Manual of diseases of the skin : with an analysis of twenty thousand consecutive cases and a formulary / by L. Duncan Bulkley.

  • Bulkley, Lucius Duncan, 1845-1928.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Manual of diseases of the skin : with an analysis of twenty thousand consecutive cases and a formulary / by L. Duncan Bulkley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    126/382 (page 110)
    Pruritus scroti and pruritus ani may also occur unconnected with other diseases, and give very great distress, no skin lesions being presented. While, however, itching may occur idiopathically in the region of the anus and genitals, it is more com- monly found to be only a sign of a more or less slightly developed eczema, which may have existed unrecognized for years. Etiology.—No single cause can be assigned for pruritus; it is a functional affection due very fre- quently to other elements than those existing in the part itself. Pruritus of the vulva is often associated with uterine disease, or with irritating vaginal secre- tions. Pruritus of the anus may arise from intestinal worms, and, together with pruritus of the scrotum, is often dependent upon oxaluria; sometimes it is due to the use of coffee or tobacco, and sometimes it is reflex, from stricture of the urethra. The most careful investigation should therefore be made, and every possible means employed for correcting all aberrations from health. Diagnosis.—Considerable care should be exercised in differentiating pruritus as a disease from pruritus as a symptom; itching is a feature of very many diseases, and when lesions on the skin are seen, other than those caused by scratching, their real nature should be determined accurately. Itching may occur as a symptom of eczema, dermatitis her- petiformis, lichen, phthiriasis, prurigo, psoriasis?,