During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in his assesment of the symptom: Dry skin. These may include a physical examination or other medical tests. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor may help them with their diagnosis.
Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:
Why: to determine if acute or chronic.
Why: may assist in helping determine cause e.g. dryness between the toes may suggest athlete's foot; dry scaly cracked skin on legs of elderly especially in winter suggest asteatotic eczema; on heels suggest keratoderma climactericum; hands and wrists may suggest scabies; in flexures such as front of elbow and behind knee suggest dermatitis; on scalp may suggest psoriasis vulgaris.
Why: e.g. use of rubbing alcohol, certain chemicals and cleaning products, low humidity, home heating, windy conditions, hot dry weather conditions, air travel (because the air in planes is dry), air-conditioning (air conditioners remove moisture from the air).
Why: may suggest inadequate intake of fluid and dehydration as cause of dry skin e.g. poor fluid intake due to illness, anorexia, malnutrition or neglect.
Why: may suggest scabies, tinea or other fungal skin infection.
Why: e.g. cosmetics, soaps, clothes detergent, foods.
Why: may suggest atopic dermatitis (eczema).
Why: e.g. asthma, hay fever - may suggest atopic dermatitis (eczema), ichthyosis is also commonly associated with allergic tendencies such as eczema, allergic rhinitis and asthma.
Why: may suggest heat stroke or sunstroke as source of dehydration due to sweating or direct UV exposure to skin.
Why: some level of dry skin can occur in pregnancy.
Why: e.g. Rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, primary biliary cirrhosis, diabetes insipidus, Raynaud's phenomenon, systemic sclerosis, chronic active hepatitis and vasculitis may all be associated with Sjogren's syndrome; Type 2 Diabetes, hypothyroidism, anorexia nervosa, chronic renal failure, HIV and Acromegaly may cause dry skin.
Why: e.g. diuretics may predispose to asteatotic eczema; isotretinoin for severe acne may cause dry skin.
Why: e.g. atopic dermatitis (eczema), ichthyosis.
Why: Vitamin A deficiency states may cause dry skin; dietary deficiency of Vitamin A is often due to failure to incorporate green leafy vegetables into the diet usually exclusively in developing countries and may also cause night blindness and dry eyes.
Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. These may include:
Why: may suggest asteatotic eczema, tinea, scabies, dyshidrotic eczematous dermatitis (pompholyx), atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, lichen sclerosis, ichthyosis.
Why: e.g. thirst, postural dizziness, fainting and reduced urine output - may cause dry skin.
Why: e.g. vomiting, diarrhea, fever, excessive urination, gastrointestinal bleeding.
Why: e.g. dry eyes, dryness of the mouth, dryness of the nasal passages, skin or vagina. This syndrome may be associated with many systemic conditions such as Raynaud's phenomenon, Rheumatoid arthritis, difficulty in swallowing (as seen in systemic sclerosis), painful joints (like that seen with systemic lupus erythematosus), thyroid disease, myasthenia gravis, primary biliary cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis, renal diabetes insipidus, renal tubular acidosis and vasculitis.
Why: e.g. frequent urination, excessive thirst, weight loss, fatigue - dry skin may be present in uncontrolled or undiagnosed diabetes mellitus due to excessive urination.
Why: e.g. husky voice, tiredness, weight gain, constipation, cold intolerance, loss of hair - Hypothyroidism may also present with depression.
Why: e.g. refusal to maintain normal body weight, loss of more than 25% of original body weight, intense fear of becoming fat, preoccupation with calorie counting, avoidance of all carbohydrate, fainting. May also have dry scaly skin and increased soft downy body hair.
Why: e.g. tiredness, weakness, increased sweating, heat intolerance, weight gain, enlarging hands and feet, enlarged facial features, headaches, decreased vision, voice change and dry coarse skin.
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