What on earth is this that has appeared on Ds 13 back?

[Whatayear2020]

My Ds, age 13 has had this appear on his back, it wasn't here at the start of the year, any ideas? I am going to make him a docs appointment. Have also found some milder ones above his knee after looking.

Goodness they are quite bad ones aren't they? Bless him. Poor lad!

Agree with Panpig and MsJuniper. I've never seen bartonella rashes before and the similarity is amazing. I'd get him to the doctor, OP, and take some bartonella rash pictures from Google, too, so the doctor can see where you're coming from!

It’s not an odd place it’s really quite common and yep they are stretch marks. It’s a tall teen boy year 9/10 thing usually. They look like they have been whipped!

Just want to leave this here for those that have googled Bartonella rash and just had a quick look at the photos
lymescience.org/bartonella-rash-stretch-marks-lyme/

Look up Bartonella and see if he has any of the symptoms. All these posters saying they are 'just' strechmarks could be very wrong here.

Yep to the above. Stretch marks. My teen has them lower on his waist either side after a growth spurt.

The images on Google of bartonella are actually mostly stretch marks lymescience.org/bartonella-rash-stretch-marks-lyme/

Gosh, well I hope they are just stretch marks, but I'll get him seen by a doctor anyway. He was unwell a few weeks ago, headache, muscle aches, lethargy and fever, what is the timeline with bartonella, would he be unwell now if he had that?

My son also had this and all over his legs very badly he grew v quickly and they appeared almost overnight he is v self conscious of them ☹️

These have also just emerged on DS' (just turned 14) back, but not his twin brother. Your son's marks look almost identical to my son's stretch marks!

He's grown a bit lately, but is still skinny.

I had stretch marks as a teen and have read that stretch marks are more likely if a parent has them.
Mine developed on my breasts and thighs in puberty (later in pregnancy) when I also gained weight, but I also read that stretch marks do appear on skinny people too (such as my son, who has grown upward but not outward).

He's been rubbing bio oil on of a night.

DS has these exactly in the same place.

It's because he grew quickly. Really don't think he needs to see doctor.

My son had them as well and they were just as bad as that. He’s 15 now and they have virtually faded and you can’t notice them at all apart from thin, silverfish lines.

Stretch Mark's. My son had exactly the same on his back. Far worse than my pregnancy ones. They do fade. Plus as they are on his back they dont really get seen much before they fade

Oh, and when my son's stretch marks appeared 2 weeks ago, I did a search on Mumsnet and found several old threads on this. I found that stretch marks on 13/14 year olds' backs were indeed a common location.

Really don't think he needs to see doctor.

Yet he has had lots of symptoms that could indicate that it's not simply stretch marks?

Definitely see the GP

They will fade a lot. They are big though 🙁

They're absolutely classic teen boy stretch marks. I got the shock of my life's when I saw exactly the same on my son's back a year ago when he was 15 but apparently that's the classic place where boys get stretch marks following a rapid growth spurt.

They'll fade to nothing, don't worry about them. Take him to the gp for your own peace of mind, but im positive you'll be told they're classic teenager boy stretch marks!

Definitely stretch marks both my teenage sons have them

They look like stretch marks to me - my DD2 has them, she's 17 now and they have faded into very pale silvery marks, but they were like that when she grew about 7 inches in the course of a year at age 14.

My 16 year old also got them on his back he's very skinny but had a sport in height , I never knew that this could happen either
He also had some spots which we wasn't sure so sent picture to dr who diagnosed what it was and the stretch marks so you could also say call you dr just to be sure

Agree with other posters to check though as could be more serious always worth checking

Hope he is feeling ok about it. As stretch marks go they look amazingly cool though!! It's clearly his inner super hero emerging.
If he needs consoling then my stretch marks in my thighs were like this, both thighs same age. Cant see them at all now. They'd faded by the time I was about 19ish.

Pure Rose hip oil much better than bio oil (Lviv oil full of perfume and other unnecessary junk) and /or pure aloe Vera but you need to use regularly for a while to make a difference

OP, best to check with GP.

I would call doctor and mention his illness a few weeks ago and say you are concerned about Bartonella. These tick born illness can be devastating if left undiagnosed. 100% get this checked out and don't just assume stretch marks.