Skin Forum - Rash

For the past six or so months i've developed some sort of skin disease. During certain periods of the day my skin will flare up: my back has red lines, my chest is has red spots. The flare ups are quite painful, so painful that I usually have to stop what i'm doing. When my skin isn't flared up areas of the skin have small bumps, much like hives, except hives, I suppose, are completely disappear when not flared up. Some areas of my skin, such as my arms, have many of these small bumbs; other areas only have a few. My chest and back when not flared up have slight redish hue.

First, i'm uncertain of the the exact cause or nature of the flare ups. Often I drink tea or am anxious--lately i've been gone through much emotional duress--so I thought either of these might cause the rash. But the irritation seems to be spreading. Odd, I think, if tea or anxiety cause these attacks. Second, while the areas that itch are caused either by the bumps or the irritation around the bumbs, I also have two large and flat red rashes, on my shoulder and arm pit. In constrast to the red hue around the bumbs, they are quite a bit darker. The larger one on my shoulder i've had for about five years; the smaller one on my right arm pit i've just noticed. Could these two areas be related? I remember having the large, about half-inch, red rash on my left arm and the goose bumbs for about five years, maybe more, during which there was no irritation. I know this because one of the students at highschool saw the rash on my shoulder, asked me about it, and then, when I couldn't explain why, probably thought someone used by arm as an ash tray.