rash on feet and arms!!! HELP!

[rph03]

I am freaking out!  I went to the doctor, finally, in January about this recurring rash I have on the sides of my feet and on my forearms and sometimes my hands.  I have had this for months and months, it has just gotten worse.  THE PA TOLD ME I HAD SCABIES!! Since then a couple of other doctors have told me that it probably was not, since I do share a bed with my husband and I have 2 children who have had no symptoms.  However, my whole family was treated with elimite.  Now the rash is still there - it seems to come with heat and stress!! HELP WHAT IS IT???

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

It couldn't have been scabies, because no one else had it and because it's still there after treatment.  Sometimes scabies is treated just to eliminate the possibility, but subsequent events make it clear that mites weren't the cause.  So please stop freaking out.  What is the rash?  Perhaps eczema, perhaps irritation.  Whatever it is, it isn't scabies.  So see a skin doctor, tell him or her the history, and get yourself the treatment you need.  But please don't worry about bugs and relax.

Thanks.

Dr. Rockoff