Thursday, July 28, 2011

Welcome to Fishy Skin: Living Life with Ichthyosis Vulgaris

Welcome to Fishy Skin, a blog about living life with a skin condition called Ichthyosis Vulgaris.

What the hell is Ichthyosis Vulgaris?

It's referred to as the fish scale disease because that's how it looks, you got flaking all over like dandruff except its on your arms and legs. To some extent on other parts of the body.

You got the lines, baby. The palm of your hands are heavily-lined, you have these criss-crossing lines (thin ones over thick ones intersecting like some traffic accident).

You got these blackheads that if you uproot them you'll find a coil of hair, curled up miserably in the pores. The result is you have red or black bumps on your arms and legs (almost like chicken skin when the feathers are plucked away). The only good side I see is that you end up not so hairy after all or you have no need to shave throughout your life).

But for a more precise medical definition, go to this site PubMed Health or the Mayo Clinic

Come to think of it, perhaps I was mermaid in a past life and all those fishy scales had to carry over into the next life... this one. Growing up I thought it was some cosmic cruel joke, but you eventually learn to deal with the facts that its all tough luck based on genetics.

2 comments:

  1. Just stumbled across your blog. I am a mom of 4 and have icthyosis vulgaris and all 4 of my kids have it. I also have eczema, asthma and allergies to about everything. I have never met anyone else with it, besides my kids. So nice to read about another person, mom who has it too. I enjoyed the blog if I molt will you bolt. Growing up I thought I would never marry, who would want me with my skin. Of course I was very wrong and my husband thinks I over react and that it's not as bad as I think. However, growing up and even today I get comments and helpful tips to care for my skin. I listen and smile and inside I kind of chuckle.
    Thanks for being brave and sharing your story.

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  2. me too thanks for the blog, im a mother of one with ichtyosis too. i could relate to all whats written here . :)

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