What is this weird red blotch on my sister's arm?

Have a doctor look at it.

Well, I just looked the chicken pox up online (I could’ve done that before duh!) and it looks nothing like that.

Probably a rash or inflammation. Probably not horribly serious, but you still ought to get it looked at.

Pepperoni.

It sounds like ringworm, which my little sister had. Don’t freak out, it’s not actually a worm but it’s a round and bigger red spot then a chicken pox spot, thus the name. It comes from pets. If it is ringworm you need to go to a doctor to get ointment for it. Oh, and it’s pretty contagious!

a spider bite?

@shmofro That sounds possible – we just got a new puppy yesterday.

Red crazy glue?

I know! I know! She gave herself a hickey!

My guess would be eczema or ringworm, based on the description.

Well then, it’s not ringworm. It’s not in any special shape, just…blotchy. I don’t know how to describe it. Here – I’ll take a picture and put it on Flickr if I can get it to work.

To me it sounds like it could be a contact dermatitis or reaction to something she came in contact with. Chemical rashes or chemical burns do look a lot like what you are describing. Ask her if she was around any chemicals or cleaners.

@Cruiser We don’t think she was around any chemicals….

here is a link to the picture.

Are those blister things in the middle? Other than that it looks like a scrape.

@Val123 There aren’t any real blisters, because it doesn’t hurt at all. And it’s not a scrape, because it’s the exact same texture of the rest of the skin.

Looks mostly harmless.
Is it warm to the touch?

Good to know that it wasn’t this. PG-rated, but may still be NSFW for grossness.

But are there blister-looking things there?

@Nullo It’s warm to the touch, but all her skin is, too.

@Val123 Well, I guess that would depend on your definition of what a blister is…All there is inside the red blotch is darker red spots. That picture was taken earlier today, and now it’s all a darker red (but there’s still the spots) than it was earlier.

Go to a doctor. It’s quite possibly Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura, or HSP. I got it when I was 12.

It starts as a red rash that one typically doesn’t feel. It is found almost always in children. When I had it, I had to go to the hospital for two nights, but afterwards I was fine. The rash will probably come back in phases, but she should be okay.

Just looked at the picture – looks like HSP, all right.

@Pseudonym
I think that HSP is darker.

@Nullo The picture definetely looks like what I had, and she did say that the blotches got darker since the picture was taken.

i have no idea why i’m so fascinated with this question. Good luck in figuring out what it is.

I don’t have an answer for this but I have this too. It just “appears”. you look at your arm one day and it’s normal the next day you wake up and it’s there. I get this on both forearms. Sometimes one arm sometimes two. It doesn’t itch, burn or feel any different than any other skin on me. It may be there for a few hours or a few days then it’s gone again. I don’t want to go to emergency but by the time I can get into a doctor it’s gone.