Why can a person have redness of the nose? For example, he took a walk on a winter evening in frosty weather, or, conversely, spent too long in the sun. But what if the reddening of the nose arose spontaneously, and at the same time the nose also hurts? The usual reddening of the nose can be the main symptom of a disease such as erysipelas. Erysipelas or erysipelas in Latin – this is an infectious-allergic disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, which affects the superficial lymphatic system of the skin. Erysipelas is one of the most common bacterial infections and can lead to complications such as deep necrosis and ulcers of the skin of the face, as well as phlebitis and thrombophlebitis, so erysipelas requires immediate treatment.
Causes and factors predisposing to erysipelas
The etiological factor of erysipelas is group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus, the same one that causes such a common disease for everyone as tonsillitis. It is possible both contact introduction of the pathogen into the skin of the face, and hematogenous introduction of streptococcus from the foci of infection. Factors predisposing to the development of erysipelas are trophic ulcers of the lower extremities, diabetes mellitus and conditions accompanied by a decrease in the body's immunity. As a result of the toxic effects of streptococcus, serous or serous-hemorrhagic inflammation develops in the skin of the face with symptoms of lymphangitis, arteritis and phlebitis.
Clinical picture of erysipelas: main symptoms
The clinical picture of erysipelas is quite characteristic: the disease begins acutely with an increase in body temperature to febrile values and the appearance of redness of the nose and cheeks, which has clear boundaries. The reddened area of the skin is edematous and painful. There are also symptoms of general intoxication of the body: weakness, headache, nausea and vomiting, sometimes pain in the joints may occur. Later, an increase in the cervical and submandibular lymph nodes joins. Skin manifestations begin with a feeling of skin tension and itching, after a few hours, redness of the nose and cheeks occurs. In a severe course of the disease, erythematous-bullous or erythematous-hemorrhagic lesions of skin areas appear, in which blisters with serous or hemorrhagic contents appear on the reddened nose and cheeks.
Features of differential diagnosis of erysipelas
The characteristic clinical picture of erysipelas greatly simplifies the diagnostic process. However, it is necessary to differentiate erysipelas from other diseases in which redness of the nose and cheeks occurs:
- with contact dermatitis, body temperature remains normal, symptoms of intoxication do not appear, redness of the nose and cheeks does not have clear boundaries;
- A characteristic feature of scarlet fever, which also includes redness of the nose and cheeks, is the presence of rashes all over the patient's body;
- In systemic lupus erythematosus, redness of the nose and cheeks is accompanied by subfebrile temperature, and there are also specific laboratory signs of the disease.
Erysipelas treatment: how to eliminate redness of the nose and cheeks
Erysipelas treatment is conservative: the therapeutic scheme includes the prescription of antibiotics of the penicillin group, which are effective against group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus. Symptomatic therapy is carried out, vitamin preparations, detoxification therapy and autohemotherapy are also prescribed. Physiotherapeutic methods are effective for erysipelas: quartz irradiation, ultraviolet irradiation, and so on. In severe forms of erysipelas, it is necessary to open the bubbles that have arisen and apply bandages with antiseptic solutions. After the patient is discharged from the hospital, he recommends anti-relapse treatment with injections of bicsilin-5. With effective treatment of erysipelas, the prognosis for the patient is favorable: a complete recovery occurs.
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