tiny itchy sores that come in waves

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a question about these things that I started getting in around November or December (I think) I know for sure I had them in December.  They are tiny papule looking things that come scattered randomly around my abdomen and sides, never on breast areas, legs, or arms, and not really on back that I have felt.  I have gotten a few on my neck however.  When I first get them I notice them because they itch, then I scratch, they make tiny open sore a few milimeters big that remain open for a week, then scab, but take a few weeks to go away.  Then by the time the last one is gone I will get a new crop.  Usually I get 6-10 about every two weeks.  they aren't pimples, and my dermatologist says they are not bug bites, but does not know what they are.  He wants to biopsy them while they are in the papule stage without my having itched them first, but I can't seem to not itch them.  At first it sort of looks like a small welt with a papule in the middle, then the welt part goes away, and leaves a papule (in about a day).  When they finally are gone they leave small purple scars.  They just keep coming in waves.  I use cetaphil skin cleanser and lotion per my derm's recommendation but they keep coming.  Could this be coming from something systemic?  I also have severe back of scalp itching with no sign of dandruff, sole of foot and lower leg itching, and night sweats.  Any help would be great.  They don't really bleed, and no fluid comes out when you itch them and break the papule open, but the open sores itch mildly, and sort of sting.

[rooster1969]

I forgot to add that I have had 11 basal cells removed in the last two years.  I am 38 dark hair dark eyes, with little sun exposure while a child, my derm thinks I am an anomoly!

[rooster1969]

I was hoping you could give some insight as to what these little sores might be.

[Vanessa Lacuesta]

Hi,

You had mentioned of basal cells having removed? Would you be able to elaborate on this further?

Your previous history of prior surgeries due to a skin lesion is significant. With a new onset of skin condition, I feel that it is best to have these lesions biopsied.Papular lesions in the torso may have several differentials.In your case, I am primarily thinking of epidermoid cysts or sebaceous cysts which have been associated with basal cell cancer. Guttate and pustular psoriasis is also one differential and a hypersensitivity reaction in the form of urticaria may also be considered.

Have the lesions biopsied so you will be properly managed. Please elaborate what you meant by basal cells and how those lesions presented.

[rooster1969]

Hi, Vanessa

The first basal cell I got was about the size of a pencil eraser and appeared on my abdomen when I was 24, I went the doctor after a couple of months when it didn't go away, and they thought it might be eczema, then another doctor thought fungal, ring worm, etc.  Over the next eleven years it continued to grow bigger.  It looked like a red patch of really scaly skin that itched and bled and oozed.  It finally got to the point that it developed what looked like blisters in it, but weren't filled with anything and you couldn't pop them.  Then I started getting black spots in the area that was a little bigger than a fifty cent piece.  Finally I found a dermatologist who agreed to biopsy it in January of 2006.  It came back basal cell.  I had it removed leaving a substantial scar, and I received a thorough skin check.  When I went back two weeks later to get my stitches out, I noticed one on my back about the size of a quarter it was biopsied, came back basal/squamous cell and removed surgically.  The two weeks later on my other scapula, I got another one.  Then a few months later I got one on my thigh, then a few months later the top of my shoulder, then two more on abdomen, arm, face, side of neck and back.  The first one appeared when I was 24, then I think the one on my scapula had been there since I was about 28.  All the rest have come in the last two years, at first my dermatologist said it was impossible to grow a new one in two weeks, but he doesn't doubt them anymore.  They look like itchy scaly red patches that sometime get bumps in them.  I know they are there at first because they itch.  I usually give them a couple months to see if they go away, if they don't I get them biopsied.  These new papule things are really very small, like a needle poke, and and then become tiny open sores.  They look like a cone shape with the middle a depressed open sore.  They are frustrating because they come in a cyclical sort of pattern, with new crops.  

[rooster1969]

I thought I should mention that sometimes when I get one (Basal cell) it looks like a pimple at first that rapidly grows to a scaly looking sore sometimes I think they are pimples at first.  But also, each one has presented in sort of a different way.  The one I had on my neck was an area the size of maybe a nickel, and just felt different than the skin around it.  It was pinkish and my dermatologist said it had rolled borders.  But at the edges it had little sores.  My dermatologist is a physician assistant and is really good, but doesn't know what these little sores are.  At first I thought maybe bed bugs, then scabies, flea bites (I didn't know).  They dermatologist said they are none of these.  I have tried elidel, hydrocortizone, cyclocort, and cetaphil.  Nothing works, they just keep coming.
Thanks

[rooster1969]

I looked at images of the ones you listed and they don't look like any of those, but what they do look like are varicella (chicken pox) when there is a papule then a sore then scab.  But a person can't have chicken pox for months

[yorkshiregirl]

I know exactly what you are talking about b/c I get them on my right leg! It started about a year ago for me on my knee cap and then it slowly spread both directions up my thigh and down my shin. I now have a trail starting from my buttocks leading down the outside of my thigh once it reaches my knee cap it moves to the inside of my leg down my shin and is now trailing down the side of my foot. My dermatologist told me it was lichen plannus, but the symptoms don't really match, so I don't trust the decision. My leg is now scarred with purple patches that started out as those tiny bumps, I scratched them and then the scar formed....You are not alone!