Anyone know what this could be?

[breakingbrie]

Every now and then my dh would say he got bit by a bug... I guess that's what it feels like, he always assumed it was a bite. After happening quite a few times, we realized it was always in the same spot. I decided I was going to take pictures and notes I'm like that, and compare to see if we can find out what it is or why it happens. It's nothing major at all, just annoying to him, and it bugs me that I don't know what it is. It happens all the time, but not too close together... I took the first pic in December last time it happened. That's pic 1. We were in a store, then went and looked at a house that was being gutted, and smelled like cat pee. Pic 2 was from this morning and he just got back from running at the res. I can't think of anything that would connect these last 2 times it's happend. He goes outside all the time and doesn't have any allergies that he knows of. I was just curious if anyone had any ideas. Like I said, it's just one of those things that bugs me cause I don't know why he gets it. He said it feels like a mosquito bite and itches but then it's usually gone in a couple hours.




It's literally in the exact same spot.

[Valgal]

Hmm... That is a puzzler for sure! I would have to guess it's something dormant that is activated by something? I'm really helpful aren't I?

[webseitler]

My girls have more severe reactions to mosquitoes... the whole area gets red and the bump is huge! So, it could be a mosquito.

[BrattyMeg]

looks like a mosquito bite to me too

[breakingbrie]

Lol thats why we always thought it was a bug bite. But it,s been happening for a few years always always in the exact same spot every single time and it happens in the middle of winter when we don't see mosquitoes.

[k23m]

strange, indeed!
Is it possible that he is wearing a certain shirt or jacket? Maybe it has an irritant or something poking him? Just a shot in the dark....

[Freckles]

I have chronic nettle rash (urticaria) and that started with a spot like that. At first it was just one and always in the same place: under the fastener of my bra. It itched and when I scratched it got bigger. After a while I had more of them, always on parts of my body where it's warmer (like where my clothes were tense or on the backside of my knees). The itching really drove me crazy. It took a while until we found out it was nettle rash.
In my case, it comes from my allergies, especially hay fever I take medication to keep them under control and most of the time it works, but in summer when it's hot they still come out even with the medication...
Does your husband have allergies? Does it get bigger when he scratches?

ETA: ok, just reread your first post, apparantly he hasn't got any allergies that he knows of. But maybe he has gotten allergies just recently? It happens. Like the first time he got it after visiting that house, it could be an allergy for pets...

[jacinda]

I wonder if there's something embedded in the skin itself?

[*Celeste*]

that looks like a hive maybe. i know i had them for a period of time and always got them in the same place. i took antihistimine when it happened - we moved and it stopped happening so it must have been something in the apartment we are in. i say next time he goes to the doctor show him the picture!

[iScrap]

It looks like a hive to me, too. They can occur in the same area over and over again. I'd keep a food and activity journal for a few months to see if you can pinpoint a food or other plant interaction that you may not remember when thinking about it months later. Allergies can onset at any age, even if you've never had them before.

It doesn't look like a bug/spider bite to me as there are no holes in the area. I would show these photos to a doctor to see if they can test for other things it could be.

I hope they can figure it out!

[nikkiARNGwife]

yeah my first thought was hives too..that is weird though that it keeps happening in the same spot

[YepBrook]

I have no idea, but I googled it and you may find this thread interesting. He's not the only one with a recurring itchy bump that seems like a bug bite.

[breakingbrie]

Originally Posted by YepBrook

I have no idea, but I googled it and you may find this thread interesting. He's not the only one with a recurring itchy bump that seems like a bug bite.

Good to know he's not the only one, and it doesn't seem like anything bad has ever come of it. It just irks me, lol. It's only in that one spot. I am still going to keep taking pics and notes ever time. It's happened a LOT and I've only got the last 2 times it happened recorded - I wonder if we'll ever figure it out, but as long as it doesn't cause any problems other than itchiness, it's not a big deal.

I didn't even think of hives, either... I've never seen them before or even known anyone who gets them.

[jessica31876]

My initial thought is there metal in contact with his skin in those pictures. I break out like that anytime certain metals touch my skin. So I cannot wear certain jewelry and often even the metal snaps on my jeans will do it. My daughter is the same way. The reason I ask is the rash I get pretty much looks like the thing that caused it. So a necklace would leave a long line slightly bigger then the necklace. A metal button or snap would be round/inflamed and itchy, Remove the irritant and take a benadryl or use a hydrocortizone cream and I am feeling a lot better.

[breakingbrie]

Well, in the first pic, it was in December and he was wearing his coat. I made him take it off in the car on the way home and let me snap a pic before it disappeared. Today he only wore a tshirt since it was nice and he was running. My mom breaks out like you, Jessica. She's allergic to so much, elastic being one thing, and she can only wear certain underclothes because she'll get a large rash from elastic on underwear and bras. The little stretchy parts have to be completely covered by other fabric/sewn in or she breaks out immediately. She's also allergic to latex, penicillin, paper bags among other things. I remember as a kid, when she'd go grocery shopping all of us kids had to bring in the bags of groceries and unload them, because her arms and hands would swell up and welt up if she had to carry in paper bags.

[YepBrook]

There's something called "Papular Urticaria" that's basically an hive-like allergic reaction to a bug bite. The old bites can become inflamed again when a new bite occurs anywhere else on the body (or in the case of stress, heat, or any allergen). It sounds like an antihistamine should help... there doesn't seem to be a real solution.

Or... the old bite could have some irritant embedded in the skin, like venom or a stinger. One man reported his itchy bump started with what he thought was a spider bite. Years and years later in a physical for the army the doc felt something hard under the skin there. He removed a tiny pebble of calcified or hardened venom from the guy's neck. It had been irritating him randomly in the same spot for years, turns out that was why. Craziness, huh!? The body was trying to attack a foreign object.

Haha! I guess I found your mystery interesting! There goes an hour of my day! LOL!!!

[mummytothree]

Could it be stress!?!?! My first thought was hive too...I get hives on the under side of my arms...from my arm pits to my elbows every once in a while and I think it's from stress!!

I agree...keep documenting and maybe do what someone else suggested and keep a food/activity diary!!

[WendyBird]

Originally Posted by breakingbrie

........... paper bags among other things. I remember as a kid, when she'd go grocery shopping all of us kids had to bring in the bags of groceries and unload them, because her arms and hands would swell up and welt up if she had to carry in paper bags.

Just out of curiosity, does she react to cardboard boxes too? When I help out with shipping at work, my forearms get all red and irritated from packing boxes. Apparently they use a formaldehyde resin that is a common allergen...

[breakingbrie]

Originally Posted by YepBrook

Haha! I guess I found your mystery interesting! There goes an hour of my day! LOL!!!

Thanks for looking, though! Seriously, when I put the 2nd pic on my computer this afternoon, my first thought was 'ask the SSD girls'... I never even thought of googling it or checking out med sites!

Originally Posted by WendyBird

Just out of curiosity, does she react to cardboard boxes too? When I help out with shipping at work, my forearms get all red and irritated from packing boxes. Apparently they use a formaldehyde resin that is a common allergen...

You know, I'm not sure. I don't remember any particular times she's avoided boxes, but they're not something we deal with often, so could be. I wouldn't be surprised if she does though. I know when I was a kid, I used to get upset if I couldn't have a particular stuffed animal from the store because she would react to the partucular fur it had, but now that I'm older, I can see what a pain it is, and I'm so glad I never had any allergies!

[DawnMarch]

My DD gets hives -- often just one and often in the same spot/spots. She also breaks out in mysterious, itchy rashes on the palms of her hands that the allergist has been unable to explain. Hives are just weird.