I just googled Erythema Migrans and see that this is the "bulls eye" rash.
This isn't what my family has on the back of our necks-scalp.
Ours is just red to pink splotches or what seem like strawberry type birth marks right above our hairline.
Does anyone know what this is called?
Posted by sheeboo (Member # 16623) on :
Sorry,
I am new to this--
I just posted the above about the rash because my family was recently diagnosed on this basis alone. I did have blood work done too, but was told it isn't a diagnostic tool and due to being on antibiotics a few months ago, I might show negative anyway.
We originally went to the Lyme Dr. because our almost 5-year old daughter has had motor/vocal tics for over a year as well as joint pain that is often severe.
Thanks for this board!
Posted by Melanie Reber (Member # 3707) on :
Hi,
I remember a discussion here a few years back about that very mark on the neck. Several people seem to have this, but I really do not know if it has any relation to tick-borne diseases.
It is known in folk-terms as a 'Stork bite'. And the same marks that appear on the front of the face are known as 'Angel kisses'. The medical terminology is 'Midline venular malformations' or 'Nevus simplex'. (I have always had both)
"I did have blood work done too, but was told it isn't a diagnostic tool and due to being on antibiotics a few months ago, I might show negative anyway."
Well...no, bloodwork should not be relied upon for a complete diagnosis, but, if it is positive, it certainly does help to confirm what should be a clinical diagnosis based on symptoms, exposure and response to medication.
Also, some have turned sero-positive with a trial of antibiotics before testing. So, the fact that you were on ABX prior to testing should not automatically exclude a positive return.
Posted by Dawnee (Member # 15089) on :
That sounds like a stork bite. Is this something ya'll have always had? My 14 yr old has a stork bite at the base of her skull/top of neck area. Just a pinkish red area. But she has had it since birth, and you can't see it really now since it's right at her hairline.
Posted by Dawnee (Member # 15089) on :
And also wanted to say that the images you google on EMs are CLASSIC bulls eyes. I didn't have a classic bulls eye when I got reinfected in 2003...mine was totally filled in, no white showing and it was about the size of a half dollar (but more oval) Thats why I didn't even THINK Lyme... didn't look like a "bulls eye" to me.
And recently I got rebitten and started back on ABX and got a huge triangle rash on my side.
Not all EMs look like Bulls Eyes. And not everyone with Lyme even get an EM.
Posted by sheeboo (Member # 16623) on :
No, we haven't always had them--that I know of. I know my daughter's developed about two years ago; she was a baldy when she was born and for quite a while after, and didn't have the classic stork bite--but I agree, that is what it looks like now. My husband said he noticed mine a few years ago too.
On both of us adults, there is just a very large. splotchy area of pink-red.
From what I've read on a few other posts, this doctor (Dr. F in Kennett Square, PA) seems to use it as a classic diagnostic tool for Lyme. I was curious if anyone else has ever heard this.
Posted by shazdancer (Member # 1436) on :
It's possible that you are seeing secondary erythemas.
There are some pictures of that on a guy's torso HERE. It sometimes occurs when the infection disseminates through the body.
More rashes, called Lyme by these researchers, yet many are not large nor are bull's eyes, HERE
I might also suggest that the doctor might be seeing more of a symptom in his area than other docs are seeing in their areas, which is not unusual, as there are different strains of Bb, which probably cause different symptoms.
And by the way, a filled-in rash is just as common as the classic "bull's eye."
-- Shaz
Posted by Mo (Member # 2863) on :
i remember what mel is referring to .. allot of discussion and possibly polls on the connection between a rash like this and lyme disease.
i can't recall the details, why's or wherefores.. but i do know my daughter had the stork bite type rash that went away with treatment. i also seem to remember discussion about an LLmd who acknowledges the rash as a related marker of some sort.
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