All About Skin Disorders: Here are the 20 most common ones

Skin disorders are common and most of us have them at some point in time. This blog will help you know about the most common skin disease in India people have and their conditions, symptoms, and their severity. 

It is important to note the following things about skin disorders –

  • They can be a temporary affliction or a permanent condition. 
  • They can also be painless or painful. 
  • The causes could be situational for some and genetic for others. 
  • Remember that skin conditions could be inconsequential as well as life-threatening.
  • While most skin diseases are minor, others can indicate a more serious issue. 

Here is a list of 20 common skin disorders – Common Skin Disease in India

1. Carbuncle

This condition can cause skin crustiness or ooze. It is red, very painful, and appears as an irritated lump under the skin. A carbuncle can have symptoms like fever, body aches, and fatigue.

Also read: Non-Surgical Skin Treatments Every 30 Something Should Try!

2. Acne

The most common skin disease in India. This skin disease appears on your skin and can have blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, or deep, painful cysts and nodules. It affects the face, shoulders, neck, upper back, and chest. If left untreated, acne might leave scars or darken your skin.

3. Cold sore

The cold sore is red and painful. It will appear as a fluid-filled blister in the area near your mouth and lips. If afflicted with a cold sore you will get a tingling or burning sensation before its appearance. Other symptoms include low fever, swollen lymph nodes, and body aches.

Related Read: Finding a Good Dermatologist | What Do Dermatologists do

4. Measles

Another common skin disease in India. Measles is a very common skin disorder and are red rashes that gradually spread from your face down the body. Often very small red spots having blue-white centers also occur inside the mouth. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, red, watery eyes, loss of appetite, cough, and runny nose.

5. Blister

This skin disease appears on the skin anywhere on the body and looks watery, clear, and fluid-filled. The size is normally less than one cm (vesicle) or larger than one cm (bulla) and can occur singly or in groups.

Also read: Here are 5 Easy Ways to Reduce Skin Inflammation

6. Chickenpox

Chickenpox is another very common skin disease where clusters of itchy, red, fluid-filled blisters appear all over the body. This condition needs various stages of healing.  

Symptoms include fever, body aches, sore throat, and loss of appetite. Chickenpox is infectious till blisters get crusted over.

7. Eczema

Eczema is yellow or white, and white ears are like scaly patches that often flake off. The areas affected with Eczema might look red, greasy, or oily and are often itchy. Remember, Eczema could also lead to hair loss in the affected areas.

8. Melasma

This one is another very common skin disease in India where dark patches appear on the face and at times on the neck, chest, or arms. 

Melasma is very common in pregnant women and those with darker skin color or individuals greatly exposed to the sun.

Remember Melasma will not have any other symptom except skin discoloration and will either disappear automatically within a year or will become permanent.

9. Hives

Hives occur after exposure to an allergen and have itchy, raised welts that are red in color, warm, and mildly painful when touched. They could either be small, round, ring-shaped, or large, randomly shaped.

10. Psoriasis

This skin disease appears as scaly, silvery, and distinctly marked patches on your scalp, elbows, knees, or lower back. It could be scratchy or without any symptoms.

11. Actinic keratosis

Actinic keratosis appears on body parts that are exposed to the sun, which include hands, arms, face, scalp, and neck. The sizes are normally less than two cm or nearly the size of an eraser. They are thick, scaly, or like crusty skin patches, typically pink in color with a brown, tan, or gray base.

12. Wart

Wart is caused by HPV or human papillomavirus. It could appear on the skin or in mucous membranes and might occur singly or in groups. It is important to note that Wart is infectious and could infect others.

13. Rosacea

Rosacea is a chronic skin disease that follows a cycle of fading and relapsing. Reappearances normally happen from spicy foods, alcohol, sunlight, stress, or Helicobacter pylori, an intestinal bacterium. 

Rosacea can be of four types and have diverse symptoms like facial flushing, raised, red bumps, facial redness, skin dryness, and skin sensitivity.

14. Melanoma

This is known as the most severe kind of skin cancer which is more common in fair-skinned individuals. Melanoma will have moles in any part of the body and will have irregular edges, asymmetrical shapes, and multiple colors. It could also be a mole that has changed color or grown bigger with time. The size is generally bigger than a pencil eraser.

15. Latex allergy

This skin disease is a latex allergy, commonly found in medical gloves and you might need urgent care. Under this condition, rashes can appear within minutes or even hours after exposure to a latex product. It is typically warm, and itchy, with red wheels appearing at the site of contact. It might look dry and crusted and happens with repeated exposure to latex. 

16. Cellulitis

Cellulitis is hot and painful to touch and is caused by bacteria or fungi that enter through cracks or cuts in your skin. It is red in color, painful, and with swollen skin that might or might not ooze. 

Symptoms could include fever and chills. In any case – one must seek medical advice

17. Basal cell carcinoma

This skin condition could resemble a scar and is raised, firm, and pale. They are dome-shaped, pink, or red. These scars often look shiny and pearly and are with a sunk-in center, like a crater.

Basal cell carcinoma is often accompanied by easy bleeding or oozing wound refusing to heal. Also once healed it could reappear.

18. Lupus

Lupus is a scaly, warm, red, disc-shaped rash that doesn’t itch or hurt. Common signs are fatigue, headaches, fever, and swollen or painful joints. It appears as scaly red patches or ring-shaped on the shoulders, forearms, neck, or upper part of the body. The conditions aggravate with exposure to the sun.

19. Contact dermatitis

This skin condition occurs a few hours to some days after contact with an allergen. The condition will have marked borders and will occur where the skin has come in contact with the irritating substance. The skin afflicted with Contact dermatitis will be itchy, red, scaly, and raw. It might cause blisters that ooze out or become crusty.

20. Vitiligo

The last common skin disorder in India people suffer from vitiligo. Vitiligo is the loss of skin pigment from autoimmune damage to the cells giving skin its color. 

Important to note is the fact that this condition will lead to loss of skin color in some small areas that may merge. Another pattern of this disease is de-pigmentation on one side of the body, and early graying of the scalp and/or facial hair.

Bottom line – it is best to consult a general physician or a skin specialist if you notice a rash/bump/discoloration that is not going away or new and with other symptoms as mentioned above. Online consultations are a good way to get immediate advice, but of course, one may need to go to the hospital in case of severe symptoms.

DocGenie is an online telemedicine platform that provides you with quality healthcare from the comfort of your own space. On DocGenie, you will find a select few, highly-qualified doctors, unlike other online platforms with thousands of doctors. So you can be assured of receiving excellent, honest, personalized care from the best doctors.