Your Skin Questions
Answered by Dr.Cohn

Q. Is Dead Sea salt an effective treatment for eczema?

Answer: Although there have been anecdotal reports of "dead sea" water being effective in cases of both psoriasis and eczema, I don't believe there are any medical studies to substantiate this.

Q. I have a mole on my breast. It is quite large. It's been there for a long time. I had my moles checked 3 years ago, but now I'm reading more and more and I am looking on moles and wondering. The one I'm asking about has hair in it, it looks like it is fading away and leaving a light circle and the darker part inside is irregular I guess because of fading. It has a few very small pinches in it.

Is it ok? Is it a halo nevi? The circle is evident more on one side than on the other. The mole does not bother me. Thank

Answer: See your dermatologist AS SOON AS POSSIBLE for a complete skin check. Any mole that has changed in size/shape or color requires clinical evaluation.

If the mole looks suspicious, the dermatologist will remove some and send the tissue for biopsy.

Q. I have a lot of scars on my arm I believe they are called keliod? (They are raised up but skin color) Over the counter you can buy silicone patches to help reduce their appearance.

Are there prescription patches that work better? What are my other options? Thank you very much.

Answer: Yes, there are prescription strength steroid creams and steroid impregnated tapes that are very effective.

Also, once you are seen by a dermatologist he/she may recommend a series of cortisone injections to help shrink the kelona scars.

Q. I sweat excessively. I sweat during the day even when I'm only sitting at my desk. I always get wet circles around my underarms, which are very embarrassing. I want to find a product that works.

I've heard a lot of good things about "Certain Dri". Is this a safe product to use? Does it have a lot of chemicals in it? Thank you

Answer:The condition is called "hyperhidrosis" and is a very common condition. Certain-dri is an over the counter medication which has a high percentage of aluminum chloride to help dry things out.

The biggest problems from these type of topicals is often times irritation, especially if used under the arms. I would highly recommend evaluation by a dermatologist to rule out an internal cause for your condition and give you your treatment options.