Top dermatologist of South Korea shares his experience with EC, EC cause

This message is interesting. It was posted on facebook by K. R. today.



Quote:

by K. R.

My dad's friend is a dermatologist in South Korea. I don't know if he's considered the "#1 dermatologist" in Korea but he has over 25+ years of dermatology experience and has gotten his medical degree from a respected school so I'm assuming that he has some credibility.

I had a video chat with him and asked him if he had patients with EC and he said maybe 1 or 2 a month. I asked him how many were cured. He said around 70%. He said that there might not be a 100% full cure but the chances of drastically reducing the symptoms of EC is definitely possible.

He said he prescribed his patients with Dermatop/Prednicarbate cream. He tells them to apply it as many times possible in a day. In more severe cases, he also prescribes them an oral medication (he did not specify). He said patients usually see improvement in 3 days. 3 DAYS??!! I was in shock - I did not know if I could believe that. He also said to never peel at any cost (i'm assuming force peeling).

He also highly recommended Bepanthen. He said glycerin wasn't a bad choice either.

Other recommended list:

Protopic/Tacrolimus
Pimecrolimus/Elidel
Hydrocortisone

I told him that I used Hydrocortisone 2.5% ointment (3-5 times a day) in the past but stopped using it because I thought it worsened my EC condition. I also told him that I was afraid that my lips received steroid atrophy because I used it on and off for over 4 months. He actually said 2.5% was weak and recommended a stronger dosage. He said that steroid atrophy takes several years, not 4 months.

I told him that I'm currently waiting for my Bepanthen to arrive and that I'm using only Aquaphor right now. He said to either continue using the Aquaphor or Vaseline.

I asked him 'what the causes of EC might be'. I've personally had chapped lips my whole life (chronic lip biter/picker) but never a chronic peeling lip condition until the past 12 months. He said that most cases are related to some sort of allergy. This was interesting because I never had EC until one-year moving into a new apartment. He told the easiest allergy to rule out first is your toothpaste.

He also said that just like how some people's EC happens out of nowhere, it ALSO might disappear out of nowhere too. This was interesting to me because I have read case studies where people traveled to different locations/countries and then their EC condition was drastically reduced. I am traveling to Korea next month for 2 weeks and I am curious if this environment change will make a positive effect.

To be completely honest, I was very surprised that he even knew what the condition was. I've seen over 5+ medical doctors (internal doctor, general doctor, dermatologist, allergist) in California and none of them seemed to even know of this condition. I was the one who had to explain to them that this was "exfoliative cheilitis" - none of the doctors knew. For me personally, I would much rather trust a doctor who has had prior experience dealing with EC than following the directions of a doctor who never dealt with EC patients.

He even sent me a photo of a description of EC in his Korean medical journal (i will attach a photo ). I was surprised again because I thought that EC was a rare condition that affects a small % of world's population. And the fact that there was a somewhat detailed description of EC in a medical book w/ a photo was both very surprising and interesting.

The reason why I am posting this is because I am curious if others have found success using the medications he listed above. What is your guy's opinion on his statement about allergy? Like I mentioned before, he actually had knowledge of exfoliative cheilitis while the majority of the doctors we go to don't even know what this is.

Let me know your thoughts, opinions, statements.


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