Your skin is regularly exposed to environmental elements that can irritate and damage it. These include sun, wind, heat, dryness and excessive 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:
Allergic reactions
Infections, including some types of staph and fungal infections
Immune system disorders
Cancer and cancer treatment
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
Athlete''s foot
Atopic dermatitis (eczema)
Contact dermatitis
Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma
Dry skin
Hyperhidrosis
Jock itch
Kawasaki disease
Medication side effects
Non-Hodgkin''s lymphoma
Pemphigus
Psoriasis
Ringworm (body)
Ringworm (scalp)
Scarlet fever
Seborrheic dermatitis
Staph infections
Stevens-Johnson syndrome
Sunburn
Toxic shock syndrome
