Lichenification is a cutaneous condition caused by consistent irritation of the skin, such as scratching or rubbing, but can also be caused by friction from clothing or chemical irritants. Lichenification can develop from scratching existing skin conditions that cause itching such as eczema or psoriasis (secondary lichenification), but also appears on previously healthy skin when repeatedly aggravated (primary lichenification). Often times, in the case of primary lichenification, skin irritation is self inflicted due to psychiatric conditions, usually obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety d
Lichenification is a cutaneous condition caused by consistent irritation of the skin, such as scratching or rubbing, but can also be caused by friction from clothing or chemical irritants. Lichenification can develop from scratching existing skin conditions that cause itching such as eczema or psoriasis (secondary lichenification), but also appears on previously healthy skin when repeatedly aggravated (primary lichenification). Often times, in the case of primary lichenification, skin irritation is self inflicted due to psychiatric conditions, usually obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety disorder.
== Appearance == The initial stage of lichenification presents as hyperpigmentation of the skin, which is followed by the appearance of small hard papules, which can often be perceived only by touch, giving the lesion a bumpy or “pebbly” texture. When these papules are damaged, they will excrete blood and pus and as the condition progresses, deeper layers of the skin become thickened and indurated. Once fully developed, the effected skin will present with a leathery, "bark-like" texture and remain itchy and inflamed.
Discovered by embedding cosine similarity (sentence-transformers MiniLM, 384-dim).