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Skin Questions

i have a lump in my neck above my collar bone on my left side i noticed ths lump a while back maybe a year or 2 ago never bothered me but now because im worried about it its starting to bother me and hurt me a bit. i went to my gp to be refered to a specialist because i have private health and my gp didnt give me a specialists name but told me i have to find out who i want my self in clementine churchill which i dont understand and my GP wont just give me a name because my insurance needs a name. im very worried im going for an x ray and scan but i want to go and speak again to my gp and see why he isnt making this easy for me. when i get my xray and scan also will that tell me for sure if its cancer ? im very worried. what else could it be.. also can it be cancer when i have had it for a couple of years? could it have started off as just a lump and grown to be cancer?

self harm i have scratched about half the area of my breast till its raw causing about 4 abrasions, the thing is im really struggling i know i should be keeping them clean but my need is to make them worse, im sorry this sounds so wrong i dont know if i should go to the a&e i am running a slight fever of 100.4, have been feeling sicky all day and a bit on the clammy side i have a head ache and some of the hurts ive had for a while actually have puss come out of them although it isnt alot, the rest either bleed and or weep clear yellow stuff. again im really sorry i dont know where to turn with this im scared if i go in and tell them how i really feel things will just be so much worse

Vasculitis Suspected HSP I have recently been diagnosed with vasculitis by my local hospital and they suspect it to be HSP. I have had a number of blood tests taken and a urine sample all of which come back as normal. I did however have a number of other blood test taken ANCA seems to spring to mind and am awaiting the results of these. I have an outpatients appointment booked for next month at the Rheumatology Clinic but am a little concerned with the rash on my legs and ankles. All in all I do not feel particularly ill but would like to know the stages of how the rash progresses? I can vaguely recall the doctor saying that the rash would change from red like spots to a purple bruise like colouration and then turn a browny colour. He also mentioned ulcers and I would like to know a little more about these. The rash is turning purple and in some places brown but on a number of the lesions there appears to be an ulcer like head on the rash although these are not bleeding or weeping! As I said I have an appointment next month with the specialist and I do know that this condition if indeed it is HSP should hopefully clear by itself within a number of weeks so I do not want to go running back to the hospital when these are the recognised symptoms of HSP! Your professional opinion would be most welome. Many Thanks

boil turned infection and what is the cure I have had an ingrowing hair near my bottom that turned into a boil but is still releasing puss after 2 weeks and I can feel a lump in my buttocks

persistent staph skin infection In January I got a skin infection - a red swelling on my cheek. My GP gave me flucoxillin and fucidin ointment. Since then, for the past six months, every three or four weeks I would get a minor staph skin infection in form of small red swelling or rash which my GP treats with fucidin ointment and then this week I got another absess bigger than one in January and my GP said I should have eradication therapy but just gave me same drugs as before: naseptin ointment, fucidin and flucoxillin and told me to use all until gone. But didn't say if this would cure it or what my other options are. I don't smoke or drink. I look after my health and am careful with hygiene. My life has been utterly put on hold this year because of this disfiguring skin infection. My skin is becoming ruined because it is leaving marks. My confidence is destroyed, I don't sleep, my work is affected, I don't socialise or date. I am 36 years old and feel like my life is over because I absolutely cannot date or start a relationship while I have this awful infection. I am at my wits ends what to do. Should I go private and see a specialist? Could they help? I must be honest with you, I have started wishing I would not wake up at all in the morning than wake up to another bacterial infection lump on my face. My face is on/off tingly and itchy where my GP say infection of absess presses on nerves in face. I am scared because I read online that for about 20% unlucky people staph skin infection is a permanent lifelong condition and I do not want to live with continued red lumpy face and not feeling able to socialise and have normal contact with people. Please, I will do anything if someone would give me some help with this!!! I should add that since I have had the skin infection, although I look after my health and wellbeing, I have felt constantly exhausted and under the weather. One GP I told this said it was because I was not sleeping well because of worrying about the infection, but I am able to get six-eight hours sleep most nights with Boots natural sleep tablets and I still feel tired all the time. I am not anaemic but have not been tested for diabetes.

Fingernails My fingernails are falling off. I suffer from Arnold-Chiari Malformation and low B12 which has been successfully treated with injections for over a year. What could be the cause and what medical tests should be carried out?

Itching of Face (Possible MS symptom?) I was diagnosed with MS a couple of years ago. I have had an itchy face and neck for a long time now. It is my cheeks, above lip and behind / below ears that it effects most often. It is itchy to some extent most of the time but seems to be worse usually at the end of the day or when I'm tired. I do have what looks like a bit of a rash under my left eye. Is this an MS symptom and is there anything I can do about it?

