Mystery itch
March 10, 2017 10:52 AM Subscribe
I've been dealing with itchy skin and small, red, occasionally itchy bumps for the last two weeks-- do I need a doctor or an exterminator?
About two weeks ago, my skin started to feel itchy. I figured it was related to dry skin, but soon after I noticed some small red bumps on my legs. I assumed it was folliculitis caused by shaving, but since then bumps have also appeared on my upper legs, torso, and arms. Usually 0-3 bumps appear per day. They are generally not clustered together.
My first thought was bed bugs, but the symptoms don't add up. I've had the misfortune of having bed bugs before and I'm extremely allergic-- getting bitten means immediately developing a large welt that itches like crazy for at least a week. These bumps are moderately itchy but often don't itch at all for long stretches of time. As long as I don't scratch them, they stop itching and start to fade after a couple of days although they leave behind a small brown mark. The bumps sometimes appear during the day underneath areas covered by clothes. Sometimes certain areas of skin will itch for days but no bumps will appear, or an area of skin near the bump will itch while the bump itself does not.
I feel like I'm going crazy, and part of me wonders if the bumps are psychosomatic-- it wouldn't be the first time I've developed bug bite-like hives after worrying about having bed bugs. I don't even know where to start when it comes to determining what the problem is so that I can treat it. But assuming it's either a pest control or a medical issue, I don't want to wait any longer to deal with it. What could be causing this?
About two weeks ago, my skin started to feel itchy. I figured it was related to dry skin, but soon after I noticed some small red bumps on my legs. I assumed it was folliculitis caused by shaving, but since then bumps have also appeared on my upper legs, torso, and arms. Usually 0-3 bumps appear per day. They are generally not clustered together.
My first thought was bed bugs, but the symptoms don't add up. I've had the misfortune of having bed bugs before and I'm extremely allergic-- getting bitten means immediately developing a large welt that itches like crazy for at least a week. These bumps are moderately itchy but often don't itch at all for long stretches of time. As long as I don't scratch them, they stop itching and start to fade after a couple of days although they leave behind a small brown mark. The bumps sometimes appear during the day underneath areas covered by clothes. Sometimes certain areas of skin will itch for days but no bumps will appear, or an area of skin near the bump will itch while the bump itself does not.
I feel like I'm going crazy, and part of me wonders if the bumps are psychosomatic-- it wouldn't be the first time I've developed bug bite-like hives after worrying about having bed bugs. I don't even know where to start when it comes to determining what the problem is so that I can treat it. But assuming it's either a pest control or a medical issue, I don't want to wait any longer to deal with it. What could be causing this?
Well...we had similar-type bumps in our family. (It's easier to tell that it's a bug when you have more than one person in the household.) It turned out to be mites, so tiny as to be nearly invisible.
At the beginning, we were able to get rid of them -- this was before we actually knew what they were, and were just noticing that we were getting a lot of bites -- by washing all the bedding, towels, etc. in hot water, and also give our cats a flea treatment. That worked fine...but a few months later it happened again...and then a few months after that.
That's when we got serious and called an exterminator. The solution was a combo of:
-- wash everything in hot water
-- kill the rats we didn't know were living in both our attic crawlspace and our under-house crawlspace -- this is what the mites were initially living on
-- treat the attic with a powdery kind of poison (they can't breath in it, and they suffocate)
-- repeat that attic treatment again two weeks later to get any newly-hatched mites
-- repeat the whole thing about six months later because it was clear we hadn't gotten them all.
That was 7 years ago and we haven't had the problem since.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:05 AM on March 10, 2017
At the beginning, we were able to get rid of them -- this was before we actually knew what they were, and were just noticing that we were getting a lot of bites -- by washing all the bedding, towels, etc. in hot water, and also give our cats a flea treatment. That worked fine...but a few months later it happened again...and then a few months after that.
