Skin Problems & Treatments Health Center

Cold sores -- also called fever blisters -- are a painful infection caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV).

Plantar warts and Palmer warts are common, especially in children. These warts are named for where they appear on the body. Palmer warts occur on the hands, and plantar warts on the bottom of the foot.

Learn about causes of hair loss including different types of alopecia.

A single blister is usually the result of friction or a minor burn, typically on the hands or feet.

Chafing can occur anywhere on your body, but the thighs, groin, underarms, and nipples are particularly vulnerable.

Corns and calluses can be annoying, but your body actually forms them to protect sensitive skin. Corns and calluses are often confused with one another.

Here's what you need to know about how to keep your skin safe and where to find sunburn relief if you do linger on your lounger too long.

Sometimes dead skin can clog up a hair follicle. That forces the hair inside it to grow sideways under the skin, rather than upward and outward.

Muehrcke's lines appear as double white lines that run across the fingernails horizontally. The condition is named after Robert Muehrcke, MD. He first described the condition in the British Medical Journal  in 1956.

Gangrene is a condition that occurs when body tissue dies. It is caused by a loss of blood supply due to an underlying illness, injury, and/or infection. Fingers, toes, and limbs are most often affected, but gangrene can also occur inside the body, damaging organs and muscles.

A rash indicates an abnormal change in skin color or texture. Rashes are usually caused by skin inflammation, which can have many causes.

In most people, the early stages of dermatitis are characterized by red, dry, and itchy skin. More serious dermatitis may result in crusty scales or blisters that ooze fluid.

Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish color.

Finding the cause of the itching and treating any underlying skin disease is the first step in solving pruritus. 

There are a number skin conditions that cause lumps and bumps to appear on the surface or just below the skin. This article covers some of the most common ones.

Urticaria, also known as hives, is an outbreak of swollen, pale red bumps or plaques (wheals) on the skin that appear suddenly -- either as a result of the body's adverse reaction to certain allergens, or for unknown reasons.

Alopecia is the medical term for baldness; there are various types of alopecia, including alopecia areata.  

Vitiligo is a condition in which white patches develop on the skin. Any location on the body can be affected and most people with vitiligo have white patches on many areas of the body.

Varicose veins are large, raised, swollen blood vessels that twist and turn. They usually develop in the legs and can be seen through the skin.

Intertrigo is a fancy name for a rash that shows up between the folds of skin. It is a very common skin rash that can crop up throughout life.

Lice and scabies are highly contagious skin conditions that involve parasites living on or in your skin.

Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are all plants that can cause a temporary, irritating rash when they come in contact with your skin. This rash is a form of allergic contact dermatitis.

A bruise is a common skin injury that results in a discoloration of the skin. Blood from damaged blood cells deep beneath the skin collects near the surface of the skin resulting in what we think of as a black and blue mark.

Many people often call any small, painless lump under the skin "sebaceous cysts." But those are most often epidermoid cysts.