What is the treatment for dermatitis herpetiformis?
Like celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is treated with a lifelong gluten-free diet. It may take about six months to achieve moderate improvement in the skin condition and up to two years or more to achieve total control by diet alone, meaning that the skin response is much slower compared to the healing of the intestines with celiac disease. The rash symptoms can be controlled with medications such as dapsone. However, dapsone does not treat the intestinal condition, meaning that an individual with a diagnosis of DH must also maintain a gluten-free diet for life.
