Return of the Creeping Bruisy Things

In My Humble Opinion
1

Or rather, the “never left”.

I described them last time. This time I have photos. To answer the question: yes, my primary doctor saw them and wanted me to go to a dermatologist for a diagnosis, but simultaneously assured me that she did not believe they represented anything particularly lethal or extremely serious.

I did not make it to the dermatologist before my medical insurance ran out, and dermatologists are especially pricey, so that’s not on today’s agenda.

Allow me to fill in what the photos leave out:
[ul]
[li] They have been there since at least late 2008 that I know for certain. Perhaps even longer, that’s just when I really noticed.[/li][li] The skin is shiny, like scar tissue.[/li][li] The flesh underneath is noticably harder/firmer than the surrounding flesh.[/li][li] The areas are somewhat sensitive to touch, but not in the way that bruises are, it’s very subtle.[/li][li] There is, or can be, discomfort. It is not consistent, which is why I’m posting about them again: they’ve been bothering me lately. There is a soreness to them that has flared up in the last week or two, and I have not been doing anything especially different.•* The soreness, when it is present, is persistent. The position of my legs doesn’t seem to have any effect on it, except perhaps that it does worsen some when I’m standing.And note that “soreness” seems too strong a term. It’s discomfort…it’s unquestionably centered on those spots, but it is a very subtle sensation, jsut an unpleasant sort of “I am aware of those spots on my legs…I can feel them right now.”[/li][li] They can go away: there used to be two more spots, one on each leg around the knee, very pronounced, especially the “hardness” of the underlying tissue, which is gone; the areas look and feel normal now.[/li][/ul]

So, with the understanding that no one can give me a proper diagnosis, even if you ARE a doctor, all I’m looking for is leads. I’m hoping that with the photos there might be some new ones.

  • I have radically altered my diet as of early March, to a severely restricted low carbohydrate regimen, and as a result I’ve lost 16 pounds. Neither of these things were true at the time the spots first became noticable, so I doubt that they explain the recent flareup of discomfort.

Last time I thought chronic venous insufficiency was the best guess, and maybe it is. But it isn’t exact, starting with the fact that CVI describes brown discoloration. I just thought I’d throw it out for another round, now that I have a picture. (Online photos of CVI are insanely hideous, generally speaking, which my spots are not, but photos of skin conditions are generally the worst of the worst.)

2

Gah! The internet shouldn’t feel like visiting my grandma.

3

Bwahahaha…

4

Looks like eczema.

5

I’ve only seen eczema as reddish patches.

Isn’t there some sort of phone app where you can photograph a skin condition and have it identified? (joke)

6

Sure it should, it’s filled with grandmas. I’d be one if I’d ever had kids.

7

Do you have any problems with your blood sugar? Has that been checked out thoroughly by your primary care doc?

The reason I ask is I have a friend who is a type I diabetic and he gets similar looking spots on his legs - sort of a ezcema/psoriasis combo type thing.

Now, if you google ‘diabetic leg sore’ you’ll get a whole lot of pics that are WAAAAAAAAY worse than what you’ve got going on but your spots do look similar to the ones that he gets - FWIW, his diabetes was quite well managed, but not perfect.

Is it possible that your blood sugar is borderline? You may want to rule that out if you haven’t already.

8

Do a google image search for “erythema nodosum” because that’s what that looks like to me. It’s associated with a number of different things (too many and too varied, really, to list, or to worry yourself by looking them all up.)
I’m not a dermatologist though. And, as you know, you should probably see one.

9

Huh - it does look just like that, doesn’t it?

10

I’ve had erythema nodosum, and that’s exactly like what my legs looked like.

In my case, it was caused by sarcoidosis. I am so happy to have had a disease that’s mentioned from time to time on House! I did not have any of the pulmonary complications. I had fevers and joint pain. It eventually resolved on its own without treatment.

11

erythema nodosum was suggested last time, and I looked it up and no, that’s not it. Hardly anything about that fits, starting with the fact that there’s nothing bumpy or nodule-like. The areas are flat, actually slightly depressed. All the descriptions of how it starts, progresses, etc… pretty much no hits.

12

I’d like to buy a biopsy - hey, it beats buying a bowel. Good luck at the dermatologist’s.

13

So why would anyone even try?

See a dermatologist.

14

Is that one of the red areas on the inside of your left leg? It looks kinda bumpy there. (But I’ll be no help to ya, afraid). Good luck - and if you make it to the derm’s, ask him or her what in the world will stop this itching on my leg before I claw the skin off!

15

No, the only red areas are the ones you plainly see. The bumpy bit is a varicose vein I’ve had since I was a teenager: I sat on the bed of a movign truck with my leg tucked under and it came down on the muscle in the back, right on that spot. There is a semi-numb area there and I developed a varicose vein in the same spot. I don’t have any others anywhere else and that happened so young that I think the leg smoosh had something to do with it.