Pityriasis Rosea

Hi K.!

My son had this when he was about 6 months old. It would get worse at nighttime, and would almost be gone in the mornings, but kept coming back. I think it only lasted about 2 weeks for us. The bumps never seemed to bother him at all.

I also had it about 5 years ago. It was very itchy for me, and I remember it lasting about 3 weeks. They gave me an antibiotic and I took Aveeno oatmeal baths at bedtime every night. Aveeno makes little individual oatmeal bath packets. They weren't very expensive, and I found them at Walmart.

Good luck!

It is a common and benign skin problem and it usually follows a viral infection though sometimes the infection is so mild, you may not even remember it happening (few days of runny nose, something like that). The only real problem with it is that it might itch and if that happens and it's severe enough to need treatment, benadryl helps. Otherwise, I usually tell patients to get a little sun exposure if they can as it seems to hasten the resolution of the rash (of couse, you have to balance this with a risk of sunburn). But because the rash is not DIRECTLY due to an infection, there isn't an effective treatment to get rid of it. It's all "supportive" care. It really is more of a cosmetic issue than anything.

My husband had that years ago. It'll go away!

Ugh. I'm so sorry to hear that. I am familiar with "PR". My mother-in-law had it when she was young with small children and she said it was all over her body including her hands. Hers itched horribly and all she could do was wait for it to pass. Apparently it isn't supposed to spread to areas where the sun touches...(mostly found on the trunk, upper arms, uppper legs... depending on the time of year) and you are supposed to get it once and then never again. At least she has only ever had it once.

Now with that being said, I have had it probably 6 or more times, never severe and always on the trunk and occasionally on the back of my upper thigh. Mine has never itched and does stick around for a few weeks. It starts as a small dot that grows bigger (they call that the mother cell or main cell) and then smaller ones appear around it. Eventually, they may appear to grow large enough to join together. It is really harmless and goes away in a few weeks but I hate when that happens.

I had it when I was pregnant with my first child and freaked out that she would start getting it. No sign yet - 6 years later. Sadly, I saw a spot appear a few days ago on my side so I'm waiting to see if more appear. Each time I get it, I notice it covers a smaller area so I get annoyed but not upset.

I've seen a doctor about it at least 2-3 times and each time they dismiss it as a nuisance that will go away. Honestly, that is all it turns out to be... but it is VERY annoying. No one ever knows how you get it or what you can do to avoid it. I've never been told to put on a cream, except if it itches which mine never does.

I feel bad for you because it is your child. Try not to get stressed about it and try not to dwell on it. It will look much worse before it goes away. Finally one day, they will appear a little lighter. Then even lighter the next day. Then the skin will just look a little rough or the color will be uneven.. then they'll be gone and you'll breath a deep sigh of relief.

Hang in there. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any other questions.

K.,

My 1.5 old daughter has something that sounds very similar. I noticed some small pimple like bumps on her chest and back and thought it was a heat rash. However they continued to spread to her entire trunk, limbs, chin, forehead and even the tip of her nose. They do not seem to itch, or hurt and there has been no fever. My pediatrician said it was a normal kid virus and not to worry but to watch for fever. Still no fever however 9 days into this rash the only difference is that the color is no longer red, but her skin is still the texture of a lizard. I have found no relief so far. It truly seems to bother me more then her, but there must be something to this weird rash, don't you think.

I had this a few years ago. It starts out with a patch...called a harold patch or something. Then the little itchy bumps spread. I had it on my back, chest, and a little on my upper legs. I couldn't believe how fast the dermatologist diagnosed it. It is very, very rare; only a small percentage of people get this. It does linger for a few weeks. I had a prescription ointment to put on it, and it helped. That's about all that can be done, unfortunately. This is very itchy, so if the Dr. didn't give you an ointment, you might want to use cortisone.