strange pruritic rash

     Good morning. Several days ago I woke up with a slightly reddened rash on the inside of my bilateral wrists up onto a small portion of the palms of my hand. mucho pruritis accompanies it. The discoloration subsides about an hour after i wake. My hands feel very swollen as if i chowed down a large bag of potato chips before going to bed. Now 3-4 days later I have it on the tops of both of my feet...again, slightly red, raised, very pruritic. However an hour later, just a ghost image of the exacerbation remains. I don't think it's contagious. I've been using OTC hydrocortizone 0.1%
     About 7-10 days ago, I had 2 itchy toes that I thought may have been the beginning of athlete's foot, which is why I started using the hydrocortizone cream. Could anything have come out of that? non-significant hx, 32 yo disgruntled male.

[jagesh50]

Most likely urticarial rashes.Cetrizine one tab at bedtime for a week should be fine.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
You seem to be having hives (urticaria). 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.

Take antihistamines like Claritin or Zyrtec to get symptom relief. Sedating antihistamine such as Benadryl is used usually at night to get urticaria control. Short courses of oral cortisone or steroids are taken for short periods (one to three days) to settle more severe symptoms.Also apply calamine on the rashes.
You may take Vitamin C along with the prescribed treatment. Vitamin C is a general anti-allergy supplement. It helps stabilize mast cells so they are less likely to release histamine.

If the symptoms persist, then you can consult an immunologist.Skin testing has to be done to rule out any allergies.

Hope it helps. Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries. Kind regards.