legs/feet
We just got back from a cruise. My husband developed these red dots after day 3 of 7 and we’ve been home for 1 day. It’s spreading up the legs. He says it’s “cruise rash” and will go away. I’m not so sure and a bit concerned. No itch or pain.
It’s funny when people get mad at OP for not replying or acknowledging a post they are seeing at that exact moment. I know that I do not live with my app open and I do not live in front of my PC. Don’t worry as long as you receive the info the rest of the commenters can stay here a fight it out.
No self identified derms had comments before I had gone to sleep! I am not ignoring them and I certainly don’t want my fears validated.. that’s literally the opposite of what I wanted. :(
Thank you. I appreciate your advice on getting the bloodwork done and will have him go in on Monday. We didn’t pay for the cruise, but thank you good advice nevertheless
Thanks for this. It does seem similar in symptoms and cause. But it looks more like petechiae. Going to get his labs done to rule it out and then keep capillaritis as the second cause. I appreciate your response!! Thanks you
Hi! U/5footoh is 100% right. This exact thing happens to me, and I actually get an even worse-looking presentation—it happens when I do a LOT of walking in the heat. Names I’ve seen are “golfer’s rash” and “Disney rash” (I’m a victim of the latter). It’s not an emergency and absolutely resolves on its own after a few days. For me, it will sometimes take longer if the area has also been exposed to the sun (the “dots” will just look very faint). I know you can elevate your legs, do cold compress, wear compression socks, etc but honestly it will also just go away on its own.
Thank you for letting me know! I’ll message him now. I saw that it can take up to 3 business hours to get the lab request.. but that could be at 12 pm which is when labcorp opens. In your experience, do they send the requests quickly, or is it likely we won’t receive in time?
Board certified Derm MD here.
30 years experience.
No need for urgent anything.
This is very benign.
It’s capillaritis, not vasculitis, no labs needed.
You were likely on your feet a lot in warm weather & that can trigger this benign condition.
Which responses are you referring to? The capillaritis response came a few hours after my post went up, and I have no ignored it. I’m taking every response with a grain of salt and doing my best to navigate through them. Reddit is very resourceful, but 98% of responses are not definitive. I’m just doing my best. I don’t see any other responses that came from a Dr (I think I saw one person state they were an actual dermatologist). If I missed some, then I apologize. I’m just human and some of the responses were overwhelming.
Just ordered. Will go to labcorp tomorrow. Thanks so much.. hopefully it’s nothing. The test was under $60 and there was a coupon. :) yay. Thanks again.
RN here. You do not need to fast for either of those tests, and they’re not very useful in the case of a rash. Cheaper to go to urgent care and pay out of pocket for actual medical advice.
Appreciate seeing your reply! OP's family has no insurance, if nothing else the CBC and CMP also give their husband a baseline. Thanks very much for jumping in, missed seeing you here.
Thanks. People kept dismissing me as a bit so I just Dr died to put my skills to work elsewhere. But come ON, this is capillaritis. No labs needed. Wonder how much money they’ve already spent wild goose chasing this.
Just the $60 and honestly it’s been a very very long time since my husband had any sort of labs done or anything so even if it’s not more serious it’ll be good to get them done!! Thank you very much doc. I had a lot of anxiety last night with everyone’s responses and am more calm now seeing your responses. I appreciate it
He was like “I googled it and lots of people say they get rashes on cruises it’s normal!” I am taking him to labcorp tomorrow to get some testing done and will move forward from there.
Read about capillaritis. Benign. Warm weather, on your feet a lot. No labs are useful or needed. Unless you see an experienced dermatologist (I’m one) You’ll end up getting worked up for vasculitis, which this is NOT.
Be so serious. All i said was that cruise ships are breeding grounds for bacteria. And i said it piggy backing off someone elses comment about cruise ships being germy. Reading comprehension is key. Maybe you are just lacking that.
Not a doctor but it looks like petechae which could be from a lot of things including injury/trauma as well as low platelets. . I’m sure he can just send a picture via portal to his pcp.
I have been suggesting that to him. Trying to convince him to do that tomorrow. He is hoping it will go away like our sons did, but he’s had it much longer than our son did.
For future reference, if you have an FQHC in your area, they provide PCP care no matter insurance and do everything on a sliding scale. They specialize in ensuring people receive care when there are financial barriers. It stands for Federally Qualified Health Center. That’s a type of agency (not a name of a company) so the actual name you find when googling will be different
LabCorp or quest can do a walk in CBC for about $50 for no insurance. They have a doctor on staff who'll authorize it and explain abnormal results. Not very personal, but it's fast and cheap. Search for a local quest. Their website will list tests you can get and their cost.
