Erythema nodosum - is an inflammatory disease characterized by the appearance of painful reddish nodules under the skin. If you have symptoms of erythema nodosum is strongly recommended to see a doctor because it may be a sign of a more serious underlying disease.

Causes

Approximately half of the cases the exact cause of erythema nodosum is unknown. In other cases, it may be related to the following violations:

• Infections. In particular, the causes of erythema nodosum may be: streptococcus (this happens frequently), cat scratch disease, chlamydia, coccidioidomycosis, hepatitis B Hepatitis B - a dangerous inflammation of the liver , Histoplasmosis, leptospirosis, mononucleosis, mycobacteriosis, mycoplasmosis, psittacosis, syphilis, tuberculosis Tuberculosis - a full recovery is not guaranteed , Tularemia, Yersinia;
• Hypersensitivity to some drugs, including amoxicillin and other penicillins, sulfonamides, sulfones, oral contraceptives, various antibiotics, progestin.

Erythema nodosum may also be caused by hormonal changes during pregnancy.

Other disorders that are associated with the development of erythema nodosum: leukemia, lymphoma, sarcoidosis Sarcoidosis - how to protect themselves? , Rheumatism, Behcet's disease, and ulcerative colitis.

Erythema nodosum is more common in women than in men. Most patients with this disease are age 18 to 35 years.

Symptoms

The most common symptom of erythema nodosum are knots or seals that most often appear on the legs, but it can also occur in other parts of the body (buttocks, calves, thighs and forearms).

First, the seal - flat, solid, reddish and warm to the touch, with a diameter of 5 cm, sometimes - more. Within a few days they may become purple and then a few weeks gradually disappear, leaving a brownish stain.

Sometimes erythema nodosum is accompanied by symptoms such as malaise, joint pain Joint pain - how to understand what is going on? Redness, inflammation and irritation of the skin, swelling of the legs.

In place of the red and inflamed skin may appear spots like bruises.

The symptoms of erythema nodosum may resemble the symptoms of disorders such as erysipelas, insect bites, acute urticaria, familial Mediterranean fever, migratory superficial thrombophlebitis.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis is usually made on the basis of visual inspection.

Biopsy seals can show characteristic changes (septal panniculitis).

Sometimes they make special tests to detect infection caused by streptococcus.

To exclude or detect sarcoidosis or TB doctor may prescribe a chest X-ray.

Treatment

If erythema nodosum caused by some underlying disease, it will be held subject to the successful treatment of the latter. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may be used to relieve the symptoms. Oral administration of potassium iodide can be effective in treating nodules caused erythema nodosum.

Corticosteroids or salicylate drugs to be used for acute inflammation. When severe pain may need prescription analgesics and temporary restriction of activity.

Hot or cold packs can also be used to reduce discomfort.

Forecast

Erythema nodosum is a significant discomfort, but it is not dangerous. Symptoms usually disappear within 6 weeks, but after a while they may appear again.

After the acne on the face are sometimes scars. This may cause embarrassment, complexes. Today, there are many ways to solve this problem, so that post-acne scars should not be a serious concern.

The shape and size of the scars depend on the complexity of acne flow crisis as well as its treatment.

• Flat, rounded atrophic scars give the skin a soft look.
• Keloid scars, deeper and more reminiscent of traces of injections.
• Hypertrophic scars are thick convex formation. Inflammation of the tissues can cause a mini-fibrosis and lead to boils.

Methods of disposal of post-acne scars

Today, aesthetic medicine has a huge number of solutions to restore and make the skin smooth.

One way to resolve this problem is the use of drugs used in filling wrinkles. These formulations are suitable for treating flat and shallow scars.

Quick and painless procedure is performed in a clinical setting by a dermatologist or a doctor of aesthetic medicine. The only disadvantage of this procedure is that the drugs are absorbed over time. To maintain results, you must repeat the procedure every few months.

Another method is peeling. When you hold it, the top layer of the epidermis is removed, which makes the skin smooth and clean. By this way you can clean the skin by removing not only the red patches of scars, but also deeper markings. Peeling, as the previous procedure, held by a physician in a clinical setting.

For the treatment of post-acne scarring have resorted to easy peeling. This application is a preparation based on fruit acids (e.g., glycolic). It "breaks" skin cells on the surface and making the skin smooth. Deeper peels performed using trihloratsetatnoy acid.

Another way to eliminate the effects of acne Acne: facial trouble   It is microdermabrasion or in other words the face grinding crystals.

Microdermabrasion treated atrophic scars. The doctor uses a small device in the form of knobs projecting skin small crystals that conduct cleaning. Pressing stronger or weaker in some areas, the physician has the ability to remove defects on the surface of the skin. Since this procedure is quite painful, it is performed under general anesthesia.

The field of action of laser correction is much broader. For example, grinding laser can eliminate both atrophic and hypertrophic scars. Thanks to its narrow and deeply penetrates the beam, the laser makes it possible to get to the hard to reach scars.

By heating the skin, it stimulates the production of collagen and stimulates the healing process. Laser can not completely get rid of scars post acne. It makes scars less deep and "prepare" them for further treatment using microdermabrasion or peels. There are several types of lasers: carbon dioxide, Erbium and Fraxel.

After peeling the skin will peel off gently. This is a normal reaction. To survive it is easy to apply moisturizer inconvenience.

After a session of microdermabrasion facial redness may occur. They are fast, but sometimes stayed for several days. It depends on how much the physician pushes the device in a particular subject area. In this case, application attribute soothing cream for 10 days.

The effects of laser cleaning can be more serious. Skin needs time to recover and heal. During this period, be sure to apply a healing cream.

The general rule in the healing process of the skin after any procedure is to use a cream with reflective particles. Before resorting to the procedure of cleansing the skin Cleaning the skin - what tools should I use?   any of these methods, you must wait for a complete cure of acne and scarring of tissue. This period can take several months, but it is a must.

General recommendations

In order to avoid the process of pigmentation and skin hypersensitivity caused by sunlight, it is recommended to treat scarring in the winter.

Although there is no way to prevent acne rash, you can use drugs that prevent scarring. And not to forget the main rule of Dermatologists: Do not squeeze pimples. Firstly, scars may remain. Secondly, during wound extruded acne, sunlight can play a cruel joke, and on the face appear dark spots.