I recently returned from my annual American Academy of Dermatology Conference. No less than 18,000 were in attendance from all over the world. The exchange of ideas and techniques with colleagues was exhilarating. Here is a summary of a few impressions I took away.
I can personally attest to such a case in regarding a patient of mine. Mr. Smith finally came to the office with his daughter and ...
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Given the following information, which of these people do you think is more likely to contract Eczema, a skin disease affecting primarily children, featuring rashes of dry, itchy, and scaly skin?
Child A:
Chad lives in a developed country (the United States) in the swanky section of a bustling city (Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York) His parents are wealthy and upper class, and his mother was 35 years old when she gave birth ...
There is an Australian instrument called a Digory do. It is about a 5 inch wide, very long tube made out of wood and usually some sort of wax or plastic, covering up the top for a mouthpiece. It is played by breathing in and out almost simultaneously.
An Australian patient of mine, who married an American woman and settled close to the clinic, developed skin cancer two years ago on his left ear. It was squamous cell carcinoma. He adamantly ...
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A nice internal medicine physician, originally Canadian, refers patients to me often from afar. I am very honored and humbled at the same time. Recently, he referred a patient in his early 60s. This patient had seen two dermatologists prior, in addition to his internal medicine physician, one who prescribed a corticosteroid and the other blew him off.
He complained about redness in his forehead, ...
Continue Reading →It was a typical Tuesday afternoon and we started our second set of Mohs surgery patients. 
Emma had a squamous cell carcinoma on her left temple. After the initial excision, she already had a dime-sized hole in her head! Fortunately, her lesion cleared after two stages of surgery.
We took her back to our amatory surgery center, where we listen to her heart and lungs measure her ...
Continue Reading →One routine Monday morning, I came in to Examination Room 5 to perform a full skin exam on Bob, the father of a young former patient I treated a decade ago for Morphea – a skin hardening condition. Prior to beginning, Bob thanked me for diagnosing his daughter’s condition, and I expressed my appreciation for his gratitude.
During the exam, we discovered a few suspicious moles, but thankfully, no skin cancers were detected. Nevertheless, he did request removal of a fatty ...
Continue Reading →As physicians, we hear it time and time again – “By the time I came in to see you, my rash disappeared!” Well, no longer. More and more patients come into our clinic, showing us photos of their skin ailment on their mobile devices taken over a few days or even weeks at a time. This activity is extremely helpful in making a more precise diagnosis.
A recent example of how your photos can assist us is in the case of ...
Continue Reading →Prior to every surgery in our clinic, we conduct a final examination consisting of a patient assessment, an infusion of local anesthetic and a marking of the surgical area.
It was during a recent examination of this type that I encountered a young man who was to have a scalp cyst removed. Normally, while waiting for the anesthetic to fully take effect, I engage our patients in small conversation to help make them feel more comfortable. But, this young man was ...
Continue Reading →Recently, a 77-year-old gentleman (accompanied by his ex-wife) came into our clinic seeking treatment for a growth on his right ear. He had been seen at the CHI Franciscan Urgent Care Clinic in Burien, and they referred him to us for urgent treatment. Within 48 hours, he was undergoing treatment in our clinic.
Even though the patient’s growth had been on the top of his right ear for six months, he thought it would eventually go away on its own. However, ...
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Last week, a young man came into the clinic for his annual routine, full skin examination. He’s vigilant about getting examined because his family has a history of skin cancer. Both his parents are patients of ours, and his father has actually had multiple basal cell skin cancer’s removed, including Mohs surgery on his nose and several with straight excisions on his ...
