My oldest son, 14 years old, has got thick, brown looking skin on the back of his neck and on his elbow areas. It kind of looks like alligator skin. I know it’s not dirt because he tells me he scrubs these areas.
I tend to think its from some kind of vitamin deficiency, because he never takes vitamins, and he also follows a very poor diet. He rarely eats fruits or vegetable.
Does anyone know what could be causing his skin condition? Or could someone please post a link to a good online medical reference.
I’d be wary of any online dermatology source. Not that the information is reliable, but the illlustrations shown are always “worst case scenarios” and the pictures will scare the bejeezus out of you.
An online source may be hard for you to use because you would need to know the clinical name for the condition you are describing.
Couldn’t the skin condition simply be caused by friction with his clothes or an allergy of some kind?
I’d doubt it’s dietary, but I’d have to take an in person history and physical exam to know. ** Best to see a doc in real life**. Skin diseases are multiple and various. But generally not life or health threatening at that age.
That sounds like it might be psoriasis–I was recently diagnosed with it, and what you’re describing sounded like the common symptoms that they told me about. Best to take him to a doctor posthaste.