Eczema Seborrhea and Psoriasis: The Terrible Trio of Skin Diseases

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between Eczema, Seborrhea, and Psoriasis? All three are conditions of the skin that involve intense itching, redness, and a scaly rash. They are actually pretty closely related, but there are some differences.

Both Eczema and Seborrhea are inflammatory skin diseases. They are the two that are most closely related to each other. As a matter of fact, Seborrhea is sometimes called Seborrheic Eczema. According to Wikipedia Eczema means "to boil over" in Greek.

Psoriasis is a skin disease that is caused by an autoimmune response. Something goes haywire and the skin produces too many skin cells. These accumulate and form what is known as plaques. Treatments include tropical ointments, phototherapy, (sunlight), and systemic drugs that may include immune system suppressants.

Since both Eczema and seborrhea are inflammatory diseases, the best form of treatment is usually steroids. They offer good control but also carry the risk of many side effects. I used to have a friend who once told me that he had Eczema, or x-zee-ma, as he called it. I think that it was actually Psoriasis because of the symptoms that he had.

Winston was poor and worked at a restaurant that I managed. We eventually became friends. The only treatment that he had for his skin condition was a huge jar of Vaseline. He would rub himself down with it every night before he went to bed. I guess it goes easy if it's greasy just like the old Little Richard song. Sometimes he would come over to my house, sit on the couch and itch. It was a little disconcerting to watch him do that.

A couple of times he left large patches of skin behind. He was sort of like a snake, but instead of shedding his skin once a year, he did it all the time. I felt sorry for him. What an awful condition to have.

Ed also had one of the three skin conditions. I wasn't sure which one. Ever since I first met him he had these large sideburns that covered half of his face. A large man, he sort of looked like an overstuffed Kentucky colonel. Both Ed and Winston rarely took baths. They said that bathing or showering really would aggravate their conditions. So you could imagine that they smelled a little ripe sometimes.

In reality, most of the population has a mild form of Psoriasis. It's an over formation of skin cells on the scalp that is called dandruff. The flakes can be annoying, especially if you wear black, but most of the time it's easily controlled with a medicated shampoo. The best thing that we can hope for in all of these conditions is that they can be controlled because as of yet, no cure has been found.


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eczem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriasis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seborrhoeic_dermatitis