That's when we got serious and called an exterminator. The solution was a combo of:
-- wash everything in hot water
-- kill the rats we didn't know were living in both our attic crawlspace and our under-house crawlspace -- this is what the mites were initially living on
-- treat the attic with a powdery kind of poison (they can't breath in it, and they suffocate)
-- repeat that attic treatment again two weeks later to get any newly-hatched mites
-- repeat the whole thing about six months later because it was clear we hadn't gotten them all.
That was 7 years ago and we haven't had the problem since.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:05 AM on March 10, 2017
Something similar befell a family member over the past month, and we went through the "is it bedbugs?", "is it an environment allergy?", and "why won't this stop?" stages until a visit to the dermatologist led to blood tests and biopsies, which in turn conclusively identified lichen planus as the source of the rash and skin irritation.
posted by lasagnaboy at 12:01 PM on March 10, 2017
posted by lasagnaboy at 12:01 PM on March 10, 2017
Best answer: Could be dermatitis, which resolves quickly using a steroids based cream. I'd make the first stop a doctor or dermatologist
posted by emd3737 at 1:01 PM on March 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by emd3737 at 1:01 PM on March 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Your description is pretty much what happens if I eat gluten. I'm also pretty sure Modified Food Starch. Are you having stomach issues or sore joints?
posted by humboldt32 at 2:06 PM on March 10, 2017
posted by humboldt32 at 2:06 PM on March 10, 2017
Best answer: Seconding emd3737, I recommend you just go get this biopsied.
All through college I had tiny bumps and itching. Doctors guessed fungal infection, allergies, food sensitivities, complications with diabetes, an infection presenting atypically and more. I went to so many doctors and they had so many guesses. I finally went to a dermatologist and it was just eczema. All those maddeningly itchy years (probably because I was poor) no one bothered to just biopsy it and see what was going on.
If it is eczema, a really good moisturizer will help but occasionally you'll have flare ups that require steroid cream.
posted by Bistyfrass at 3:14 PM on March 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
All through college I had tiny bumps and itching. Doctors guessed fungal infection, allergies, food sensitivities, complications with diabetes, an infection presenting atypically and more. I went to so many doctors and they had so many guesses. I finally went to a dermatologist and it was just eczema. All those maddeningly itchy years (probably because I was poor) no one bothered to just biopsy it and see what was going on.
If it is eczema, a really good moisturizer will help but occasionally you'll have flare ups that require steroid cream.
posted by Bistyfrass at 3:14 PM on March 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Yes, came in to say to go to a dermatologist and they will likely suggest a biopsy. That word sounds scary, I know, but it's a simple procedure, and mine came back as a skin infection when I'd been treating it as an allergy for ~a month.
posted by freezer cake at 3:43 PM on March 10, 2017
posted by freezer cake at 3:43 PM on March 10, 2017
Based on my personal experience, it sounds like an allergy. In my case, the allergen is sunflower seeds, and also sunflower oil. The relevant part is that I used to get constant low-level itchy bumps on my hands even though I never eat sunflower seeds any more. Then I realized that filling the bird feeder put me in contact with sunflower seeds so I stopped that (Hubby fills the feeder now) which helped but didn't solve the problem completely. Then I noticed that lots of lip balm brands contained sunflower oil, and after I switched to one that didn't, the problem stopped altogether.
Do you have any other allergies that you're aware of? Even if you're not being exposed in the usual way, you may be getting just enough unexpected exposure to trigger the rash. Good luck!
posted by Quietgal at 6:45 PM on March 10, 2017
Do you have any other allergies that you're aware of? Even if you're not being exposed in the usual way, you may be getting just enough unexpected exposure to trigger the rash. Good luck!
posted by Quietgal at 6:45 PM on March 10, 2017
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Basically have you eliminated the prossibility of environmental factors that aren't bug related? You might have developed an allergy to something that touches you on a regular basis.
posted by INFJ at 10:59 AM on March 10, 2017 [2 favorites]