# is there a dermatologist in the house?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-dermatologist-in-the-house/65878>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 19, 2001, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-dermatologist-in-the-house/65878 "2001-05-19T03:05:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-dermatologist-in-the-house/65878/1 "2001-05-19T03:05:18Z")

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Perhaps someone can help me figure out what this, um, I guess you’d call it a rash, is. A few months ago I noticed some small, flat, very slightly raised, bumps on the back of my shoulders. At first glance I chalked them up to being scars from cat scratches, since they look almost exactly like the scars I have from cats digging their claws into my skin, then hooking their claws when pulling back out, but there are too many to be that. They don’t itch, there’s no puss in them(unlike a pimple), the skin around them is not pink, irritated or in anyway unhealthy or scaly, and they haven’t changed size or multiplied since I noticed them…they just look a little odd. Could it be a type of acne or allergy? I’m not very worried about them since they don’t hurt or anything, but so far every description I’ve come across for rashes is different than this one, and I’d like to know what it is.

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-dermatologist-in-the-house/65878/2 "2001-05-19T13:41:46Z")

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Dermatology, being perhaps more subject than other branches of medicine to the dictates of the visual diagnosis, as opposed to the long-range or “over the phone” diagnosis, would seem to be a poor candidate for a request for a diagnosis on an Internet message board.

In other words, “hey, Elfkin, we can’t see your rash, and besides, we aren’t dermatologists, we’re just posters with no lives spending a beautiful Saturday morning hangin’ on a message board. How you expect _us_ to know?”

If you ask me–hmmm… [_scrutinizes rash closely_] Dr. Goose says, “Yes, it’s allergies, _and_ acne, plus you’re gonna have some cute lil aliens hatching out of your shoulder blades any day now.”

😃

See a doctor, Elf. A real one. 🙂

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-dermatologist-in-the-house/65878/3 "2001-05-19T14:04:00Z")

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Some of us are doctors. Why not look around at [webmd.com](http://webmd.com) & see what you can find.

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**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-dermatologist-in-the-house/65878/4 "2001-05-19T20:01:31Z")

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Sounds like a non-pruritic, chronic, localized, non-erythematous, papular eruption.

An extremely simpleminded approach to mysterious rashes is: If it itches, try putting a corticosteroid cream on it. If it doesn’t itch, get a serological test for syphlis.

If you want a more sophisticated approach, you’d better see a trained professional.