Have you ever heard of this?

I had to take my son to the doctor today. For the past week, he has had a rash on his stomach and back that has been driving him nuts. It itches like crazy and seems to be spreading. I thought it was just dry skin to begin with because the moisturizing lotion that we were putting on it seemed to take the itch away. But yesterday he said it was really drying him crazy and could I PLEASE call the doctor. Thankfully, they were able to get him in today and since the kids didn't have school that worked out really well for us.

When we got to the doctor, they actually got him right in. We only sat in the waiting room for maybe five minutes, if that. The doctor came in not long after the nurse left us in the exam room, which was also shocking because usually we have a much longer wait. Anyway, the doctor looked Matt over and started asking him questions about where the rash was located, what the itching really felt like (tolerable or drive you insane itching), did it itch more at certain times of the day? The doctor suggested scabies, but my son didn't have all the symptoms of that (Thank God!!!) so he kept on going. He thought it might have been contact dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, etc. Then he noticed that my son had two larger patches on each side of his neck. They looked almost like an old burn that had dried up with the skin starting to flake. That's when he gave me the diagnosis.........PITYRIASIS ROSEA.............huh? I'd never heard of it before.

This is what the doctor told me. Pityriasis rosea is a rash that usually follows a viral infection or upper respiratory infection (My son had this a couple of weeks ago) It isn't contagious, but it is very itchy. There is no cure for it other then symptomatic treatment such as moisturizing lotion and a antihistamine to help control the itching. Here's the kicker....pityriasis rosea usually takes anywhere from 4 to 12 WEEKS to heal and go away. At least once you have it, you generally don't get it again. Similar to chicken pox, I guess?? So, I guess for the next month, at least, we will be moisturizing and taking benadryl and hoping that the itching and rash goes away. Should be interesting.