Docs - is this a bite of some sort?
 

And if so, what to do about it? It's on my wife's back. She was complaining about it yesterday, when it was just a small raised 'welt'; today it's a little 'bubbly' and she says it's itchy.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314310257.jpg

If you were in my neck of the woods I'd say it looks like poison ivy.

ringworm

This is NorCal; I don't think we have that out here, but we do have poison oak. She hasn't been out anywhere to be exposed to it, though.

Lichen Planus

Poison ivy/oak/sumac.

It is a chemical burn. Once the urusiol oil is washed away, the tissue destruction stops. Treat it with calamine lotion, that stops the itching.

-I'm not a doctor, but I grew up in southeastern lower Michigan, where poison ivy is pretty much the state plant.

N

I'm no dermatologist, but does look like poison oak, etc.

try a lipid (olive oil or Kendall MS-NP) and mop it toward the center of the "wound" - not away; discard the paper towels or cloth you use; Technu is the commercial product made for this IIRC

calamine after that

maybe the dog rubbed against her?

also when you bite her back try not to chew so hard

Contact dermatitis which includes the above but also general allegies. But I ain't a doc.

Ian

The poison__ oils stays on clothes and transfers.
I've heard washing can only spread it. Cover and wait.

The appearance of those vesicles sure looks herpetic (shingles). If more show up forming a band in the next day or two it probably is. Hopefully not. :(

Early stage shingles:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314318121.jpg

Pretty sure that's not a bug bite.

Poison ivy looks like that, and they will itch and hurt. If it hurts (a lot, extremely painful) shingles also looks like that.

This. I've seen it many, many times.

uh oh - tell him at what point she needs to see an MD

Isn't there a vaccine for shingles? Can it be used post eruption?

That's far too localized to be herpes zoster. What's more the original poster gave no information as to the previous chicken pox status of the woman-

"Shingles" typically attacks several decades after a pox attack like chicken pox. I had chicken pox when I was 7, and they were all over my body. I was sick for a week, out of school for a week, and the biggest problem for me was that one of the "pox" was on my penis.

Of course, this typically happens. I didn't know that, and of course I was totally concerned!

It looks like poison ivy to me.

N

She had chicken pox in high school (80's)

She says it doesn't hurt, it just itches.

IIRC, shingles hurts like hades. that looks like poison oak, or some other kind of contact dermatitis, as mentioned already.

Guys.... The doc says its shingles.... I'm inclined to believe him...

It's a classic herpetic infection. And the itching it very typical. Could be shingles or just cutaneous herpes simplex.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1314327236.jpg

I am inclined to agree with Moses. However if there is one type of diseases that is difficult to diagnose, its skin eruptions. Easy to describe but many times hopeless to pinpoint the causing factor/factors.