Thread: Anybody know what causes this? Warning: nasty hairy leg pics in thread!

A few days ago I was bitten by something, it was the usual itchy thing so I put it down to a mosquito, no big deal but annoying.

Since then over about 4 days it has spread to a rash with a fiery itch and the area is kind of painful when I stand or walk. The original 2 little bumps with the white tops have multiplied to about 12 or so and I am thinking it might be a spider bite or something from a tick? The red skin between the bumps has little blisters.

It's about a 1/3 of the way down my calf below the knee.

Google tells me I have everything from fleas to shingles to ebola, does this look familiar to anybody (don't say I didn't warn you) before I waste my money on an over-medicating quack trying to meet his monthly quota:

I would see a doc before you lose the leg.

Looks nasty.

Could be infected hair follicles if you've been sweating a lot.

Dr. MissKit recommends antibiotic cream.

(warning: MissKit is not a real doctor, just plays one on TD)

Ditto. You're in Phuket which has a good choice of hospitals.

My ditto was for Necron's reply.

agree - get to the docs, in the mean time, get some alcohol on it. Its not Necrotizing fasciitis so that's a spot of luck, but it's not looking too clever either.

wounds can turn very nasty in the tropics. Gangrene sets in very quick.

Are u multi nikkin qc ? I,m sure I recognise them legs

Not bed bugs as they bite in a straight line.... I'm thinking a very pissed off spider.

Get along to the pharmacy and get some Quadriderm.... it's anti-septic, anti fungal, ant-bacterial and anti-summat else but I forget.

You need to look at when this happened and where it might have happened.

If it, in your opinion, happened on your porch then you need to look for possible nests. More difficult if it may have happened away from home.

Some 'critters' will die after feeding.... maybe you need to check your bed linen for any evidence of their demise.

Originally Posted by misskit

Looks nasty.

The leg, the rash or both?


(Don't answer that, I'm feeling fragile!)

That is gross!

I would recommend urgent treatment with immac or epilady for those legs but probably best to wait for the rash to clear up first

Are you sure it's associated with said critter bite?

Looks more like skin reaction to climatic conditions - sort of heat/sweat rash...it can appear to spread with accompanying pustules.

Depends on the individual and their sensitivities.
It'll pass...

Definately needs amputating...Ask around, I'm sure you'll get a discount!

Try aloe vera or whatever her name is.

Try bathing the area with very hot clean salty water mate.

And refrain from scratching it.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Try bathing the area with very hot clean salty water mate. And refrain from scratching it.

Try bathing.

Looks like Hives to me

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Looks more like skin reaction to climatic conditions - sort of heat/sweat rash...it can appear to spread with accompanying pustules.

Unlikely, I've spent most of my life in hot places and haven't had anything like this before. Plus I wear shorts almost all the time.

Originally Posted by Camel Toe

Try bathing.

I'm a Brit so let's not go nuts here, it is only a rash and anyway I take a bath monthly whether I need one or not!

I may even push the boat out and take the wrapper off the deodorant I bought in 1985 so put that in yer pipe and smoke it..

Chiggers....

Try pulling your eyelid down, and then blowing your nose.

Originally Posted by Thetyim

Looks like Hives to me

Nah, I've had hives before. This is something different.

Mosquito larvae get under holidaymaker's skin - Telegraph

Mosquito larvae get under holidaymaker's skin - Telegraph


Father-of-two Alan Evans returned from holiday to find out what he thought were insect bites were in fact maggots that had burrowed under his skin.

Mr Evans, 50, picked up six red bites on his leg during a two-week break to Gambia, West Africa, with his wife Karen, 47.

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Days after returning home he experienced stabbing pains and was disgusted to see something wriggling beneath his skin.

He had been infected by bot fly, which lays its eggs under the skin and eats human cells. Each bite contained a live maggot.

Initially his doctor thought the marks were a tropical infection. But when antibiotics failed to work Mr Evans bought a magnifying glass and found the bites appeared to be wriggling.

A hospital consultant diagnosed Myiasis, a rare disease caused by parasitic larvae, which are commonly called maggots.

Mr Evans eventually had four of them cut out under local anaesthetic, while he managed to squeeze out the other two.

Mr Evans, a fuel delivery driver from Yatton, near Bristol, said: "I knew there was something wrong because they weren't like normal mosquito bites, they didn't itch.

"I started to feel really weak, as though something was sapping all the energy out of me.

"Then it felt like someone was stabbing me in the leg with a dagger.

"I was sure I could see something move under my skin and when I poked it, it went back down.

"At one point it looked like a crab's claw and I was petrified I had baby crabs growing inside me. It was terrifying."

He added: "When they got them out, it was really horrible to see them, but it was a relief at the same time that they were finally out of me.

"They think it was the bot fly. I was told there was a one in 15 million chance of getting this."

Doctors believe mosquitos deposit bot fly eggs when they bite an animal's skin.

They stay just below the surface to breathe and the most common treatment is to cut off their air supply with petroleum jelly so they crawl out.

But Mr Evans risked them developing into flies because they had burrowed so deep.

Dr Ron Behrens of the London Hospital of Tropical Diseases said: "This is more common than you might think in people returning from Africa and South America.

"It can occur in anyone. A mosquito drops the bot fly's eggs on to the skin.

"The pupae then burrow under the skin - often the scalp, legs or groin area - and feed off it, but stay close to the surface so they can breathe.

"After a couple of weeks they develop into flies, and are moving around, which is very unpleasant. But luckily it can be successfully treated."

Mr and Mrs Evans have cancelled plans to return to Gambia later this year.

I brought some funky shit back from Thailand. Doesn't look quite like yours but I've seen three docs in LoS and three in the US and have applied every crean known to man and there is no cure from what I know.

Those little pussy peaks look like what one poster called infected hair follicles. The correct word for that is carbuncle (one) furuncle (many). Maybe Google those two words and something will come up.

Could have been one of those "hairy" caterpillars, like the one below:



although there are plenty of others that will give you a similar rash, which looks a little worse from the scratching.

If you have an aloe-vera plant lying around the garden


then you could break a leaf off and rub the area with the sticky end....or rub in some germaline/dettol/other antiseptic cream.

See a doctor.

.. so he /she can prescribe an aloe verde-based cream for 400 Baht.

Bit of a long shot ,,, Suarez wasn't in the same resort by any chance that night ??