Peeling skin

Your skin is regularly exposed to environmental elements that can irritate and damage it. These include sun, wind, heat, dryness and high humidity. Repeated irritation can lead to skin peeling. In babies born past their due date, it's not unusual for them to experience some painless skin peeling.

Skin peeling can also result from a disease or condition, which may start someplace other than your skin. This type of skin peeling is often accompanied by itching. Conditions that may cause skin peeling include:

1. Allergic reactions
2. Infections, including some types of staph and fungal infections
3. Immune system disorders
4. Cancer and cancer treatment
5. Genetic disease, including a rare skin disorder called acral peeling skin syndrome that causes painless peeling of the top layer of skin

Specific diseases and conditions that can cause peeling skin include:

1. Athlete's foot
2. Atopic dermatitis (eczema)
3. Contact dermatitis
4. Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma
5. Dry skin
6. Hyperhidrosis
7. Jock itch
8. Kawasaki disease
9. Medication side effects
10. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
11. Pemphigus
12. Psoriasis
13. Ringworm (body)
14. Ringworm (scalp)
15. Scarlet fever
16. Seborrheic dermatitis
17. Staph infections
18. Stevens-Johnson syndrome (a rare condition that affects the skin and mucous membranes)
19. Sunburn
20. Toxic shock syndrome

• Definition
• When to see a doctor