recurring circular rashes in winter - 5 years

rpupkin77 · Newbie Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 4

Hello,

I am a 29 yo male. For the last 5 winters I have been getting small circular rashes on (mostly) my arms and upper chest. The rash starts as a small scaly patch and then grows eventually to the size of a dime.

They are always circular and fairly well defined but there is rarely a defined border, although the center is sometimes lighter.

Occasionally they will get red, but for the most part they are pink and the skin gets very scaly. They last anywhere from about 2 weeks to 2 months and almost always disappear by May. The patches remain scaly even after the period of inflamation has died down.

The patches are not itchy, and moisturizing cream does not help - until they have died down.

I should note that my wife suffers from rosacia and she is prescribed MetroGel which works wonders for her. I have put that on my skin before and it seem sto help.

It sounds like ringworm or another fungal infection but only really occurs between November and April when it gets cold and Dry - I live in Boston, MA.

If it is a fungal infection can it come back yearly? I am not a medical person but this sounds more like a viral thing - if it is infectious.

Also, I do remember having rashes like this when I was younger.

I swim a lot in the summer starting in early June and the salt water seems to clear up any patches that remain.

I have never gone to a dermatologist about it because the problem is relatively minor and at anytime I have no more than 5 or 6 patches and they do not itch.

simone · Gold Member Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 476

Well, if you do want to get rid of them, you should pay a visit to a dermatologist. There is no way for you to figure out this on your own because there are over 2000 known skin conditions and a dermatologist may realize what it is just by looking at it.

I had similar problem with the rash on my hands. It wasn’t a real rash but dark red patches that would appear on my hands. The second day my hand would dry out and I would get small cuts as if the skin was broken. My both hands would turn out to be so rough as if I were 60 years old and working with roses my whole life. At the end, the hands would become scally until it would go away.
Then some time after, the whole story happens again. This happens only during winter and I noticed that most often when I wash something….dishes or things in the bathroom.

I couldn’t stand it any more. When I went toa dermaotlogits, the patches were of course gone (like always) but they could be seen in traces. She knew immediately what it was about and dhe even told me that many women have the same complaint.
She prescribed an ointment to apply on my hands when this happens as well as hand cream.

I was there in October-November. I haven’t had the patches since I started applying it.

SO, although your rash may seem minor and irrelevant, why not get rid of it if possible?

Guest · Guest

I was wondering if you ever found out what was causing the patches? I just started getting them about 3 weeks ago, around the first of January. I've never gotten them before, but I have 2 good sized ones right now and a couple more getting bigger. I've been using cortizone creme, but that's not doing any good yet. Any suggestions?

Guest · Guest

I have the same issues, one on my left arm, the other on my right side of my neck. They only appear during the winter months. I been using Rosebud Salve on them, and they go away after 2-3 weeks of using it on them daily. But they keep coming back in the same spots. The neck one has yet to return only the one on my arm.

recurring circular rashes in winter - 5 years

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