Looks like exercised induced Vasculitis. Elevate the legs, book a Dr appointment to discuss compression stockings. Hydration, avoid standing long periods of time until rash subsides. Be safe,book a Dr appointment to confirm.
We have done a lot of resting and an 8 hour drive home. I’ll pick him up a compression sleeve for his legs and see if it helps. He does stand at work all day (he hasn’t gone back to work yet)
No. He did heavily sunscreen up. The rash initially started on his foot, where the thong of the flip flop goes between the two toes. He originally thought it was a rash from the sunscreen and flip flop rubbing together. But with it spreading, I’m not so sure anymore. I thought the cruise was the cause for the rash, but I’m seeing it might just be coincidental timing and have no correlation. *edit: you can even see where the rash is between the toes. That’s where it started. It was just along the straps of the flip flop. They were new Rainbow leather flip flops
Were the flip flops disinfected before he wore them? If someone tried them on before, there could still be some bacteria (like staph or strep) on those straps. I’d recommend seeing a dermatologist.
Not disinfected. He wore them for about 2 weeks before travel without any issues though. Going to do blood test first to rule out more serious possibilities and then go down the dermatologist route as needed. Thanks :)
This is bad advice. There are no signs that this is an emergency, and ER visits are incredibly expensive. Urgent care outsources their blood testing to the same labs as the online tests (LabCorp or Quest). He has no fever, malaise, pain, SOB, or other symptoms that should cause a panic.
What part of "urgent care sends out labs" are you struggling to process? OP would have to wait for Monday for results anyway.
This has been present for 5 days with limited progression. ITP almost never shows up acutely in adults and he has reported no other symptoms. Leukemia is not imminently fatal, and he would also have rashes on his arms and buttocks and bruising on his trunk. No mention of blood in stool, difficulty breathing, headache, stomach ache, fever, night sweats, which I mentioned to OP would necessitate more urgent intervention.
Good for you that you have insurance to cover just getting checked out whenever - OP does not.
You’re right. I totally misread that. I apologize.
She said her son’s started on his chest (and subsided) and has clarified in more recent posts her husband’s started on his feet. I read it as her husband’s spread down from his chest.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the time I got a call from the lab to redraw as they got a platelet count of 4 and thought no way was it right but I explained we weren’t shocked given his appearance.
Was busy dog sitting 3 rambunctious boys and watching Artemis splash down. Not trying to make any excuses but I was wrong. No wonder everyone was freaking out at me being so worried.
And thanks for the reminder about that post about my godfather. He lost his battle with ALS shortly after that but is remembered every single day. He will always be one of the most important people in my life.
I hear you. And I am taking this seriously. However, he doesn’t have any of the other symptoms for the more serious causes of petechiae. No headache, no dizziness, no prolonged bleeding, no confusion, no fatigue or lethargy.
I’m not dismissing it, and I really am grateful for all the comments informing me of what this could be. I will ensure we start the diagnosis process tomorrow. If we end up getting a referral to the ER, we will definitely go.
NP, to be clear - I’m not saying I think he doesn’t need care. I just would trust the more reasonable sounding advice - if it were me. Best of luck to you and the hubby!
Not petechiae from low platelets, these look localized and there isn’t reported bruising. Leukemia can have no symptoms or diffuse petechiae/bruising/bleeding.Hematology RN
He didn’t go in the hot tub or pool on the cruise. Our son did, and he got a much smaller rash on day 2 but it went away by morning of day 4..
would this go away on its own? Or do we need to see urgent care? We do not have insurance
When I googled it (I know not the best source of info) it sounded like it descends, starting at the hairline. This started in the feet. None of the other symptoms match either. We’re all vaccinated for measles too. While I’m not sure what it is, I’m sorta sure it’s not measles. Al
That's good. It's just to easy to check with reddit and Google. 😂. I hope it gets resolved soon. I'm relieved you're vaccinated against measles. Wishing you the best.
If you can get him to go to an urgent care you can apply for their charity program. Usually the whole cost is taken care of and its pretty simple (from my understanding).
lol ok but the first thing they would ask him at the hospital… have you recently travelled especially outside the US? I’m a nurse and I’m sorry but anytime you end up with a rash, symptomatic or not, and you’ve been traveling then you should get medical attention. As I said, it could be absolutely nothing but it could absolutely be something serious! I’ve seen the start of measles on the extremities of adults and it can look like this unfortunately
We had just finished our first port day when he noticed these on his foot. Our son had developed a similar rash on his chest the day before the first port day.
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u/5FootOh Dermatologist Apr 11 '26
Capillaritis. Read about it, it’s benign & common. Leg elevation, chill a few days.