[Frog]

Right away, I just shouted "ringworm" in the middle of my empty living room. It's called ringworm because of its appearance! I had it a long time ago. Seriously, google image search! Time for anti-fungal and maybe antibiotics for your wounds.

Pics aren't the greatest due to lighting and it being taken with a cell phone. It's heard to see some some of the defined white "rings" on my left wrist in the pics.

Right wrist:
http://s152.beta.photobucket.com/use...f38c2.jpg.html

Left wrist:
http://s152.beta.photobucket.com/use...d47fc.jpg.html

The back of my kneck, hip area, and arms had a similar looking rash to my right wrist.

[Judysmom]

Hm. Maybe ringworm?

But your rash kinda looks like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pityriasis_rosea

I had this once, was awful! So itchy. Ended up over my whole body. I had circular areas too.

[Freebird!]

Or maybe Scabies? I had that 2 weeks before my wedding - yeah, THAT was fun - and it was horrible!! It was the worst itch EVER. Finally had to smear myself with this cream stuff, from head to toe.

[LexInVA]

[alabama]

Wanna snuggle now, mister???

[JanM]

Another theory. Did you have any laundry done while on the ship? And they would use the same stuff on their sheets and towels too-detergent, fabric softeners, or any other item can cause allergic reactions that cause rash, itching, and some people get itchy ears and ear canals from allergic reactions too. And if there isn't a second rinse excess soap can do a real number on your skin. Did you get any new shampoos, hand lotions, fabric softener, body wash, hand soap, skin lotions, or start using a different makeup or any other new chemical? And bedbugs really set some people off, and that can get on luggage or lots of other place from travel.

And as Fred and others said, Scabies. You catch it from others, or where others touched, and it sounds like what you have. If it turns out to be that then see a dermatologist asap. Not all scabies treatments work with all people so you need close monitoring, if that's what you have.

[Freebird!]

As a side note - Scabies is not the same as Ringworm.

Scabies is caused by a Mite, while Ringworm is caused by a Fungal infection.

[shiningwizard255]

Ringworm will glow under a black light if you can get your hands on one of those to check.

Although I will say I had ringworm on my shoulder once that I got while working at an animal shelter. It didn't look like your rash.

Good luck, that looks like a miserable rash. Hope you are feeling better soon.

ETA - I only had two rings on my shoulder though. I dunno what a more advanced case looks like.

[Milocalwinnings]

Waiting at the Dr. now... hopefully won't be here too much longer. Will update when done.

[AKB]

Is the rash hives (urticaria)? Hives usually are very itchy, and come and go unpredictably. One moment the hives will be on one arm. Then, they will have moved somewhere else. If it is hives, the Dr. may have you take some antihistamine (e.g. Benadryl or Zyrtec or Claritin), maybe some Zantac/ranitidine and might give you some oral steroid if they are bad. Hives can happen from stress, medications, illnesses, allergies and other causes. They often disappear suddenly and inexplicably. Show your doctor your photos if the rash is gone when you finally get seen.

[eponacowgirl]

That does NOT look like ringworm. I'm susceptible and get it quite often- doesn't look like that!

[Milocalwinnings]

Ok. So I just finished with the doctor.

He said they just look like hives to him, and he suspects I had an allergic reaction to something (which would also explain the eye/ear itchiness). Now the question is what on earth it was.

I haven't changed soap/shampoo/lotion/etc. I don't think I've eaten anything different... my mom's friend did send her some fudge which I had a small piece of. I've had it before but it's been a few years. I'll have my mom call her tomorrow to ask what ingrediants she used to make it.

I should have asked if an allergic reaction would cause hives that lasted this long, unless whatever I'm allergic to is continuously present.

Anyway, I was sent home with an antihistamine to take and was told to call my normal family doctor if they don't resolve within a couple of days.

I'd love to know what caused this though. I really have no idea.

[LexInVA]

It is a vexing conundrum of the highest order.

[Simkie]

Weird.

FWIW, the one time I got hives it was after eating rabbit stew. First time I'd had rabbit. Guess I'm allergic to it.

They took a WEEK to go away. WITH antihistamines. I was terribly itchy and it sucked. Doctor said it was normal :-/

[Beethoven]

You must be exposed to something twice before you have an allergic reaction since you body first had to make the IgE then the next time IgE will bind with the antigen and mast cells and eosinophils. So the fudge could be a possibility. There are 4 different type of hypersensitivity reactions not all have to do with antibodies but pretty sure 3/4 do so second exposure is when you know you have an allergy. (It's winter break and my brain doesn't want to think about immunology...lol)

[ako]

Ouch. That looks downright unpleasant! Methinks this calls for anti-histamines to reduce the rash and alcohol to numb the rest...

[RiderInTheRain]

Once you are all recovered (as you can't have the procedure done when you are in the midst of an allergic rxn!), talk to your dr. about getting a "scratch test" or other diagnostics done - they have really helped out friends of mine especially when it came to identify some very bizarre food allergies.

[AKB]

Sometimes a virus or stress or a mild autoimmune reaction triggers the hives. Sometimes, it is a mystery. When my older daughter was young, she got hives at some birthday parties. After many years, she figured out that it was an ingredient or color that one local grocery chain puts in birthday cakes. If the cake was home made, or she didn't eat cake, there were no birthday party hives.

[JanM]

A co-worker kept getting hives, and they never could figure out why. We thought it was some kind of stress reaction, because she kept getting them when things at work went bad.

Whenever I see a rash or get itchy I instantly worry about Shingles, because I know so many people that have had it. That's just my paranoia though, and I don't think they're really popping out all over.

[hoopoe]

You may not have changed any of your personal care products, but they may have changed and you would not know it.

Food allergies can show up like this, so anything you have eaten may have set you off

cruises are a cesspool of resistant organisms. Bedbugs yuck, resistant staph yikes. I suspect I caught a tough of bedbug at the start of a wilderness trip in Peru. The spots were with me almost a month.

Aveeno Oatmeal soak can help with the external discomfort. But stay with your doctor and be persistent.