Med-Surg - Integumentary System, part 6: Dermatitis

by Cathy Parkes March 07, 2023 Updated: August 10, 2023 2 min read

Full transcript and video captions coming soon!

Full Transcript

Hi, this is Cathy with Level Up RN. In this video, I will be talking about some common forms of dermatitis, including contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, which is more commonly known as eczema, and seborrheic dermatitis. At the end of the video, I'm going to give you guys a little quiz to test your knowledge of some of the key points I'll be covering. So definitely stay tuned for that. And I will be following along with our Level Up RN Medical-Surgical Nursing Flashcards. So if you have our flashcards, definitely pull this one out and follow along with me.

Contact dermatitis is a rash caused by direct contact with an irritant or allergen that causes an inflammatory response. So things that can cause contact dermatitis include soaps, detergents, cosmetics, as well as certain metals. Treatment of contact dermatitis includes avoiding the irritant or allergen as well as steroid cream and antihistamines.

Atopic dermatitis or eczema is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes dryness, erythema, pruritus, which is a fancy name for itching, as well as crusting of the skin. Treatment of atopic dermatitis is focused on the use of moisturizers as well as identifying and avoiding any triggers, such as soaps and detergents. Other treatment options include topical steroid creams as well as antihistamines. Patients should bathe or shower in lukewarm water as opposed to very hot water, and as soon as they get out of the bath or shower, they should apply an emollient right away to help trap that moisture in the skin. Patients should also avoid scratching the skin because that can cause damage and does increase the risk for infection.

Seborrheic dermatitis causes the development of waxy and flaky plaques and scales that occur in areas of the body that have a large number of sebaceous glands. So this commonly occurs on the scalp and is referred to as dandruff. But seborrheic dermatitis can occur on other parts of the body as well. Treatment includes topical steroid creams, topical or oral antifungal agents, as well as antifungal shampoos, such as selenium sulfide shampoo.

All right, it's quiz time. I have a very straightforward quiz where you need to name the type of dermatitis that I am describing. Number one: what kind of dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes skin dryness, redness, and itching? The answer is atopic dermatitis. Question number two: what kind of dermatitis is an inflammatory response triggered by direct contact with an irritant or allergen? The answer is contact dermatitis. And number three: what kind of dermatitis causes waxy plaques to form in areas that contain a high level of sebaceous glands? The answer is seborrheic dermatitis.

All right. That is it for this video. I hope you found it to be helpful. Thank you so much for watching, and take care.


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