A brief literature revealed that there just isn’t a lot out there on skin diseases in Witches, the Undead, and Zombies. Since its Halloween, I thought it would be a good time to cover this important, and clearly neglected topic.

Warts

Warts are incredibly common. No self-respecting witch would be without plenty of warts. If you’re dressing up as a witch, I suppose warts are good then too. But that’s only one day of the year. If you’re not a witch, and its not Halloween, you’d probably prefer to not have warts.

What are warts?

Warts are growths in the skin caused by any one of many different strains of Human Papilloma Virus. They can grow as flat warts, plantar warts, filiform warts, genital warts, and other types. They are mildly contagious and seem to be transmitted easily in wet environments like pools and showers at the gym. Once you are infected, they can spread to other areas of the body.

How to treat warts:

They can be treated with a variety of methods including curetting them away, freezing with liquid nitrogen, treating with a topical medicine called aldara, injecting them with a chemotherapy medicine called aldara, or sometimes cutting them off. My favorite method, however, fits right in with witch’s brew—Beetle Juice. Beetlejuice or Cantharidin, is made from blistering beetles. When applied to the skin, it causes a blister that usually removes warts without any scarring. Its been used for over 50 years and is one of the easiest and most reliable ways to get rid of warts.

Green Skin:

There are several different causes of green skin.

1. Cheap Jewelry. Your skin can turn green from jewelry. The green color comes from a chemical reaction between your sweat and certain metals in jewelry, usually copper, that might be added to the jewelry to make it more durable. The sweat interacts with the metal and forms salts that precipitate on your skin and turn green.
2. Pseudomonas. Pseudomonas is a slow growing bacteria that makes several blue and green pigments. It likes cold, but wet environments and is seen most commonly in skin wounds on the ears, around the fingernails, and between the toes on the feet. It is easily killed with antibiotics.
3. Being a witch. Witches over time develop a green discoloration of their skin. It seems to be acquired over time because young witches aren’t green. Its not clear what the true cause is.

Dead Skin:

There are a few causes of dead skin in humans.

1. The first of these is a condition called Pyoderma Gangrenosum. This is a condition where small wounds to the skin break down and form large ulcers. It is usually seen on the lower legs, and is more common in people with certain cancers, certain autoimmune conditions, and rheumatoid arthritis. It is seldom fatal, but does lead to chronic, non healing ulcers that can be difficult to treat unless correctly diagnosed and managed.
2. The second image shows a condition called Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. For all practical purposes, this patient’s skin is falling off. The top layer of skin is truly dying and sloughing away. This is a very rare condition that usually develops as a very severe drug allergy. It can be fatal. There is controversy over the best medications that doctors can give these patients, but what is clear is that patients with this condition live or die based on whether they receive expert nursing and supportive care that is usually only found in burn centers.
3. The third image shows necrosis seen in a surgical wound. This usually occurs if the wound is closed too tightly and the blood supply is choked off. This can come from stitches that are too tight, locking stitches that strangulate the skin, or when wounds are large and skin flaps used to close the wound are just too long and blood doesn’t reach the tip of the flap.

This is not meant to be all inclusive, and I apologize in advance to some Halloween creatures that I can’t help. Like skeletons. I can’t help skeletons. Skeletons-You have no skin. I’m sorry. But, for you, its pretty simple since you only have bones, anything that could possibly go wrong is clearly orthopedic in nature.