I call them itches

[mike840]

For the past 3 weeks or so i have gotten these ant like bumps on my entire bosy and i mean everywhere, i did alot of searching and found many things they could be like swimmers rash, heat rash and others that are down right terrifying me! i have them on the webs of my fingers, on my fingers, torsa, arms, knees, back of knees, butt and groin but they arent severe in clusters just here and there but they itch horriably! I did live in an apt. that had mold in the vents but ive been out of that for 2 weeks and my roomate had them as well as a friend who only came over once but hers went away but not transmitted cuz im gay and shes well a girl! please help im scared and i itch! id go to the doctor but no insurance kinda doesnt help!

[Dept4201]

There is helpful information on geocities.com/dhr6878 which is a possibility of what you may have

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

From what you describe this looks to be scabies most probably. A clinical examination would still be required to rule out the other possibilities such as eczema, heat rash, dermatitis, etc.

'Scabies is frequently misdiagnosed as intense pruritus (itching of healthy skin) before papular eruptions form. Upon initial pruritus the burrows appear as small, barely noticeable bumps on the hands and may be slightly shiny and dark in color rather than red. Initially the itching may not exactly correlate to the location of these bumps.

Generally diagnosis is made by finding burrows, which often may be difficult because they are scarce, because they are obscured by scratch marks, If burrows are not found in the primary areas known to be affected, the entire skin surface of the body should be examined.

The suspicious area can be rubbed with ink from a fountain pen or alternately a topical tetracycline solution which will glow under a special light. The surface is then wiped off with an alcohol pad; if the person is infected with scabies, the characteristic zigzag or S pattern of the burrow across the skin will appear.

When a suspected burrow is found, diagnosis may be confirmed by microscopy of surface scrapings, which are placed on a slide in glycerol, mineral oil or immersion in oil and covered with a coverslip. '

You could read more about this at the following links -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scabies

and

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/scabies/factsht_scabies.htm

Let us know about how you are doing and if you have any other doubts.

Regards.