My surgery site has broken out
 

MY last surgery was a little over 4 years. Then Sunday I got a burning rash. Now keep in mind I have had rsd since 09 in the right foot and ankle. I have see my pain dr, the orthopedic and today the dermatologist. Seriously, none have a real clue. I'm on a cream for 2 weeks if it does not clear then we biopsy it.
That sounds horrible in the same place wherey rad is. I do not think so. Not with out a nerve block or something.
So please take a look at the pic and give me your thoughts.
Thanks!

I'm so sorry you are suffering like this and have such a bad rash. I'm not a dr but it sort of looks like a bullseye ring around a bite. Could it possibly be a tick bite that gave you lymes disease? I would ask you dr about that and get bloodwork to test for lymes disease unless you've already done so. I hope it goes away soon whatever it is. My best wishes are with you. :hug:

Hi alt! Sorry you are having this problem. It looks a lot like some of the allergic reaction type rashes that I have gotten. Have you been in contact with anything new or different? Is it located anywhere else? When I had my SCS's removed in January, I had a severe allergic reaction to the mastisol (surgical glue) and steri-strips. Everything that was put on my skin in those areas after that made it worse and worse. It was like my system was on allergic overload and rejected everything - even benedryl cream!!

I know these things can be really aggravating! I hope you can get some relief from it soon!!

Nanc
:hug:

Hi again. I just remembered I once had a burning blistering rash on one side of my back that lasted about a week. I think it was shingles ( I had the chicken pox as an adult) but it went away rather quickly so I didn't see the dr about it to confirm. I wish I had, but I had no fever and thought it was just a flea bites or some kind of rsd reaction to me sweating. When I sweat I sometimes get a rash under my armpits. I know TMI, sorry. It goes away in about a week. But this one time I had blisters and it burned really bad when I scratched it. Anyway, you may want to check about shingles or an allergic reaction like Nanc said. I notice I get more sores and rashes since I've had rsd. My pm dr said that rsd could be the culprit because it attacks the skin as wells as our muscles and bones. I hope whatever it is that you can get rid of it and feel better soon.

Hi Alt,

I get that exact same rash on both my legs especially after sun exposure. My doctor calls it a neurogenic rash. We know it is for sure CRPS related since in my legs the CRPS is only on the front and slightly to the sides but not the back and the rash is only in that area. On my arms the rash does not seem to appear but that area is not nearly as severe as my legs. I also have small red dots on the skin of legs that never goes away and seems to precipitate spread. My legs burn constantly so I'm not sure I couldn't tell you if the rash makes the burn worse or not. I do know it increases pain and electrical shocks when it is starting to appear. Were you perhaps in the sun? It also doesn't matter if I have clothing over the skin when the rays hit.. even through the windshield of my car it still happens every time. Curious to know if yours is also triggered by sun exposure?

Thank you everyone for the replies. When I noticed the problem was 9:00 pm Sunday night. It wasn't half as bad as it is today. I was reading and my ankle was burning.
I have been under a lot of stress and didn't get out of my pjs Saturday. The week before I had a little spot like an internal suture trying to come out.
The front of my ankle feels like bumble bees again like the old days and it is scaring me that I have taken a turn backwards because of this.
It took me 3 plus years to get right and get a desk job.

Not that I'm an expert, but it looks very much like a rash I had sometime last month. I ended up in the instacare because of how quickly it was spreading, and it felt very much like someone had poured acid across the backs of my hands and wrists and itched like the devil. The doctor said it was "just" a contact dermatitis and that it would clear up on its own but if I wanted I could use benadryl for the itching and steroid cream to heal it faster. I took both. After about 4 or 5 days it wasn't red anymore, but it took about 2 weeks for it to stop being scaly and gross.

I'd like to say, that having seen the bullseye ring from a bite that it looks nothing like one at all to me. Usually (and this is just in my experience, I'm not exactly a super expert, just grew up dealing with this crap) they look like a large red ring around an area of clear skin around a smaller red area of skin. Which is why it's called a bullseye, it creates concentric rings, like a target.

I hope it clears up with whatever the doc gave you and you can get on with your life without issue.

This resembles a venomous bite of some sort. The venom would be injected into the area which is now darker than the rest.

I had a spider bite on vacation that looked like this. It started off as a little bump like a small mosquito bite and turned into a nightmare in 4 days. PAIN!

The venom remains in the dermis layer and destroys tissue and darkens with time. The redness around it all is the body reacting to the venom.

I went to the local doctor and he gave me 3 things for it.
1) Antibiotic --Zithromax incase of infection
2) Steroids-- high dose oral with a 7 day taper
3) strong antihistamine--Atarax 50mg.

The steroids did the best for me. But I had pain in that ankle for at least 3 months after. I don't have RSD ...so I used cold treatments on it for pain.

