I have seen this a couple of times. Actually on African-American women. I had them use Lansinoh or Purelan on the areola and nipple and after a few days things were much better. The skin actually shed, dry particles were removed during their shower. No extra rubbing or removal needed. I hope this helps. Darlene Breed, RN, BSN, IBCLC Worcester, MA (USA) On Thu, 4 Mar 1999 00:54:49 +0200 Pamela Morrison IBCLC <[log in to unmask]> writes: >Hi all. I'm seeking the benefit of your collective experience again. >I >have never seen anything like this before, yet in the last month I >have seen >two mothers, one African, one Japanese, on about day 3 postpartum, who >both >appear to have some kind of skin condition which is confined to the >areolas. >Instead of being soft and fine and luminous, the skin is like very >fine >suede leather, (dull, not shiny) and it sheds in little black bits. >It >*feels* rough - but smoothly rough, if you know what I mean (??) - it >doesn't feel like *skin*. In the African mom it seemed more >pronounced - >the skin appeared to be wrinkled in tiny little hexagonal shapes, with >little indentations (?sebacious glands) in the centre of each hexagon. > In >the Japanese mom the dark areolar skin was shedding to reveal much >paler >skin underneath. In both cases the skin did not seem dry - just >leathery. >It was *not* psoriasis, nor eczema, both of which I would recognize, >and it >didn't hurt or itch. The breasts themselves were fine, the skin >normal. The >leathery skin covered the whole of each areola, but did not appear >anywhere >else on the body. Naturally, both moms were bothered by it. Has >anyone >seen anything like this? What is it? Does it need to be treated - >and how? > >Thanks for any ideas. > >Pamela Morrison IBCLC, Zimbabwe >mailto:[log in to unmask] > ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]