Patch of dry skin slowly moving across back of my neck

January 21, 2019 10:00 AM

A weird situation has presented itself. A few weeks ago, I noticed a small patch of dry skin on the back right side of my neck, now it has slowly moved to the left side.

It is slightly itchy, slightly red, kind of scaly, but overall not super bothersome. I have dry sensitive skin, and it's winter, so it wasn't that alarming. I thought it would just go away in time, but the movement of the patch is super weird. Does anyone know why it might be slowly migrating across the back of my neck?

posted by monologish to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Ringworm migrates IME, especially if you have fabric rubbing against the affected area since that will spread it around and reinfect areas over and over.
posted by Hermione Granger at 10:25 AM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Do you dye your hair? That's basically what happened to me when I developed an allergy/reaction to hair dye.

It would clear up but then come back shortly after a new dye job
posted by missmagenta at 10:36 AM on January 21, 2019

Psoriasis can spread like that. I have it on my elbow and if I don't moisturize it enough it spreads. It can show up on your neck.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:11 AM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

It could also be eczema, which for many gets worse with dry, cold weather. A heavy moisturizer can help resolve it and also prevent it from popping up. If it's particularly itchy or inflamed, you can also use some OTC cortisone cream to calm it.
posted by quince at 1:39 PM on January 21, 2019

I had something like that on my neck and it turned out to be ringworm. I used an over the counter ointment to treat it. Use as directed - I learned that the symptoms of using it too frequently were very similar to the original infection!
posted by smartyboots at 4:13 PM on January 21, 2019

It's winter -- do you need to wash your scarf / sweater / coat that may be in regular contact with that area?
posted by heatherlogan at 5:24 PM on January 21, 2019

Could just be a fungal infection of a variety of types. Your primary care practitioner can do a little scrape of the area and find out for sure. I had something similar and mine said just put a bit of head and shoulders shampoo on it for a minute, rinse off. I think for about a week or two? It cleared up.
posted by HMSSM at 12:22 AM on January 22, 2019

this sounds like ringworm. see a dermatologist. treatment is easy. if it is fungal they have a cream, if it is irritation they have a steroid.
posted by evilmonk at 12:44 PM on January 22, 2019