Lichen Planus
About Lichen Planus
What is it?
Many people get lichen planus. This disease can develop in one or several parts of the body. It can appear on the skin or inside the mouth. Sometimes, it appears in both places. Lichen planus can even change the way a person’s fingernails or toenails look. It also can appear on the genitals or a person’s scalp.
Lichen planus is not contagious. You cannot get this disease from someone else, and you cannot give it to anyone. Lichen planus is not a type of cancer.
What causes it?
Anyone can get lichen planus. It is most common in middle-aged adults. Women get lichen planus in their mouths more often than men do. What causes most cases of lichen planus remains unclear.
Lichen planus often causes bumps that are shiny, firm, and reddish purple on the skin. Sometimes the bumps have tiny white lines running through them, these lines are called Wickham’s striae.
You can get a few or many bumps, which can appear on different parts of the body. The most common places for these bumps to appear are the wrists, lower back, and ankles, but they can appear anywhere on the skin, including the genitals.
On the legs, the bumps tend to be darker, new bumps may appear as older bumps clear. When lichen planus develops on the skin, a person can have patches of rough, scaly skin, and are most common on the shins and around the ankles. The bumps can itch, even blister at times, and can be painful.
A simple rash might look like lichen planus, which is why it’s always best to schedule an appointment with your dermatologist if you think you might have this.
Common treatments
A dermatologist often can tell whether you have lichen planus by looking at your skin, nails, and mouth. To make sure that you have lichen planus, your dermatologist may do a skin biopsy. There are many different ways to treat this, and your doctor will walk you through what these are, based on your diagnosis. Options can be as simple as taking an antihistamine, a topical ointment, or prednisone in pill form. All treatments depend on your diagnosis, so schedule an appointment today if you are concerned that you have lichen planus.
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