What is Nummular Dermatitis?

Nummular eczema is an allergy-related disorder in which there is coin-shaped spots or patches that appear on the skin. They are itchy lesions.

The other synonyms for this condition are discoid eczema, microbial eczema, nummular eczema and nummular neurodermatitis is one of the forms of eczema.

Which are commonly Affected Areas?

Location- The most common location of this disease is back of hands and legs. Forearms are usually affected but cases have also been reports on the hip region and lower back too.

What Happens when one is affected with Nummular Dermatitis?

The skin gets dry leading to dysfunction in epidermal lipid barrier which allows entry of environmental allergens leading to an allergic response.

The Exact Pathology still remains unknown but it usually is accompanied by dry skin.

Who Are more prone to Nummular dermatitis?

Race-Not specific, it can happen to anyone.

Age- Not specific, any age group can get affected.

Sex both sexes are affected

-Men after the age of 50

-Women before the age of 30

What Are the causes of Nummular Dermatitis?

This condition prevails in presence of dryness which can happen due to various factors such as-

– Excess of Caffeine

– Stress

– Injury or trauma, exposure to chemicals or irritants.

– Exposure to mercury.

– The lesions can start right after the interferon therapy for hepatitis C.

– Lesions can start after major disease’s treatment like tumor-necrosis factor-alpha blocking therapy.

– Infections like giardiasis and Helicobacter pylori.

-Winter season worsens this condition due to dryness.

What are the Symptoms of Nummular Dermatitis?

– Eruptions accompanied along with itching

– Burning or stinging sensation.

– Lesions are symmetrically distributed.

– Scaly skin along with rawness.

-Inflammation of the skin.

– There are round and oval erythematous plaques present on the skin especially the extremities.

-The lesions first appear as vesicles and then they colonize to form yellow crusts.

– It is noted that plaques when observed show clearing of the center part of lesions.

What are the investigations?

-Examination by a Medical Professional.

– Scraping the lesion tissue to observe it under the microscope.

– The lesions which are vesicular or showing the yellow crust on them. The swab culture helps in identifying the type of Bacteria.

– Skin biopsy.

– A patch test is done in patients with the type of dermatitis know as refractory nummular dermatitis.

What are the chances of Nummular dermatitis getting better?

Good Chances, If treated on time then the prognosis is good.

Avoiding the causative factors like irritants will help to treat the disease early.

What is the Differential Diagnosis?

– Allergic contact dermatitis.

– Irritant contact dermatitis.

– Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

– Lichen simplex chronicus.

– Pityriasis rosea.

– Plaque psoriasis.

– Tinea corporis.

– Asteatotic eczema.

What treatment is usually suggested?

Hydration of the skin.

Avoiding irritants

Avoiding Injury or Trauma.

– inculcating a habit of moisturizing the skin regularly.

– Topical steroid creams relieve the symptoms temporarily.

-Oral steroid medications.

– Antibiotics are administered in cases where nummular dermatitis is associated with infection.

Can Homeopathy help in such cases and which are commonly indicated medication?

Yes, Homoeopathy can certainly help in such cases by treating an underlying condition in most natural way and corticosteroid can be avoided. It also reduces dryness of skin naturally along with the reduction in allergy triggered response.

Few commonly indicated medicines in such cases are as follows-

– Arsenicum album

– Graphites

– Petroleum

-Psorinum

– Rhus Toxicodendron

– Sulphur

For more information, you can visit AAO and Wikipedia.