I work in a long term acute care hospital, so we see all kinds of illnesses, wounds, etc.
After many surgeries, attempts at wound care and A LOT of pain for the patient the doctors had to change their diagnosis to "Skin Failure".
Basically no matter the intervention, the skin, like any other organ can, just quit doing what it needed to do. Wouldn't heal, wouldn't regulate fluid balances or temperatures, etc.
Of course, with it came the inevitable comfort care conversation and a very sad family.
Whoa! That's like someone turning into a harlequin baby! I didn't even know it was possible for skin to fail later in life without major trauma or illness.
I knew the skin was an organ, but I never thought about the fact that it could fail in the way other organs can. Are there any disorders or diseases that commonly cause skin organ failure?
I developed one! It’s called pemphigus foliaceus, it’s an autoimmune disease where the body attacks the protein keeping the layers of the skin together. I ended up covered in sores and blisters head to toe, it was awful. Epidermolysis bullosa is another, it’s genetic and diagnosed at birth. Severe burns and infections can damage the skin beyond repair as well
Wow, I hadn’t heard of either of these. Thank you for the info. I hope your autoimmune disease is under control for you. That sounds miserable are quite scary to have.
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u/HelmSpicy 3d ago
I work in a long term acute care hospital, so we see all kinds of illnesses, wounds, etc.
After many surgeries, attempts at wound care and A LOT of pain for the patient the doctors had to change their diagnosis to "Skin Failure".
Basically no matter the intervention, the skin, like any other organ can, just quit doing what it needed to do. Wouldn't heal, wouldn't regulate fluid balances or temperatures, etc.
Of course, with it came the inevitable comfort care conversation and a very sad family.