Kenalog injection?

[goldie4040]

In January I came down with a very itchy rash.  At the time I was out of town and went to see a dermatologist recommended by a family member.  He said it was some kind of follicultis and gave me a shot of kenalog and betamethasone.  I told him that shortly before this rash started my son had brought home a stray dog with mange and I asked him about the possiblity of me catching it.  He said probably not.  Well, the rash returned and I was very miserable.  It was worse at night.  It was mostly on my torso and now spreading to my arms. It is now March and I am going out of my mind.  I go to my local derm and he does a scraping for scabies.  He finds nothing.  He gives me another shot of kenalog and some anti-scabie cream, just in case it is scabies.  By the way,  I did tell him that I had a shot of kenalog two months previously, but he still gives me another.  A few days after the second shot I notice visable veins showing through my skin on my arms and hands. My question is...is it possible that these two shots thinned my skin to that degree and if they did, will the thickness return to normal.  I am very upset about this.  It is obvious it was scabies... since using the anti-scabie cream kept the rash from returning after all this time.  I probably never needed any of those shots in the first place.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

First of all, cortisone injections wouldn't thin your skin, certainly not permenently.  Second, the mites of canine mange don't adapt to humans well, so they cause just a minor and self-limited rash.  I guess it's possible that the Elimite cleaned up the remaining mites, but it isn't absolutely certain that it was mites.

I'm also not sure that the veins yuou can see through your skin are clearly abnormal.  Is it possible that you are just noticing them more now?  (I ask because seeing veins clearly isn't steroid side-effect I'm familar with.)

In any case, whatever may be steroid-related will go away with time, so you don't need to worry about permanent damage.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[Faithanne]

A related discussion, silikon injections was started.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Sounds like skin tags.  You can get 'em burned off, if you want.

Dr. R

[goldie4040]

Thank you for your response.  I have another question.  I have several small skin colored flat growths on my eyelids.  Some have been there for years, but lately I have gotten several new ones.  They do not hurt or itch.  Any ideas?  I am asking because I have two new ones, the other three have been there for a long time.