Maquillaje terapéutico en personas con lesiones desfigurantes

Abstract

The Therapeutic Make-up Unit was created by the Dermatology Department at Ramón y Cajal Hospital, with the support of the Health System of the Community of Madrid, due to the frequent demands from patients suffering disfiguring lesions in exposed areas, such as the face or hands, caused by dermatological or oncological illnesses or iatrogenic processes. Knowledge of their bio-psychosocial situation can be acquiredthrough a health and psychological assessment. This will allow carrying out therapeutic strategies to tackle these problems: planning care, implementing these plans and evaluating their results. In the last few years, international scientific literature has shown concern for the psycho-social aspects of patients with visible dermatological lesions. Several studies reflect the suffering that these illnesses entail, urging to use therapeutic measures to minimize this impact. International literature presents some studies carried out in patients with stigmas in visible areas, claiming the usefulness of this complementary treatment. However, nowadays, there is only one operative unit of correcting make-up in France, for patients who have suffered burnings. This thesis intends to deal with new aspects of the use of therapeutic make-up, understood as the application of cosmetic products on visible skin lesions with the intention of hiding these blemishes and, at the same time, enhancing the aesthetic qualities of the anatomic area treated and to quantify the improvement of the psychosocial aspects in patients with disfiguring lesions. Conclusions: 1. The application of make-up to patients with disfiguring injuries improves their quality of life. 2. There has been a significant improvement in the three global indices of the multifactorial SCL-90-R (Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Total and Positive Symptom Distress Index) and seven out of its nine symptom dimensions: somatimization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and discreet symptoms. No improvement has been observed in hostility and psychoticism. 3. No improvement has been observed in self-esteem.