarlatina scarlet fever, an acute contagious disease characterized by sore throat, strawberry tongue, fever, pinpoint scarlet rash, and rapid pulse.
Scorbutic scurvy, caused by a lack of vitamin C. Under the skin you would notice hemorrhages.
Scurfy a branny desquamation of the skin, especially on the scalp where it would be known as dandruff.
Serpiginous creeping from one part to another.
Sudamina Eruption of sweat glands characterized by whitish vesicles without inflammation. Appears after profuse sweat or in some fevers.
Suppurating forming pus
Tetters eczema
Urticaria hives or nettle rash. A vascular reaction of the skin characterized by eruption of pale wheals (white center with red ring with itching) not lasting a long time.
Varicose - pertaining to varices; distended, swollen, knotted veins.
Vesicular having small blisterlike elevations on the skin with fluid in them. Seen in herpes, poison ivy or poison oak, chickenpox, smallpox, and scabies.
Wens cysts resulting from the retention of oil in the skin.
Whitlow or felon Inflammed or abcessed end of finger or toe with pus formation. Either deep or shallow affecting bone and/or nail.
Zoster, zona a form of herpes also known as shingles. Inflammation of the nerves around some of the spinal cord. Painful vesicles erupt along the nerves on both sides. Sometimes affects the face. Caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox.
