I’m not sure when it showed up but it must have been between the weekend and today. It’s near my ankle and about an inch in diameter. Looks kind of like a incredibly bad burn, only it doesn’t hurt nor does it feel tender.
I did get some sunburn around my legs about a week ago, but it was mostly around my knees (though this area was affected, just not as badly).
What could it be? Should I worry?
Why hasn’t anyone answered this yet??
I don’t know what it is. I’m not a doctor (and don’t play one on TV-- I’m a CNA, though) and I can’t see your leg.
See a doctor.
Exactly what I was thinking. I could be dead by now.
I’m leaning towards broken capillary from unremembered incident with heavy object. But I figure I’ll go to the docs tomorrow and see what’s up.
I was at the river canoeing last week, which is where I got the sun burn from.
My wife’s immediate comment upon showing her the mark:
“Uh oh, remember how I heard about that lady that caught flesh eating bacteria from the river?!”
“No, thank you for reminding me!”
that bacterial infection was painful, i recall.
Medical advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Let me take this time to urge everyone here to keep a close eye on every bite and scratch you get, and here’s why:
A few years ago, when I was living in Virginia, my roommate’s daughter <um, she lived there, so I guess she was a roommate too, doh> went to sleep one night fine. Woke up the next morning scratching her thigh. She’d apparantly been scratching it much of the night, because it looked like a normal little bite, but she’d scratched it so much it was swelling a little. By the end of the day it was worse, so she went to the doctor. She spent the next 3 days with her leg cut open so they could sluice it out; they couldn’t decide if it was MRSA or flesh-eating bacteria, but it was from just a bite.
Just. A. Bite. Don’t know from what, but it wasn’t there when she went to sleep. I suppose it’s possible there was no bite, she just scratched herself with contaminated fingernails. Everyone’s got dirt and bacteria everywhere, so anything’s possible.
Be watchful, that’s all I’m asking for, please.
I really wish I was making this up, 'cause I’m borderline paranoid now about every little bite or scratch. Hate that. But the alternatives…<shudders>
So, keep an eye out. Every time I hear about someone else losing limbs I realize how lucky little Sammy was.
Can you post a picture? 'Cause a picture is worth, you know, a thousand words.
Honestly, it’s a lot easier to guess if we can see the details.
-D/a
Indeed.
Kinthalis: I’d love to help; really I would. But, I kid you not when I say there are dozens and dozens of different skin lesions that could be described as “red spots”. Look here (and include the term “erythema” in a search). Or, even better, from the home page click on the leg or foot of the ‘person’ icon. (Warning: Many gross pictures).
I guess I do kid, though, about you going to that Dermatology site. What I was trying to say is that in the same way you wouldn’t know where to start (I assume), it’s awful hard to know where to start regarding “red spots on the lower leg” - the differential diagnosis is huge.
IOW, not only would a pic help (a lot), but the list of possible causes would depend on the presence or absence of many other things in your medical history. Red skin lesions have about the longest list of differential diagnoses in medicine.
ETA: I don’t mean to sound snarky and apologize if it comes across that way.
OK picture of my hairy leg incoming.
Alrighty, it’s up! If password is asked it is sdmbguest.
Thanks for taking a look guys!
I can’t really tell from the picture, but I had something similar when I was in college. I got all scratched up on my legs while hiking with some friends and one of the scratches turned into this huge red spot on my leg. It wasn’t painful or itchy at all, but looked kind of gross (red and scaly). I finally went to the campus health center where this doctor FREAKED OUT (she was a real bitch, getting mad at me for not knowing the exact date this happened as well as not documenting the dates of mosquito bites I had. She also went on and on about how irresponsible I was) and said I had a horrible infection, she needed to give me antibiotics right away, blah blah blah, but then she changed her mind and referred me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist took one look at it, said it was contact dermatitis and sent me on my way with prescription strength cortisol cream.
The combination of “incredibly bad” looking “red spot” and “river canoeing” made me wonder if it could be a tick bite with the Lyme disease mark. But the picture doesn’t look like the classic “ring” I would expect.
But then I went here to check Lyme pictures, and there is one that looks a bit like your irregular mark: here.
It’s also worth noting that the times I got deer ticks as a child, they were always around the sock area on my lower leg.
So perhaps a Lyme test is in order when you see your doc.
Oh man! Is it possible this tick is still on me somehow?!
From the picture, it looks more purplish, like a bruise. Is it actually on the skin, or more under the skin? Anyway, KarlGauss is right- it could be one of a ton of things. Did you make an appointment with a doctor?
I’m doing a walk in after work. Wish me luck!
I have something that sounds very similar also on my ankle. Did you ever find out what it was??
