Rash and inflamed joints

Hi, i keep getting a rash on my arms, legs and hands, it's just red not dotted, and slightly raised in places. It's itchy even when the rash isn't there, also my joints on my hands and feet were inflamed and ached. It itched mainly from my elbow to fingers and the backs of my knees, also on the tops of my feet.

It's lasted for afew days and the itching is getting quite bad, it's happened before but it went after a day so it was gone before i could get to the doctors, can you help?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

One possibility for such itchy rashes which come and go is hives. Hives (medically known as urticaria) are red, itchy, raised areas of skin that appear in varying shapes and sizes. They have a tendency to change size rapidly and to move around, disappearing in one place and reappearing in other places, often in a matter of hours.

Causes of urticaria include Drugs and Chemicals, contactants, certain foods, infections and systemic diseases. Take some antihistaminic like Benadryl or Zyrtec and apply some calamine lotion on the itchy areas. If the symptoms persist then you may need topical and oral steroids. Please consult a dermatologist in that case. It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.