Few weeks ago, I looked after a very sick patient who was treated for a rare disease condition. Oh! Well, rare because I’ve never heard or come across the condition till that very day.
Bullours pemphigoid is a harsh skin condition whereby the sufferer gets blisters all over their body. As the blisters get bigger and bursts newer ones develops. I haven’t seen anything like that before. In the picture above, the skin looks dry but Vera’s were mostly weeping blisters and the almost constant cream application made her skin moist most of the time.
Causes
It is triggered by a disorder of the autoimmune system which attacks the inner layer of the skin
Signs and symptoms
Appearance of blisters
Burning skin
itchiness
Red skin around blisters
Nose bleeding.
The appearance of the skin can be quiet similar to the skin of a burns patient. Looking at Vera lying on her sick bed, I recalled a few years back when I had visited a schoolmate that had suffered severe burns which made her wound dressing takes more than half of the shift to complete.
Vera was nursed in a theatre gown as the usual cotton hospital gown would stick onto her skin.
Her care regime included cream application every two hours. You heard me right every two hours and Dermovate for areas without burst blisters.
Dermovate: this is a steroid cream tha that is used in severe skin conditions medication used to treat skin conditions that have not responded well to other corticosteroids, including severe psoriasis and eczematous dermatitis.
Vera was very unwell as she had sepsis; which was the main reason for admission to our unit.
There are different kinds of pemphigoid. Have you looked after someone with this condition? I will like to know your experience.
P.S.
Confidentiality was maintained through this post.
For my new readers, I’m a nurse by profession and do blog about health and health conditions too. Other health related post can be found in the health category.
