Fragil and Vulnerable Skin

Fragile, vulnerable or dystrophic skin is characterized by skin dryness or xerosis, atrophy, weakness and slowed cellular renewal. Moreover, usually is accompaigned with itching, redness, scaling and scratching injuries. The most common areas of the body affected are usually: neckline, forearm, back of hands, backs of arms and legs, pretibial area; all of them very accessible to scratching due to the itching generated by cutaneous dryness, which increases the number and severity of injuries. This clinical frame is common to different conditions or pathologies. DERMATOPOROSIS Dermatoporosis is a syndrome of fragility and chronic cutaneous insufficiency, characterized by an extreme atrophy of the skin, a structural depletion and a significant tendency to lacerations and traumas. It is estimated that about 50% of the population between 60 and 70 years is affected by this condition. DIABETES Diabetes mellitus (33% of the population) causes frequently pathophysiologic changes in the skin, affecting over 30% of the patients affected with the disease. Xerosis, itching, skin fissures, these manifestations could represent the first stage of the ulceration process. Due to healing and tissue repair processes are altered together with a diminished tissue circulation, ulcer progression and overlapping of bacterial infections resistant to therapy can easily become chronic and turn gangrenous, leading sometimes to limb amputation. Therefore, this clinical frame should be approached from the point of view of prevention and skin care. Correction of xerosis and other skin alterations trough specific skin treatments is of great relevance for for the health and well-being of the patient.