Red rash on inner arm and forearm

For the past couple of months, myself and my daughter have been getting red, itchy rashes on our arms. I was mortified thinking they were bed bug bites, but the rash does not seem to look like a bite from a bed bug and i've searched my bed and apartment numerous times.

The rash we get can be from small dots, a red dot about the circumfurance of a pencil eraser head, to a larger itchy mass of them. They don't seem to last too long, but keep recurring.

Not sure if it is because of the colder drier weather or i was also wondering if it has anything to do with the water in my apartment. Just very odd that we have the same rash in the same place!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
It can be due to hives, insect bites or scabies bites if they present as  bite like lesions. 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.

I suggest you to get an evaluation done from a dermatologist. Till that time, wear cotton clothes, take some oral antihistaminic like Benadryl and apply some calamine lotion on the rash.
I hope it helps. Take care and regards.