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| | Title: | What questions to ask about your rash? | | Article: | You come to your doctor with some problem. Doctor is busy as usual. You were waiting half an hour past scheduled visit time. Then he quickly asks you several questions, gives a script and short instructions and it’s it. Off you go. Coming back home, you realize that you wanted to know more answers. Well, my advice would be: you would better prepare to the questions before visit. Let’s consider today what a doctor can ask you about let say “rash”. It is wise to think about answers before visit.
You would be better prepared
So, doctor may ask about your medical conditions and medications that you use now. Your family health problems may also give some clues if the disease is inherent. If you were ill recently or contacted with an infected person, it is also a valuable clue.
For example, doctor asks:
Where is the rash?
How wide spread it is?
When did the rash start?
What other parts of your body are affected?
How do the lesions look?
Those questions are important to understand what is going on. The appearance of the rash and the spreading tells a lot about possible disease. Many infectious diseases have very characteristic spreading pattern. Besides, the timing of different lesions may tell a lot. Especially it is true for childhood infections. Many chronic diseases (such as SLE, dermatomyositis, psoriasis etc.) also have very characteristic patterns
If doctors suspect allergy or contact dermatitis, they will ask about use of cosmetics, detergents, lotions. Prepare an answer for that question as well.
Maybe you noticed that something improve the rash, or made it worse? Tell doctor about that.
Like to hike? Or work in forest? Tell about that too.
Did you get a new medication? That maybe an important clue for allergy or drug side infection
A tick had bitten you? Think Lyme disease. However, there are bunch of other diseases transmitted by ticks. Think about other insects too. They can bring an infection as well. In Africa you would think about hundreds of disorders. Unusual food would give a hint about allergy.
Itching and scaling together with rash gives a different direction for doctors. Mention it.
Tell about other medical problems? Asthma or allergies hint on an immune cause of the rash.
There are too many different rashes to combine in one article. Each time a doctor needs to decide about the reason. Sometime the rashes give completely different clues. For example, several times I saw or talk to patients who had severe pain in abdomen and surgical consult was ordered or advised. However, the reason for the pain was Herpes Zoster (shingles). But the rash appeared later for day or few days than the pain itself. One patient underwent ultrasound test, because doctors thought about surgical cause of the pain.
Of course, your doctor will perform a physical exam. And many of the special characteristics of a rash are difficult to explain to a regular person. Doctors would better look. Obviously it is better one time to see, than 100 times to hear. Yet, it is a good idea o prepare for the visit, know what questions may be asked and point out the things you concerned about.
Besides the exam, your doctor also may perform biopsy or skin scrapings, some blood tests. It all depends on what he suspects.
Anyway, when going to your doctor, prepare the list of the questions and ask
| | Author: | Aleksandr Kavokin, MD, PhD | | System: | Skin | | Subject: | Rash | | Abstract: | There are too many different rashes to combine in one article. Each time a doctor needs to decide about the reason.
Anyway, when going to your doctor, prepare the list of the questions and ask
| | Website: | http://www.kavokin.com | | Time: | 12:40 | | Reference: | http://www.rdoctor.com | | Reference 2: | http://www.symptomat.com |
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Articles by Aleksandr Kavokin, MD, PhD
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