Why we should abandon the misused descriptor 'erythema'.

The accurate meaning of “erythema” has become so adulterated that we should abandon its use as a descriptor. This is necessary for clarity of scientific thinking, precise communication, and appropriate education to reflect skin disease across the human race. We agree with Burgin et al1 that appropriate skin colour descriptors should be used. While editing the British Association of Dermatologists’ book Dermatology Training: the Essentials,2 we tried to ensure that text and images reflected multi-ethnic populations and diversity of disease presentations and reflected on the highly prevalent use of the word “erythema”.