Horrible Hailey-Hailey

An older male came in for a consultation with a new dermatologist. Over the past 5 years, he had suffered with an extremely painful and extremely rare blistering rash called Hailey-Hailey disease that was worst in his armpits and on his belly. He had seen several dermatologists already, had skin biopsies done, and had tried many different medications without much success at all. He came in frustrated that none of the prior treatments had worked.

First Visit – PRO – Dermatology Scores

Skindex-16 Emotions 40

Skindex-16 Symptoms 62

Skindex-16 Functioning 44

The dermatologist spent a lot of time reassuring the patient that, though this rash was rare, there were treatment options he hadn’t tried as well as a blistering rash clinic that specializes in rashes like his rash. The dermatologist had him try a couple of new medications and follow-up in one month.

One month later – PRO – Dermatology Scores

Skindex-16 Emotions 78

Skindex-16 Symptoms 91

Skindex-16 Functioning 60

Given that the patient’s rash appeared about the same, or a bit better, than the month prior, the dermatologist was confused why his PRO scores were much worse. The patient explained that he didn’t have much hope at his first visit, because he had tried and failed so many treatments and dermatologists already. Because he was given hope at his first visit, he explained that he wanted to be fully honest with his baseline scores in how much this rash really affected him. He was ready to work together to get his skin (and those PRO scores) better.