What Skin, Hair, and Nail Conditions Can I Learn About on the AAD Website?

Updated

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) website, aad.org, has a dedicated section for patients and the public where you can learn about skin, hair, and nail conditions. The site states that board-certified dermatologists are the only physicians with advanced medical training to diagnose and treat these conditions, and it directs visitors to information about dermatologists and "the conditions we treat." The site does not publish a full condition list on its homepage, so the practical way to find a specific topic is to use the patient and public section and its condition pages.

What the patient section covers

According to the AAD homepage, the patient and public area is built around two things:

  • Who treats these conditions: board-certified dermatologists, described by the AAD as the only physicians with advanced medical training to diagnose and treat skin, hair, and nail conditions.
  • What they treat: the site points visitors to learning more about dermatologists and the conditions they treat, covering skin, hair, and nail concerns.

This means the site is organized by condition category rather than offering one flat list. If you arrive looking for a specific diagnosis, plan to navigate from the patient section into the relevant condition area.

How to find information on a specific condition

  1. Go to aad.org and choose the patients and public path (the homepage presents separate entry points for the public and for AAD members/professionals).
  2. Open the section explaining what dermatologists treat.
  3. Browse or search within that area for your condition of interest — skin, hair, or nail.
  4. Use the resulting pages to understand the condition and when to see a board-certified dermatologist.

Expected result: you land on patient-facing explanatory content rather than clinical or membership material, which lives in the separate professional area covering membership, meetings, education, practice management, and publications.

What to keep in mind

  • The homepage is not a condition index. It functions as a gateway; the condition detail sits deeper in the patient section.
  • The site also carries advocacy content. The homepage currently features a campaign about a Medicare proposal affecting local skin cancer care ("Save Skin Cancer Care"). This is organizational advocacy, not medical guidance — treat it separately from the patient education pages.
  • Audience matters. Member and professional resources (meetings, education, practice management) are distinct from patient content; choosing the right entry point saves time.

Bottom line

Use aad.org's patient and public section to learn about skin, hair, and nail conditions and the role of board-certified dermatologists in diagnosing and treating them. Start from the patient entry point, then navigate to the condition you want rather than expecting a single list on the homepage.