• The importance of having a good dermatologist

    Posted by brittany-foster on February 18, 2020 at 12:30 pm

    Today I had my 6 month follow up with my dermatologist. Since I have been talking a lot about awareness for rare disease on here I just want to talk about the impact that PH can have outside of just the lungs. One of the ways that PH, my heart, and low oxygen levels has impacted my body is through my hair, skin, and nails.

    Before I had a dermatologist that was well versed in heart health and pulmonary diseases, I didn’t make much of a connection between my skin and what was going on inside my body. Each 6 months she alerts me to things and levels that need to be checked based on changes she is noticing in my skin or nails. Today she pointed out that I am bruising easily and have larger bruising than normal. There has also been delay in wound healing. She noticed more mottled look to my skin especially my lower extremities and puffiness as well as a blue tint around my eyes.

    Because of this appointment, she is making calls to my GI team as well as my pulmonary team and running some blood labs to see what could be contributing to the worsening of what she is noticing.

    It is important for those with chronic illness to pay attention to your skin, what may be different and what you or a doctor are noticing. Find a good dermatologist that has knowledge of these things and will work well with your other medical providers.

    jen-cueva replied 4 years, 1 month ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • Colleen

    Member
    February 18, 2020 at 1:50 pm

    @brittany-foster this is an important topic. I think skin care is something everyone, even non-PHers might think they can ignore but our skin and nails speak to us about how the rest of our body is doing.

    Something else important to mention is that several PH and post-transplant medications cause extreme sensitivity to the sun. Clothing and sun screen protection is a must because the risk of developing skin cancer is enhanced by PH treatments.

    My mother has battled skin cancer for 15+ years now and it’s no joke. She has suffered a great deal through it. Skin cancer can be hereditary so I check my skin frequently but am guilty of not seeing a dermatologist regularly like I should. My son also carefully pays attention to his skin and immediately reports changes to his doctor.

    Especially when living with PH, whole body care is crucial.

  • jen-cueva

    Member
    February 20, 2020 at 7:03 pm

    Great share, @brittany-foster, I think we often neglect the other parts of our bodies. WE tend to mainly focus on the lungs and heart. Unfortunately, PH affects us in more areas than we think. I have had a dermatologist on my list to get in to see since the new year started. As you can guess, it has not happened yet. I just made a dental appointment that I had been pushing off.

    @colleensteele, a very important point about sun sensitivity. The diuretics also can cause that. We have to protect our skin, too.

    Now, scheduling those appointments is a good start. Thanks for the reminders, ladies.

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