Improving the management of seborrhoeic dermatitis.

Seborrhoeic dermatitis usually starts at puberty with a peak incidence at 40 years of age and is more common in males. Patients develop symmetrical, well demarcated, dull or yellowish red patches and plaques with overlying adherent, yellowish greasy scales. Seborrhoeic dermatitis has a distinctive distribution in areas rich in sebaceous glands - the scalp, eyebrows, glabella, nasolabial and nasofacial folds, cheeks, peri-auricular skin, pre-sternal and interscapular areas.

The importance of a full clinical examination: assessment of index lesions referred to a skin cancer clinic without a total body skin examination would miss one in three melanomas.

Traditional clinical teaching emphasises the importance of a full clinical examination. In the clinical assessment of lesions that may be skin cancer, full examination allows detection of incidental lesions, as well as helping in the characterisation of the index lesion. Despite this, a total body skin examination is not always performed.