If having dry skin isn't bad enough, seeing it form lumps in front of you and turn into a dry patch of skin is definitely the worst thing. Ichthyosis vulgaris (or also called fish scale disease) is a skin disease passed down through the family line that leads to dry, scaly skin. Ichthyosis vulgaris is a very common type of skin disorder. You are born with this skin disease which is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. This type of skin disease is not at all life-threatening, but there really is no way to cure it, you just have to continue living with it. The symptoms of ichthyosis vulgaris are: dry skin, scaly skin, mild itching of the skin, and perhaps a thickening of the skin. Over time dry skin can actually start to build up and start to create patches on the skin that cover large areas of the body such as the back, arms and legs. Unless detected at a young age, most cases of ichthyosis vulgaris go undiagnosed because people think it's just "dry skin." Genetic mutation is the main reason why ichthyosis vulgaris occurs on the skin of many people. It is when the mutated gene causes an irregularity in the normal life cycle of the skin. There are cells that are produced at a normal rate, but do not differentiate properly on the surface of the stratum corneum (upper layer of skin) and do not disperse as quickly as they should. In most people, growth, death, and shedding of the skin occur undetected. People with ichthyosis vulgaris create new skin cells at a faster rate than they can actually lose them, or even attempt to replicate. at a normal pace. When this happens, it just results in a huge buildup of dry skin. The mutated Ichthyosis Vulgaris gene is located on chromosome Iq21 and is in the center of the paper... your skin as it is may be too painful to move. You may also have hearing or vision problems caused by skin over your eyes or ears. One of the worst problems you could get from ichthyosis vulgaris is having psychological problems due to the abnormal appearance of the skin. With the way you look and all these patches of dry skin on you it is possible that it could destroy you mentally and eat away at you little by little in the way you see yourself and the way people see you. Ichthyosis Vulgaris is incurable, the only thing you can do is simply treat it properly. There are some researchers and doctors who have and continue to develop new ways to manage this order in the right way. Moisturizers, creams and ointments with intense action can also help you, it is better than using lotions. You will live with ichthyosis vulgaris, so accept it as it is.