168: Misdiagnosis of Chronic Skin Conditions In Skin of Color w/ Dr. Hope Mitchell

The Healthy Skin Show

Did you know that inflammation shows up differently on skin of color than on white skin? As a result, people of color are often misdiagnosed, because their doctors have not been trained in the different ways skin conditions can present on different skin tones.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Hope Mitchell attended the University of Rochester and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology.

She obtained her doctorate of medicine from The Medical College of Ohio (MCO). She also completed an internship in Internal Medicine and a Pathology Fellowship while at MCO and a residency in Dermatology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.

Dr. Mitchell is certified by the American Board of Dermatology and is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Dr. Mitchell is an Ohio and Michigan board-certified medical and cosmetic dermatologist and the founder & CEO of Mitchell Dermatology.

With over 25 years of experience in the medical field, she is an accomplished, highly qualified dermatologist and entrepreneur. She has extensive experience in general dermatologic education and treatment, acne/complexion treatment, skin cancer diagnosis, treatment and surgery, as well as cosmetic injectables.

Dr. Mitchell has subspecialty interest in hair loss, eczema, hyperpigmentation, skin cancer prevention, and skincare consultations. She is an advocate for mentorship, education and diversity in medicine and dermatology.

Dr. Mitchell is a wife and mother of four young adult children.

Join us as we talk about how chronic skin conditions are often misdiagnosed in people of color.

Has your skin condition ever been misdiagnosed? Tell me about it in the comments!

In this episode:

• How not learning about skin conditions on skin of color can be problematic in getting an accurate diagnosis
• How does inflammation present in different skin colors?
• Do patients end up suffering because necessary tests are not run?
• What should people keep in mind when trying to determine whether what they're seeing on their skin is hyperpigmentation or inflammation?
• What is the connection between itching and inflammation?
• How does psoriasis show up in skin of color?

Quotes

“What I find in my practice is that a lot of patients that I start to see that seek me out because I am a black dermatologist have told me that either they were misdiagnosed, that's what led them to see me. They just didn't feel that their diagnosis was accurate. Or they were told initially that the diagnosis that they had, and they may not have been given a diagnosis, was nothing to worry about.” [3:38]

“The other thing that I think throws off the doctor is that inflammation looks very different. It looks very different in skin of color. And so where we've been trained that red looks like inflammation, in skin of color inflammation looks more gray, it looks dark, it may look purple-ish, it may look dark brown.” [5:25]

Links

Find Dr. Mitchell online

Healthy Skin Show ep. 151: How Eczema Changed My Life (So I Could Help Others) w/ Rakhi Roy, MS, RD, LDN

Follow Dr. Mitchell on Instagram | Instagram