Does Your Dog Suffer From Alopecia X or Black Skin Disease

The term Alopecia is nothing more mysterious than the medical word for hair loss, originally from the Latin via Greek Alopekia, meaning fox mange. The disease itself, also known as Black Skin Disease, is little understood. This condition in animals is called Alopecia X because the cause(s) of this condition are still relatively unknown and the treatments tend to be by trial and error (or, as some would suggest, random). This disease can be easily confused with "Cushing's Disease."

The disease manifests initially as thinning hair, sometimes accompanied by itchy skin and sometimes not, followed by bald patches, followed by blackened or dark grey skin. Eventually the dog can become completely bald with deep charcoal-grey skin. Often, the dog will smell really bad.

Black Skin Disease or Alopecia X in dogs can be managed with good results by following the Dermagic instructions below. The whole process can show improvement in around three weeks, with hair regrowth and new skin in three to four months. We must stress the importance of applying the cream without missing any days, but with care and diligence you will see great results.

This is how we would suggest using this product for best results for Black Skin Disease (BSD):

• Start with a clean dog. We recommend using a bar of our organic Skin Rescue Shampoo Bar, which has sulphur florets and neem oil, and is very effective at exfoliating, deep cleansing, and rinses very cleanly. It is also strongly anti-fungal without being harsh, and is the correct pH for dogs.
• We suggest bathing once, then once again in 7 days, and thereafter only twice per month. It€™s not healthful for dogs to be bathed too often, and especially not during a bout with BSD.
• For the first week, we suggest using the lotion twice daily, massaging it deeply into the skin until it absorbs. (More is not better.) Any remaining hair should be clipped short, but not shaved. Shaving introduces more fungus under the skin and should be avoided entirely, especially in Poms. (If surgical shaving is necessary for any reason and for any breed of dog or cat, we recommend applying the lotion to the shaved area daily for a few days afterward to prevent fungal infection and possible permanent hair loss.)
• We strongly recommend keeping the dog dressed in a tee shirt during this process to protect the skin from licking or strong sunlight. There is nothing in the lotion that can harm an animal if ingested, but it only works if it stays on the dog and not on the carpet!
• Please do not use too much lotion. It should be used approximately like hand lotion would be used not too much, just enough to do the job and to absorb fully into the skin.
• This process takes patience and persistence, but it will work, and initial results should be evident in about 4 weeks. Full recovery can happen in 3 months.

Additionally, the Skin Rescue Lotion kills yeast in the feet (symptoms: licking and rust-coloured hair between toes), and in the ears (a small amount applied with fingertip and massaged downward into the ear canal daily for a few days).