I don't know what's wrong with my skin I have always suffered mild acne since teenage years which, although mild, has overly affected my self esteem. I have also suffered with severe depression through my late 20s/early 30s. In my early 30s I got my acne under control which helped me a lot in life, I was able to date and have relationships for the first time! But due to stress my depression got worse and in the past two years I drank alcohol quite heavily every week. This year in January I got a red swelling in my right cheek that started off as two small pimples then became a red swelling on the apple of my cheek. It felt warm and 'burning' on and off. My GP said it was a bacterial skin infection and gave me fluxocillin and fucidin cream, it went in about 3-4 days. After this I re-evaluated my lifestyle and stopped drinking completely. (I have not had alcohol since early January this year.) Then about 3 weeks later I got another bacterial infection lower down my cheek and another GP took a skin scraping and gave me fluxo and fucidin again and it went again. The skin scraping did not reveal any particular bacteria however. My skin was clear of this infection for about six weeks. However, I got a mild outbreak of acne, maybe because of stress. And during this two very small red patches came up on my cheek (same area and looking same as skin infection before) although they do not feel hot or itchy this time. This time when I saw another GP he thought I may have acne rosacea (although I told him about previous skin infection) and gave me oxy oral tablets for acne and fucidin for skin infection. The acne has responded quickly to the oral tablets (and I still have five weeks left to take tablets) and the small areas that I thought were the recurring skin infection have responded well to fucidin. However, the GP has planted seed in my mind that I have rosacea and I am panicking! I just really don't want to have this awful condition after having gone through acne for most of my life and getting it under control. I don't / never have facial flushing although I am fair-skinned and have a few broken capillaries. Even when I drank heavily in past my face did not flush much or at all. A skin infection that may take some time to get rid of is ok, but rosacea just wouldn't make my life worth living. I would never have confidence to date again and to socialise and get on with my life because my self esteem has never been good. How do I know if I have rosacea, is there a test a dermatologist can do?

I have a problem small scar/dent on my top lip Hi I recently had a cold sore a few weeks back and may have picked it, It is fully healed now, however it's left a small dent/scar. I've tried vitamin E oil for the past week or so but no improvement as such. Do you have any advice, ie in the way of creams, or other oilments over the counter or do you think it may improve in time in your experience?also I've read about laser treatment to try and fill it in, and would this work on the lip area? if so, can you recommend any good clinics?, as this is really beginning to affect my confidence now and also going to a friend's wedding in about 6 weeks so need a remedy please and also any supplements/diet i can take to stop getting cold sores? Many thanks Please advise Regards

Skin Cancer - lentigo and melanoma My husband had a brown mark on his ear over a year ago which was biopsied and the doctor concerned did not treat it. A year later we went to another doctor in the same practice as my husband is a diabetic and there was concern about his blood sugar levels. Whilst I was in the surgery I asked the doctor to check out my husbands ear which was now crusty and changing colour (at this stage we had not been given any cause for concern) within a week part of my husbands ear was taken off and then confirmed to us another week later that it was malignant melanoma. As we were due to go on holiday we were really concerned as my husband was then waiting for a ct scan but I spoke to our doctor who advised to go on holiday but also told me that when it was biopsied over a year ago that it was lentigo. This was the first time we had heard this name. I obviously I did a little research and found out that if lentigo is left it untreated it can develop into malignant melanoma which is what my husband was found to have after part of the ear was taken off. We had our holiday and on return my husband had to go back for more ear to be taken off (just to be certain) and then for a CT scan which showed that he had small lymph nodes in his neck and chest. He will be having a second scan in April this year to keep a check on him. Is there a stronger chance that these lymph nodes could develop into malignant melanoma now that he has had it. Basically is he at risk from further development of malignant melanoma. I am extremely worried at present.

i recently visited mexico and think i have caught scabies intense itching on legs , worse at night

