Umerus virga, maybe?

January 9, 2009 10:28 AM

I'm looking for a dermatological term for what I can only describe as "arm stripes." (Photo link inside.)

I was recently reading about Blaschko's lines (because, hey, neat!), and decided to do a Google image search. One of the photos that popped up seems to have been miscategorized. Instead of depicting the typical mosaic pattern of Blaschko's lines, it shows an arm that has darker pigmentation on the outside, with a pretty distinct line occurring between this darker pigmentation, and lighter pigmentation on the inside of the arm.

You know, arm stripes.

I have exactly this pattern of pigmentation on my arms, and am curious if it has a name. I've always assumed it was the result of my having olive skin that tans at the drop of a hat, resulting in my outer arms being permanently darker than my inner arms.

To be clear, I am in no way concerned about this (thankfully, I am now of an age where older women do see fit to spit on their fingers to wipe the "schmutz" off of my outer arm). I'd just love to know if there's a fancy medical term I can use to describe my pigmentation. Other than, um, "arm stripes."

posted by evidenceofabsence to health & fitness (5 comments total)

Ack. I should've mentioned that the links might be NSFW. Both are pretty clearly medical shots, cropped such that they don't show naked bits, but both photos (someone's back and arm, respectively) are of people who aren't clothed.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 10:32 AM on January 9

Still Blaschko's. The key is there's a pigment differentiation along certain lines.

Congratulations, you have a mosaic genome.
posted by kldickson at 3:23 PM on January 9

I have arms stripes! Wow.

Nothing helpful to add, but thanks for the explanation.
posted by hippugeek at 5:14 PM on January 9

I have arm stripes too! Very interesting.
posted by peacheater at 7:13 PM on January 9

Wow, that is so cool. That person's back is incredibly beautiful.
posted by Sublimity at 11:10 PM on January 9