Vocabulary Flashcards
astringent
chemical compound used to shrink or constrict tissue. ex: Calamine
burrows solution
astringent: aluminum acetate solution
Domeboro Solution
astringent: aluminum acetate solution
Annular
Circular
Bulla
Large fluid-filled blister greater than 1 cm in diameter.
Cyst
A papule or nodule that contains fluid or semi-fluid material
Crusting
Occurs when plasma exudes weep through an eroded epidermis and dries on the skin surface.
It is rough on the surface and is yellow or brown in color.
Desquamation
Latin “to scrape the scales off a fish”
More formally called skin peeling - the shedding of the outermost layer of tissue.
Erosion
Loss of the surface (epidermis) of a skin lesion
It is a shallow moist or crusted lesion.
Eschar
Dark-colored adherent crust of dead tissue found on some ulcers.
Excoriation
Scratch mark or surface injury penetrating the dermis.
It may be linear or a picked scratch (prurigo – intensely itchy spots).
Excoriations may occur in the absence of a primary dermatosis.
Fissure
Thin crack within epidermis or epithelium
Due to excessive dryness
Fluctuant
Movable or compressible
Hyperkeratosis
Increase in the dead cells on the surface of the skin forming scales (stratum corneum).
Hyperpigmentation
Due to hypermelanosis that results in skin color that is darker than normal.
Hypopigmentation
Skin color that is paler than normal
Lentigo
Plural – Lentigines
Commonly referred to as “liver spots”
Lichenification
Caused by chronic rubbing, which results in palpably thickened skin with increased skin markings and a lichenoid scale.
Occurs in chronicatopic eczemaandlichen simplex.
Macule
Small area of color change, often defined as less than 1.5 cm diameter.
The surface issmooth and non-palpable.
Nikolsky sign
A specific skin finding in which the top layers of the skin slough off when slightly rubbed.
Use a pencil eraser placed on the skin and gently twist back and forth.
Test result is positive, a blister will form in the area, usually within minutes.
Nodule
An enlargement of a papule in three dimensions (height, width, length).
It is a solid lesion more than 1 cm in diameter.
Patch
A patch refers to a large area of color change
Smooth surface.
Papule
Small palpable lesions.
Usually by definition less than 1 cm diameter.
They are raised above the skin surface, and may besolitaryormultiple.
Petechiae
Petechiae are small red, purple or brown spots - a form of purpura.
Purpura
Bleeding into the skin.
This may be petechial or as ecchymosis.
Does not blanch with pressure (diascopy).
Plaque
Palpable flat lesion usually greater than 1 cm diameter.
Most plaques are elevated, but a plaque can also be a thickened area without being visibly raised above the skin surface.
They may have well-defined or ill-defined borders. The name ‘plaque’ is derived from the French word for plate.
Polygonal
Skin lesion has a non-geometric shape.
Prurigo
A chronic skin disease having various causes, marked by the eruption of pale, dome-shaped papules that itch severely.
Pruritus
Intense itching
Pustule
Collection of pus.
It is filled with neutrophils, and may be white, or yellow.
Not all are infectious.
Serpiginous
Non-defined wavy tract or margin
Imagine a snake crawling in a forward direction
Telangiectasia
Prominent cutaneous blood vessels.
Red or purple in color.
Tumor
Abnormal mass of new tissue growth that serves no function in the body.
Usually classified as benign or malignant
Often caused by cancer.
Ulcer
Full thickness loss of epidermis or epithelium and dermis and may involve subcutaneous tissue.
Heals with a scar.
Often covered with aneschar.
Vesicle
Small fluid-filled blisters less than 1cm in diameter.
May be single or multiple.
Fluid may be clear or blood-stained.
Wheal
Also spelled ‘weal’
Edematous papule or plaque caused by swelling in the dermis
