Dermatitis artefacta is a rarely diagnosed disorder that is often a source of perplexity and anxiety for dermatologists because they know less about the cause of this self-inflicted condition than the patients themselves. It differs from other skin disorders in that diagnosis is made by exclusion rather than on the basis of histologic and biochemical findings and therefore involves a considerab...

Dermatitis artefacta is a disease characterized by self-inflicted skin lesions in fully aware patients. Mechanical and chemical devices are most commonly used to produce such injuries. Several psychological disorders like depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, hysteria, etc. are associated with this kind of disease. Most of the patients are young females aged between 15 and 30, but the dia...

Dermatitis artefacta is a disease that occurs as a result of a self-inflicted injury of the skin. The skin lesions are most often located on the areas within easy reach of the patient's dominant hand sparing the middle part of the back. Dermatitis artefacta may coexist with psychiatric disorders and imitate many dermatologic diseases. As most of the patients with self-inflicted dermatoses usual...

A case of a 28 years old Caucasian woman is presented with acute tibial compartment of her left leg secondary to repeated self inflicted soft tissue injuries, together with literature review on Dermatitis Artefacta.