Leg ulcers A small knock to the lower shin of my left leg that broke the skin and bled in July 1009 resulted in a leg ulcer that then caused a further ulcer higher up the shin followed by pain in the leg when I had the leg horizontal, ie in bed or raised on a stool. This eventually caused a further ulcer to break out on the foot just above the middle toe. I was treated at my GP's surgery for some time and then by the district nurse at home until a couple of weeks ago when the final ulcer on my foot stopped discharging and dried up A couple of months ago I saw my doctor about my left calf which was swelling considerably and was told that it was due to the blood flowing into the leg and not returning and that there was no cure for it. I considered this and wondered if it could be due to not getting enough exercise due to spending too much time sitting watching Wimbledon tennis, world football, and athletics during the day. I went out and had a three-mile walk plus three jogs over 100m. This seemed to help and I continued with more regular exercise, but recently the leg has started to swell up again. There is no swelling when I get out of bed in the morning but swells up again as I move around. I was diagnosed with anaemia at the beginning of 2007 but was told that it wasn't the type where one is short of iron. I attend the hospital every couple of months to have a blood test and to see the consultant who keeps a check on any variation in the white and red blood cells. I mentioned to him about the leg swelling but he told me that he would see me again in a few weeks time. I also have an itching problem and have itched all over my body at times. The main area at the present time is down my spine. A couple of months ago I complained to my GP about redness and itching in the groin at the top of both legs. He told my that it was a fungus and prescribed anti-fungal cream which I used daily until the fungus cleared. I am taking Atarax 25mg anti-histamine tablets for the itching that give me some relief. I put all these problems down to the blood disorder. I would be extremely grateful for your thoughts and opinion on my problem. I am 82 years of age. Sincerely, **** *******.

Rash on palm of hand Hello, I asked about this a few weeks ago and I followed the advice provided and saw a GP. My situation is as follows: - 21 year old male - healthy/does not drink or smoke - I have had a 'rash' on my hand (now for ~8 weeks) 1) Rash is located on the palm of my hand 2) Consists of a lot of tiny (pin-prick) brown dots 3) The skin originally appeared to look a slightly darker colour to that of the surrounding skin (barely noticeable), but it has now returned to the same colour 4) The dots originally appeared slightly shiny under light, but then they stopped. However, they have appeared slightly shiny again 5) The rash is on my left hand (I am right-handed) 6) It originally appeared during a time of great stress/anxiety (my grandparents were in hospital, and unfortunately died). 7) Originally, I thought it could have been due to the anti-bacterial hand-wash that I was using in the hospital, but that seems somewhat unlikely. I did do some intensive gardening and it did appear slightly after this, so I believe there to be a possible correlation. 8) I saw a GP 2 weeks ago (as per the advice of one of the doctors here) who did not regard it to be anything serious, but stated that if it had not gone within 2 weeks to come back. They seemed unsure as to what it was or what caused it. They provided me with Trimovate Cream (clobetasone butyrate, calcium oxytetracycline and nystatin) and advised me to try it for 2 weeks to see what happened. Over the past two weeks, it appeared that it was working. The brown dots were decreasing and the texture of the area of skin appeared to become more normal. However, for the past couple of days (whilst I have been back in my grandparent's) the rash appears to have become slightly more pronounced (e.g. darker spots and shiny). Could you tell me what you make of this and what you think it could be? I am not sure if I should be concerned or not currently. Unless you knew it was there, you would probably not even see it as the dots are faint. The skin is still rougher than that of the surrounding skin, but it is not 'rough'.

Palm of hand rash Hello, For the past couple of weeks, I have had this minor rash on my hand (at least I believe it is a rash). I was visiting the hospital many times (due to my grandparents being unwell) and I reckon that it could have been due to the handwash. There is a small, localised, area of rough skin on the centre of my left palm (in the area you would normally hold an object - in the centre). On this, there are very tiny (smaller than the size of a pencil dot) brown dots (sometimes, they look almost clear). There are many of these. The area of skin is ever so slightly darker than the surrounding area of the hand (extremely marginal difference). Unless you knew it was there, you would not notice it really. At the same time as using loads of the hospital handwashes, I did do quite a bit of intensive gardening. My thoughts are that the timing of it could be related and it could be a result of that, but as it has not gone away (~3/4 weeks) it is starting to concern me. There is no pain, no itching, nothing. It is just a bit rough. I showed a nurse this previously and she did not seem concerned about it.

Various persistant symptoms including tiredness, urticaria, other rash and sweating Hi there, I have been suffering for the past 6 weeks or so with a selection of symptoms. It started with a pretty big outbreak of what I have been told is urticaria all over my stomach, sides back and arms. Since then I have had several major outbreaks, but also go barely a day without some appearing somewhere. I have also developed a second rash, which consists of flat and red spots, with no border only a few mm across each, and they normally appear on my thighs and stomach. They are not itchy at all. Alongside this rash I have developed weight gain, and have been extremely tired. On many days I have felt sicky,but have never thrown up. My stomach isn't great either, and I have had diarrheoa several times. I have also been having huge changed in temperature, which has lead to me sweating much more than usually. I am getting easily tired, and now find my 2 mile walk to work a real struggle, when it never used to be, and feel boiling at the end of it. Basically I was wondering if there was any advice you could give me. The exhaustion is really getting me down, and the hives rash is unbearably itchy. Many thanks, *****

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