Why Visit an Emergency Room? Skin & Cosmetic Conditions
The skin, given it’s the outermost part of the body, is the first point of contact between the body and external environment. While it has mechanisms in place to enable it to withstand the harsh conditions of the external environment, it is bound to at least once or twice suffer from one condition or the other. This include rashes, injuries such as cuts and bruises as well as burns among others. Bottom line is, the skin is bound to be affected, either by the elements, harmful organisms, and much more ate one time or the other. Having established this fact, it is important to note that, not all of these conditions will be medical emergencies. Some will be minor and can just be treated at home with home remedies and over the counter drugs. There is also the option of urgent care facilities if you need medical attention. However, there are instances where skin and cosmetic conditions are so severe that they are medical emergencies, that require immediate medical attention. In such cases, one should ensure they head over to an emergency room as soon as possible. For those asking why they should do so, this article, by looking at the consequences one is likely to suffer if they don’t and by highlighting just why an emergency room is well placed to deal with such cases, will attempt to answer that question conclusively.
One of the most common skin emergency is one caused by severe allergic reactions. This, as is explained in detail by the subject matter gurus over at frontlineer.com, can be due to someone coming into contact with an allergen. In severe cases, one is likely to develop rashes and hives that cover expansive parts of their skin, sometimes the whole body. Such severe allergic reactions are also likely to be accompanied by difficulty breathing. It is therefore important that in such situations one visits an emergency room as soon as possible, reason being so that they can avoid consequences that include one going into anaphylactic shock, a condition which is life-threatening. Some of the symptoms that come with these reactions can be quite devastating such as high fever, difficulty breathing among others. Cases of trauma to the skin, including those due to severe cuts, burns and exposure to toxic chemicals should also be treated as medical emergencies. The reason to visit an emergency room in this instances is so that one can have such cases treated to prevent infections that will consequently lead to the life-threatening condition that is sepsis, as well as prevent one from going into shock as some of these situations can be accompanied with significant pain.
Another skin condition that should be treated as a medical emergency is necrotizing fasciitis. This, as is explained by the subject matter gurus over at frontlineer.com, is a severe skin infection, as well as the tissue below the skin and the fibrous tissue separating the muscles and the organs, known as the fascia. This infection is very rapid and spreads very fast and as such when one sees symptoms, they should head over to an emergency room as soon as possible. The reason for this is so that they can avoid some of its devastating consequences which include toxic shock, organ failure, necrosis which is tissue death not to mention the infection is potentially fatal if not attended to early enough. This condition is very serious and has a very high death rate, with almost 25% of those diagnosed with it dying, which is why you should visit an emergency room for it. Another skin emergency is what is referred to as scalded skin syndrome, which although not common is very serious. Since it is caused by bacteria, the reason one should visit an emergency room to get it attended to is so as to prevent sepsis from setting in.
Another skin emergency is what is usually referred to as DRESS syndrome, or drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms, in full. It is quite severe, with its death rate being between 10 and 20%, as covered over at frontlineer.com, making this reason enough to visit an emergency room for it. Cosmetic procedures, such as eyelid lifts, face lifts, nose jobs among others can also sometime go wrong and may require immediate medical attention. Complications arising from these procedures may be due to drug reactions, complications during surgery among others. These can be life-threatening, especially in cases of drug reactions and the avoidance of such consequences should be reason enough to visit an emergency room for skin and cosmetic conditions. Another reason has to do with the fact that the emergency room has all the requisite facilities in terms of both the diagnostic and treatment part, to deal with such emergencies. This includes facilities to do skin culture tests to test for infections as well as blood work. They also have facilities to perform surgery in case of necrotizing fasciitis to remove the dead tissue, administering of IV antibiotics, hyperbaric chambers to increase oxygen delivery to damaged skin tissue among others.
From this discussion, there can be no doubt why one should indeed visit an emergency room for skin and cosmetic conditions, with more on this and other related topics to be found over at the ever reliable frontlineer.com.
