Most simple rashes will improve with gentle skin care and avoiding irritating substances.

Follow these general guidelines:

Avoid scrubbing your skin. Use as little soap as possible. Use gentle cleansers instead. Avoid applying cosmetic lotions or ointments directly on the rash. Use warm (not hot) water for cleaning. Pat dry, don't rub. Eliminate any newly added cosmetics or lotions. Leave the affected area exposed to the air as much as possible. Try calamine medicated lotion for poison ivy, oak, or sumac as well as other types of contact dermatitis.

Tests may include:

Allergy testing Blood tests Skin biopsy Skin scrapings

Depending on the cause of your rash, treatments may include medicated creams or lotions, medications taken by mouth, or skin surgery. Erythema (from the Greek erythros, meaning red) is redness of the skin, caused by hyperemia of the capillaries in the lower layers of the skin. It occurs with any skin injury, infection, or inflammation.[1] Examples of erythema not associated with pathology include nervous blushes.[2]

Contents
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1 Diagnosis 2 Causes 3 Associated conditions 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Diagnosis
Erythema disappears on finger pressure (blanching), while purpura or bleeding in the skin and pigmentation do not. There is no temperature elevation in erythema, unless it is associated with the dilation of arteries in the deeper layer of the skin.[citation needed]

[edit] Causes
It can be caused by infection, massage, electrical treatment, acne medication, allergies, exercise, solar radiation (sunburn), cutaneous radiation syndrome, or waxing and tweezing of the hairs any of which can cause the capillaries to dilate, resulting in redness. Erythema is a common side effect of radiotherapy treatment due to patient exposure to ionizing radiation. In about 3050% of cases, the cause of erythema is unknown.[citation needed] Circumoral erythema has been described as a typical sign of acute oleander poisoning by ingestion.[1]