Not All Skin Created Equal

Oct. 15, 2009 - PRLog -- Kim Frempong, a nurse from Georgia, suspected her 3-year-old child had eczema. She, like millions of curious parents, turned to the Web to find out more about the common skin condition. The first few sites she found had very generic information, so she kept searching. That’s when she found Skinsight, an online health resource completely dedicated to the skin. She quickly learned that there are actually several forms of eczema and that the presentation can vary depending on skin color.  

“Skinsight really helped me determine exactly what my child has and provided me with a thorough understanding of atopic eczema,” said Frempong. “I had no idea there were several different forms of eczema and that it looked different depending on the color of your skin. It wasn’t until I compared my child’s case with images on Skinsight that I could determine that it was indeed eczema.”

Frempong is not alone. With the growing diversity of the U.S. population, more and more people of all ethnicities are going online to find information on their health and well-being. Unfortunately, online sites – as well as medical references, atlases, and textbooks used by physicians and medical students –predominantly present images of medical conditions in fair-skinned individuals. With a lack of appropriate resources, how can consumers be sure that the information they find is accurate, especially when common diseases present differently on light versus dark skin types?

Skinsight, a popular online skin care and wellness resource, provides the most comprehensive collection of images, information and tips on common disorders affecting skin of color. Visitors to Skinsight can go to the Skin of Color Resource Center to find out how skin of color is unique and how certain skin conditions, such as melasma, vitiligo, dermatosis papulosa nigra, keloids, and acanthosis nigricans, are either more common or more noticeable in people of color. Visitors can also get helpful hints on caring for skin of color. http://www.skinsight.com/info/resource_center/skin-color

“Common skin diseases present differently on light and dark skin types, yet coverage of dark skin is limited on the Web, and even at national dermatology meetings and in photographs in major dermatology resources,” said Dr. Andrea Pennington, Editor-in-Chief of Skinsight.com. “For example, most medical reference books do not represent acne vulgaris in people of color, one of the top three most common diagnoses affecting individuals with dark skin. So, how can people clearly match what they see on their skin if there simply aren’t images available online? Skinsight is setting out to change this.”

Skinsight combines medical pictures with the expertise of more than 100 physician specialists to help consumers learn about specific health conditions and take a more active role in their own well-being. People can use a number of tools, such as the Skin Condition Finder or Trusted Search, to quickly find information on and pictures of skin-related conditions like skin cancer, rashes, moles, Lyme disease, bug bites, and common childhood conditions.

Users of Skinsight can find the following:

   Expert information on skin diseases and conditions
   Thousands of skin disease images
   A Skin Condition Finder and Disease List
   Resource Centers that provide information on specific topics
   Q&A section that provides answers to common skin health questions
   Expert-authored blogs that explore many different skin health concerns
   Expert tips on skin care and healthy skin lifestyle choices
   News updates and links to other trusted health resources

Skinsight was built on the success of VisualDxHealth, which was recognized by both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as a top consumer health site, and was selected as a finalist in the health category of the 2008 Webby Awards and the Consumer Health World Awards. Most recently, Skinsight partnered with RightHealth, an online guide to the best health Web sites. Skinsight also partners with The National Library of Medicine to provide visitors to its Web site, www.MedlinePlus.gov, with access to all Skinsight content.

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Skinsight (www.skinsight.com) combines an extensive collection of medical images with the expertise of more than 100 physician specialists to help consumers learn about specific health conditions and take a more active role in their own well-being.