Question:I have red bumps on my legs that look like a rash. They tend to go away, but come back. I have had this for about a year. I've tried changing lotions, soap, laundry detergent — please help! Dr. Hibberd Responds:Do I have a disease for you! Try Grover's Disease. First described in 1970, it has a fancy name: transient acantholytic dermatosis. The diagnosis is confirmed by skin biopsy.
Typically itchy bumps occur on the chest, back and thigh areas lasting from days to weeks and may persist for years. The cause and origin is unclear, but has been associated with a number of triggers including ultraviolet radiation (sunlight, sunlamp, tanning bed), excessive heat or sweating, cutaneous infection (scabies and superficial fungal skin infection), and underlying medical conditions (excema, contact and atopic dermatitis).
Many eruptions may mimic Grover's Disease, but your primary care medical doctor perhaps in conjunction with a dermatologist should be able to evaluate you properly for these other conditions and any underlying health issues.
Treatment is usually symptomatic as the disease often resolves spontaneously. Avoid strenuous exercise and excessive UV radiation exposure. Use topical cortisone as directed by you doctor to relieve itch. Oral agents are rarely needed. Paradoxically, phototherapy (UV-A +psoralen or UV-B radiation) has been used on occasion with success.
While you appear to have done all you can to detective this one out, be sure to seek the advise of your personal medical doctor to confirm your condition and its treatment.
Peter Hibberd is a medical doctor with over 28 years of outpatient and hospital-inpatient experience. He is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He also is a member and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
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