Visiting a dermatologist isn’t just about checking for moles or getting a cream for acne or wrinkles. Dermatologists can detect early signs of many serious health conditions like celiac disease and diabetes.
Skin is the window to your health and it can show issues related to the impaired immune system like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Dermatologists may help identify diseases during routine visits which can ensure patients get timely treatment. Let’s look at some health problems your skin doctor can find:
1. Lupus
If you have a sunburn-like rash across the top of the cheeks, this can indicate you have lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune inflammatory condition in which your immune system attacks the body’s tissues and organs.
People with lupus might also have a red rash on their scalp and on areas of their skin that get a lot of sun exposure, like the neck, the backs of the arms, and the upper back. From 40 to 70 percent of people with lupus can find that sun exposure exacerbates their condition.
2. Nutritional deficiency
When people experience hair loss or hair shedding, the most common triggers in women are nutritional and hormonal. When women are on extremely restricted diets, they may not consume any carbs, or any meat at all, they can experience deficiencies in protein, zinc, vitamin D, and iron.
Other culprits of hair loss include hormonal problems like high levels of androgen hormones that can provoke a number of side effects, and hair loss is not an exception.
3. Type 2 diabetes
Acanthosis nigricans is a skin disorder that can be an indication of pre-diabetes. People who have this condition have a velvety thickening of the skin that occurs around the neck and in the underarms.
People with these dark patches usually don’t know they have diabetes. Skin tags are another sign, but they don’t automatically mean diabetes. Everybody can get skin tags under their arms or in the groin area just from rubbing.
If you have many risk factors for diabetes, multiple skin tags, and acanthosis nigricans, your dermatologist will likely request a blood test.
4. Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is another autoimmune condition that can be detected during a dermatologist’s appointment. This inflammatory disorder provokes swelling and pain in the joints usually in hands and feet. But rheumatoid arthritis can sometimes manifest in the skin.
Nearly 20 to 30 percent of people with rheumatoid arthritis can get subcutaneous lumps near an affected joint. Thinning of the skin, the translucency of the skin on the back of the hands, or brittle nails might also indicate rheumatoid arthritis.
If someone from your family has rheumatoid arthritis and you have these skin manifestations, you should see your family practice physician to find out whether you have the condition.
5. Inflammatory bowel disease
Skin problems affect nearly five percent of people with inflammatory bowel disease. IBD patients usually develop red bumps or nodules called erythema nodosum, enterocutaneous fistulas, and more.
Another skin symptom that can be present in colitis patients is something called pyoderma gangrenosum. This is a condition in which a person develops ulcer-like lesions that tend to occur on the shins, ankles, and arms. They usually start as small blisters but merge to become deep ulcers.
6. Celiac disease
Extremely itchy clusters of blisters called dermatitis herpetiformis, which typically occur on the elbows, knees, buttocks, and sometimes the scalp, are a hallmark of Celiac disease.
Dermatitis herpetiformis affects 10 percent of people with celiac. People who have this skin problem and don’t have any GI complaints are often shocked to find out they have celiac disease. When they start following a gluten-free diet, their skin gets better.
