~ Dear Doctor Part II ~

alexkusu SG

Anyone with questions regarding their health, etc, may ask here with the relevant experts available to answer them.

General Rules and Guidelines:
First come, first serve basis. Rolling Eyes
Clinic closes at 25 pages. Evil or Very Mad
Doctor and other specialists has the right to ignore your question for a variety of reasons. Very Happy
Please look through previous threads/pages for answers to questions you may have or you may just be ignored Cool
If you are terminally ill, go away. Twisted Evil
If you have any comments, suggestions, complaints, etc, please direct it to Rainee our Administrative Officer. Wink
In the event of disability and hopefully, death.. IT IS ENTIRELY YOUR OWN FAULT. If you intend to sue, please contact Stellazio our lawyer Mr. Green

A chart of the organisation structure can be found below. This is so YOU, our valuable patientss will know who is best suited to answer your questions or queries Wink

Idea PLEASE be HONEST with your symptoms. It enables effective consultation

Consultation Hours: 8pm to 1am

I hereby declare clinic open at 4.44pm on 11 November 2005 Cool

renorenal SG

All hell breaks loose... Shocked

renorenal SG

You can't avoid phlegm when it is being formed... the windpipe is equipped with a natural broomstick called the nasociliary tract which sweeps up the excrement of the infectious agents from the lungs into the trachea...

These phlegm are actually a combination of sloughed epithelial cells, bacteria or viral elements (some living while some dead) and of course inflammatory cells... they will either be swallowed into the stomach or they get coughed up...

The trachea (windpipe) and the esophagus are located side by side and forks off from the epiglottis (which functions as a valvular flap that directs food and air into its respective tract)...

Some people take medications to reduce their cough, hence less irritation while some people take medications to increase their capacity to cough out the phlegm. Full explanation on the cough mechanism can be sought out from the Dengue Fever thread in Starblue's Heavens...

renorenal SG

Due to our subtropical and tropical weather that we are staying in, we are prone to sweat. In addition to it, impractical hygiene such as bathing a lot of times can be quite impossible... hence due to our busy nature, we often neglect our own personal responsibility in cleaning ourselves...

Other than that, there may be other causes, such as using the incompatible shampoo which is not suitable to you individually, over-sensitive skin or infected acne (which for your knowledge, can be grown anywhere, and not just the face, but also the chest, nape of the neck, the back of the head, the groin area and even the armpit and elsewhere).

Other more severe causes for burning scalp and itchy scalp can be related to the one cause I told you earlier in your question of your back. Malassezia furfur or also known as Pityriasis orbiculares are the infective fungal agent which causes what Chinese calls it the "pe tio".

On sweating particularly, it will irritate it and trigger it to be more itchy and pain (hence giving rise to a burning sensation).

This condition is called pytiriasis versicolor (PV) and its causative agent also causes vitiligo...

alexkusu SG

/pops in

"hmm..looks like doctor is actually working..not curi tulang..good good"

/pops out

renorenal SG

Originally posted by sohguanh:
[b]What causes building up of phlegm? How can I reduce or remove the phlegm? Any kind of food that I shall avoid.

Yeah I once in a few months will kena above symptom. Then go outside very often need find drain cover so I can spit the phlegm out although I know spitting is illegal. Usually if the phlegm dun go away, the cough will come in. It is so terrible and your throat is constantly dry.

I think cannot eat too much fried stuff. And I think this phlegm maybe my worst enemy when I grow old. I predict I will die of choking on my own phlegm. Phlegm is my doom-maker Mr. Green [/b]

There is a condition where the cells lining the tract of the respiratory tract produces a lot of mucus which in turn becomes an irritant that stimulate your cough receptors... The severe form is Cystic Fibrosis (in this case, thick sputum is actually produced, and the Reproductive and Gastrointestinal systems are affected as well) which is rampant in the Western Countries, but not in the Asian Countries...

In this condition, it is wise to get your chest investigated to seek out the underlying cause for it.

As for food, fat content in dairy products can thicken mucus. Hence, it is wise to reduce eating food with such high fat contents.

Drinking plenty of water helps to thin the mucus so that it moves more easily. It helps to reduce the amount of caffeine and alcohol in your daily fluid intake as well...

If these do not help much, you may consider a mucolytic agent from the pharmacy...

renorenal SG

MAIN TOPIC: MANAGEMENT for PYTIRIASIS VERSICOLOR...

Have you guys heard of the shampoo sold over the counter in pharmacies called Selsun? It is a combination of two compounds called Selenium Sulphide... It is applied to the body and rinsed off after 30 minutes every day for a week...

Another type is the ketoconazole shampoo which is used to wash the body for five minutes once daily for five days...

Treatment of the first outbreak will rapidly prevent the condition from developing further or deteriorates lor...

