Red Dots with White Halo

[Aussie_N]

For the past two months, my skin has begin to form multiple red pin-point dots; primarily on the arms, hands and back. These spots have been occurring in correlation with several white spots (not vitiligo or tinea versicolor). These red dots sometimes are surrounded by white halos and some times are not. White spots also occur on their own. I've visited two doctors. Diagnosis is not founded. New spots do appear daily and current ones do not regress. Please submit any speculation on cause or potential diagnosis. Thank you.

[WheezyWons]

Ictus reaction from insect bites. I went fishing last night and must've been bitten by a mosquito or something. 18 hours later, al these red spots popped up on my arms, hands, neck and legs. A few mintures later they all had the white halo around them. It's a delayed reaction to a bite (in my my case that is).

[Clumsyroz]

I'm very late in response here, now I have existing plaque psoriasis but something very similar happened overnight it seemed like. I know my psoriasis and that completely covers my knees, elbows and ear tops. These were different, some are pin point dots, some a lil bigger,some have the halo, some itch/hurt scattered everywhere but my face,neck,and stomach pretty much. I learned it was Guttate Psoriasis, (you can get this without having a history of psoriasis, in fact most do) it  typically happens after an infection of strep throat but not always. Most cases eventually clear on its own.

[dball87]

These multiplying spots youre experiencing are quite possible insect bites,bed bugs to be exact. Go in your bedroom and lift up the sheet on the head of the bed. do you see black dots that resemble mold growth and or tiny brownish black bugs or bug shell casings? If so call an exterminator right away...that is the only real way to get rid of them!!! trust me i know!!!

[PatrickM8302]

I know this is far off and these are old posts but i recently did research on this because i noticed some spots on my son red spots with a white halo he hasn't seena doctor yet but everything I've pulled up points to cellulitus or Lyme Disease if this is the case adding steriods can cause the rash to increase it makes it worse and has been miss diagnosed numerously by dermatologist. The best way to find out is to have your blood tested. As i said i know these are old posts but i hope this may help someone now or possibly in the future.

[Selfhealer2121]

Hi Everyone.
I've been getting hives, or what the Drs. call hives anyway. Mine very in looks and size and image. Some red bumps about the size of a quarter with tiny blisters in it, others are more raised and differently shaped some itch some don't, but hurt when they are pushing up through the skin then when they push through they don't hurt or itch so much just on and off. The odd one itches a lot. They started on my arms, then went to my face, a few above my knees then more on my arms then my neck then face and on they go. I thought allergy so I tried leaving out anything I thought might be doing it to me. It finally came down to milk and all it's made into of course. So I started on a milk free way of eating on thursday 10/10/13 and so far I don't see any new breaks outs, but the ones I do have are still bothering me and my elbows and knees and neck hurt from the hives/breakout as they are mostly around them. I also get very tired at times. I think I've had a mildly allergic to dairy for a long time as I've had tight muscles for a very long time and when achy I'd get a few of these red bums but not enough to be really bothered by them. It finally came to a screaming head 2 months ago after a bug bite, the bite from heaven only knows what didn't bother me too much, it was itchy and did swell a bit and was gone in a week or so, but it seems to have set my body off in this allergy mode. Oh, I also left out gluten just to see how I'd feel. Drs. were at a bit of a loss too. Said it could be allergy but hives can come from other sickness too. Thoughts were on the line of Vasculitic Uriticarica, or Lupus as I did have that bug bit  and the hives started soon after that. I think it's a milk allergy though so I'll see how I'll do over the next few days. If you scratch your skin with your nails about 2 to 4 times in the same place and red welts come up then that is a sign of an histamine reaction. I think an allergy reaction means you body is in allergy mode. So try to find the hidden allergy by leaving out foods that might be causing it. You should start to see a results in a day to 3 days if not them maybe it's something else that's causing it. If you feel the better of not eating or drinking something then continue to leave it out for up to a mont to 3 months. Or try eating a small amount a week or so later and see how your body reacts. You could have a hidden low grade allergy that hides for years then one day it starts to rile up. I think hidden allergies are very dangerous and they can rob us of quality of life. Good luck in finding out.  The best of health to you all. Sorry this is so long but I thought it might help.

[dani120]

I have this same thing. It started as white spots on my calves and then gradually spread with in a week to being white spots all over my legs with tiny red dots in the middle. I had a lot going on and so I ignored it. It eventually became very itchy after week two and spread to my arms. I was on vacation so I went to the ER and no one had any idea. They put me on a very high dose of oral steroids as well as gave me prescription steroid cream. This made it go away almost completely by the fourth day.. But two days after stopping steroids it was back.. Another week went by and another dr put me on another longer dose of step down steroids. This made it also almost go away completely.. Then it came back and spread all over my back and chest and neck.. I started going through a whole tube of hydrocortisone a day. It was awful. Around week 6 it just suddenly started to clear up on it's own. I'm on week seven and I still have it on my legs but im hopeful in a couple more weeks it will just resolve itself. I'd love to hear if anyone actually figures out what this is. I feel like I've learned enough about rashes in the last month to write a book and I still have no idea.

[deb1115]

I have the same thing, mine do itch I am going to the dermatologist on Monday finally, I have been battling this for a month, my regular doctor put me on Hydroxyzine to help with the itching, mine come and go in differnet palces, they started on my arms and stomach and now they are on my legs and going up my neck,  I am ata loss I have looked for an answer everywhere.

[lf987]

I have had red dots with a sort of white halo around them on my left arm for more than 10 years. A friends mom first noticed and thought I had a rash. Her daughter had a dr appt and took me along and asked about it. The doctor had no clue what it was. I haven't done much research or been to a dermatologist yet, but any doctor I have asked has been clueless. It doesn't itch and it's not contagious. It is seeming to spread over the years and gets worse with pregnancy. More and more people are noticing. If you know what it could be I'd love to know too.

[lilliesgamma]

I have had the exact thing come up on my leg 3 days ago.  Over the past 3 days they have come up on the other leg and are spreading down to my feet too.  They are only on my legs and feet though.  I went to the doctor for another reason and had him look at them and he had one of his associates look at them too.  Neither of them had a clue what they could be.  He said if they do not go away within a week he is going to send me to a dermatologist. They do not itch though and the first day they were not raised.  Now they are raised and still have the white ring around the outside.

[dsamson]

I have this same exact thing and don't know what they are from either, also I'm starting to notice more and more of these daily.  Have you had any luck finding out anything more about this problem?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
These spots can be due to allergic reaction or contact dermatitis. Please check whether you have chaged your soap, detergents or shampoos. Take some antihistaminic  like Benadryl or Claritin and apply some calamine lotion. You can also apply some mild steroid cream. If the symptoms persist then I suggest you to get it examined from a dermatologist so as to confirm the diagnosis.

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.

[don420]

I'm not sure, but have you had your blood cells checked...could be caused by low blood count (red or white)...I found a bit of information a little bit ago at ask.com...I hope that helps.