Papers of the Week

Sensitive skin (or reactive skin) is defined as a syndrome involving the onset of unpleasant sensations (stinging sensation, burning sensation, pain, pruritus, tingling) in response to stimuli that do not normally produce such sensations. These unpleasant sensations cannot be accounted for by lesions attributable to any specific skin disease. The skin may appear normal or erythema may be present. Sensitive skin can occur on any part of the skin but particularly affects the face. Sensitive skin is very common and affects around half of the population to different degrees. The diagnosis is based primarily on clinical examination. The physiopathology of the condition is becoming better known: it appears to be caused by hyperreactivity of the cutaneous nervous system and is associated in particular with activation of sensorial proteins present on keratinocytes and nerve endings. However, there is still no consensus regarding treatment.