I was chatting recently to one of my patients. She had recently had her third child in as many years and we were discussing the merits and tribulations of having so many children so close together. The one thing I told her I didn’t miss (amongst quite a few things actually) was the persistent … [Read more...] about Snotty faces and urticaria

Rosacea can be a real pain; sensitive facial skin, redness, easy flushing and then spots. If you’re really unlucky then you can also start to get textural changes to the skin, what dermatologists call rhinophyma.   Then the other pain is that we have no cure for the condition.   There are … [Read more...] about There might be a mite in rosacea…

I recently had to pick up one of my children from a party. The centre where the party was held had various function rooms and it was a bit of a job finding her. However, I followed my nose. Why? There was that particular smell of sweat and high sugar concentrations in the air which is unique to … [Read more...] about Smelly cancers?

I don’t think I’m alone in finding the whole festive season somewhat stressful. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy it but there’s also a huge sense of relief when it is all over. To make it all worse, when I get stressed, I develop spots, which at this age is just frankly annoying. But then, recent … [Read more...] about Get spotty!

It’s approaching Christmas time with Christmas parties galore and some of us are looking to scrub up and put on our glad rags. Well, for the sake of the environment, it’s time to say goodbye to our trusty face or body scrubs (and polishing toothpastes!)   Why? At the time of writing, … [Read more...] about Taking the rough with the smooth…

At the time of writing this blog, the British Medical Journal had just published an edition which contained a Clinical Update on Benign Male Genital Dermatoses.   [BMJ 2016;354:i4337.]   An initial thought revealed that I have not written a blog on this topic and a more careful … [Read more...] about Benign male genital dermatoses

We had people for dinner not long ago. I say this like it’s a big thing and it isn’t normally but as usual, life with all its hectic-ness had been particularly so of late and at the last minute, one of the guests informed me that they didn't eat meat. The easy steak dinner I had been planning had to … [Read more...] about Mushroom medicine

At the time of writing this blog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has just published new guidance on the use of combination biological therapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.     What are biological therapies?   There are various … [Read more...] about New biological therapies for metastatic melanoma

I always get surprised by what patients say in clinic. Last week, I was advising a patient on sunscreen use and he stopped me short. He is a long-distance cyclist and he told me that he buys kilos of sunscreen at the start of the season. I started congratulating him for his foresight and the … [Read more...] about ‘Once a day’ sunscreens – too good to be true?

The recent Georg Rajka International Symposium on Atopic Dermatitis was a truly fascinating conference. Not only was it in Saõ Paolo, Brazil, a metropolitan sprawl of 20 million inhabitants which afforded us a brief and sometimes gritty glimpse of true Brazilian culture but, for those interested in … [Read more...] about What do eczema patients really think?