The white patches, however will remain for a couple of months until the skin has renewed itself...

renorenal SG

TOPIC: CAUSES of PYTIRIASIS VERSICOLOR

quote:
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Originally posted by borntolive:
but will it come back after swimming?
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The causes so far is uncertain. The microbes is called Pytiriasis orbiculares and everyone has it once in a while during their lifetime. However, our skin's acidic secretions does not allow it to stay put for a long time, hence normal ppl will be fine... but if you have an immunodeficiency (such as HIV or on steroidal medications), then the chances for the fungi to proliferate will be better...

They will colonize the area and spread... Other causes would be excessive sweating (hence the condition appears commonly in subtropical and tropical region) and excessive production of sebum oil from the skin (genetically, some ppl have this condition and is called seboerrhoeic dermatitis)...

renorenal SG

TOPIC: INVESTIGATIONS for PYTIRIASIS VERSICOLOR

quote:
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Originally posted by alfagal:

many older peeps says its due to sweat mixture w water..tatz y mothers always tell e sweaty kid to wipe off e sweat n cool down first before bathe...

so my guess is u were tanning, then jump straight into e water lo..

anyway if the lotion at pharmacy doesnt help then maybe its other white looking fungus...go see doc liaoz..
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Many other skin diseases that require a completely different treatment can cause the same symptoms as pityriasis versicolor, so what the doctor will do is to carry out a few tests...

A scrape from your skin will be taken for microscopy and cultivation in a laboratory (which might take a few days before your results come out) and once it does, the microorganism is placed on an ultraviolet light (Wood's light examination) and it will give out a yellow green color on exposure...

This will then confirm the diagnosis...

hisoka SG

Originally posted by alexkusu:
[b]Anyone with questions regarding their health, etc, may ask here with the relevant experts available to answer them.

General Rules and Guidelines:
First come, first serve basis. Rolling Eyes
Clinic closes at 25 pages. Evil or Very Mad
Doctor and other specialists has the right to ignore your question for a variety of reasons. Very Happy
Please look through previous threads/pages for answers to questions you may have or you may just be ignored Cool
If you are terminally ill, go away. Twisted Evil
If you have any comments, suggestions, complaints, etc, please direct it to Rainee our Administrative Officer. Wink
In the event of disability and hopefully, death.. IT IS ENTIRELY YOUR OWN FAULT. If you intend to sue, please contact Stellazio our lawyer Mr. Green

A chart of the organisation structure can be found below. This is so YOU, our valuable patientss will know who is best suited to answer your questions or queries Wink

Idea PLEASE be HONEST with your symptoms. It enables effective consultation

Consultation Hours: 8pm to 1am

I hereby declare clinic open at 4.44pm on 11 November 2005 Cool [/b]

consultation hours from 8pm to 1 am but the clinic open at 444pm???????

renorenal SG

You have to forgive my director... he's a little bit tired coming out with the plan Laughing

hisoka SG

why got yellow green colouron UV light shining? fluoresence arh? then why cannot just use a detector on the spot?

hisoka SG

haha okz maybe its a opening promotion bah Laughing

renorenal SG

Woah... asking me technical questions Laughing

Certain types of fungi cause the skin to glow or fluoresce under the UV light actually... When positive, it can be helpful in determining the extent of infection, identifying areas for sampling (skin biopsy) and evaluating treatment response.

The examination is also useful for examining the contacts of an infected person (contact tracing within the family)

...about how it reflects the color, you have to query a mycologist... Laughing

renorenal SG

Quoting myself, I believe it's the contents in the fungi or dermatophyte which is used clinically to help in its identification... not all dermatophytes possess that ability, hence it helps in the diagnosis...

mystiv SG

give u time to queue up mah Laughing

hisoka SG

paiseh cos i interested mah.

but UV light is very much absorbed by human tissue so they use that for widefield imaing and diagnosis wont be detrimental to health?

btw biopsies usually how big har? i saw some the other day about .3 cm squared isit all that size one? if so then random biopsy must be very painful le

renorenal SG

I've completed all the PM queries... as for the other queries I have answered to, they can be found in CC and SH... Mr. Green but most in SH Very Happy in da crapbox...

renorenal SG

It's just for a while, same like X rays also mar... babies who are born prematurely will be put under phototherapy as well which contains the UV light for as long as 3-5 days... but these are short term...

Skin biopsies are done when there is a confusion in terms of clinical diagnosis... these are done mostly by skin specialists. I cannot really tell you about the size of the biopsy needed, but usually it's just a pin-point scrape...

renorenal SG

For your interest, here are some of the information, and the typical 3 types of biopsies in relation to invasiveness...

There are several methods for performing skin biopsies. Choice of techniques is determined by several factors, including the location, size, and type of lesion to be biopsied. All methods should include local injection or topical application of an anesthetic.

The least invasive technique, the shave biopsy, involves the removal of superficial levels of skin.

Punch biopsies are most often used for deeper skin lesions. A small cylinder of skin is removed with a sharp, hollow instrument.

In an excisional biopsy, the entire clinical lesion is removed. A local anesthetic is injected. Then the entire lump, spot, or sore is removed, going as deep as necessary to get the entire area. If a large area is biopsied, a skin graft or flap of normal skin may be used to replace it.