All spiders have some sort of venom. So any type can cause a nasty reaction. (the really venomous ones, we know about... brown recluse, black widow, etc). But even little ones not typically dangerous can leave a nasty reaction behind when they bite you. Keep the area clean to prevent infection.

My bite started to improve with 48 hrs on the steroids.

Update picture - ankle turning purple and hurts to high heaven!
 

I wanted to give everyone an update on my ankle. After 2 days of use with the cream my pain is intense (took break thru meds which I haven't done in over 9 months) burning, feels like the bumble bees are back in my foot. I hate this feeling.

Any way tried to call dr. They are closed, do u leave a message with the answering service? I don't know. Wish I knew. Pic enclosed you tell me!

I forgot to mention it is not a bulls eye. That is my suture line where my plate was. I got a small hole there and Tuesday I told the ortho dr that I thought maybe a suture was trying to pop out so he dug around a little.
That's what makes this so weird. The rash is over my suture line.

Sorry you deal with this also,when I had my scs implanted I reacted same way which blisters type of rash but results,I was allergic to the surgical tape,iodine,and hydrocodone,the dr game some prednisone to reduce the swollen and aching and works not right away but it worked,I'm glad your doing better and hope soon everything get well for real no better but well,blessings from Jesika

Septic arthritis of the ankle??
 

Hey Alt, I don't want to frighten you but my mother had an almost identical/ similar looking rash on her ankle in 2010, her GP prescribed a cream for the burning rash. The pain became so intense and rash so scary looking dad took her to the local hospital and fortunately a young on the ball doctor drained some fluid off it for testing and was able to confirm septic arthritis. She was within hours en-route by ambulance to a major hospital an hour away in the Port city for an emergency operation that day. Had they not operated then they said she could well have lost her foot.

While the procedure and the draining of the fluid in itself went well, when dad took her back to the Port hospital for removal of the stitches some 8 days later they said she had developed an infection and she needed to be admitted again to be treated with intravenous antibiotics. Despite having her medical chart to hand the treating doctor (and later the nurses) failed to note her clearly marked allergies and she was prescribed an antibiotic (administered to her under a different name and also recorded on the medical chart with the different brand name) which none of us had heard of before. She was in for less than 24 hours, the IV took 6 hours to run through and then discharged. This was in the face of us saying she looked unwell.

Within 24 hours we had her back at emergency, this time at yet another hospital and because of her then developed neurological symptoms it took them days to realise that the antibiotic had stripped her insides and sent her loopy. We very nearly lost her. In all she spent 10 weeks back n forth to the local hospital and 2 major hospitals here in the city, staying at mine or my sisters house while poor old dad trekked back n forth between their home, our homes and visiting her. It was a terrible time and very frightening.

ALT, I'm only sharing all this so you can take on board that maybe, just maybe, rather than waiting until someone answers the dang telephone it might be worth your while to get off to an A&E department or Emergency department (whatever they call it in your part of the world) and have it investigated.

I can tell you we never suspected septic arthritis, in fact I'd never heard of it and my mother and sister who are both highly qualified and capable nurses (though mum obviously retired) certainly didn't recognise it. To this day we are so glad that it was only because it looked so angry and she was in so much pain that dad insisted on taking her to the local A&E so as to put his mind at ease. It took us all by surprise and although the aftermath was quite terrifying, particularly when she developed all these strange neurological symptoms as a result of the poisoning, had dad not acted in the first place she would have lost her foot. It was highly unfortunate she developed further infection and allergic to the administered antibiotic. A lesson to all of us, now, for all medications prescribed to any of us, we know to ask for any other names it may be known as including generic brands.

Feel better soon and truly, I do not want to frighten you, I just want you to be sure you get it checked out and rule out the possibility. PLEASE!!:eek:

I would go to the ER alt. That looks bad. Hope they figure out what it is and hope you feel better soon

My ankle Is getting better however, I did stop using the cream for a couple days. It is still red and purple but not as intense. Friday was a bad day. Today not so great either, but calling for a storm. Still worried that I this happened. What is it/ what caused it? Why only on my surgical incision.?
Lots of questions with no answers. I'm sure u all are the same.
Thank you for the great support.

Even if you feel better,you need to show your dr all he pictures you took and asked about why you reacted like that,I'm sure he/she will know for sure,allergic reactions happens all the time but sometimes they became serious when you body tries to fight back ,our body are smart,he knows when something is wrong,hope soon you let us know how everything went,best wishes and blessing from Jesika . :grouphug:

alt is that a clonidine patch? And do you always keep it there?

Hi Alt,

I have no idea what's going on with that, but just wanted to say that I hope by now it is easing and getting better. If not, please seek help. Looks painful hon. ouch. :hug: