What are these black dots / marks on my daughter’s hands

[Onelife2024]

Any doctors reading who might be able to put my mind at rest about these black marks / dots that have appeared on my 13 year old daughter’s hands over the past few days? We have a GP appointment (Bupa video call) booked tomorrow but I’m worried that she maybe needs to be seen more urgently? Anyone ever seen anything like this before? Thanks so much

Funnily enough I just had the same thought and went through all her pockets, bags etc to see if my hands came out with any ink on them! No joy unfortunately, but I agree they do look like pen marks - but when you see them in real
life, you can see they’re in her skin, and any amount of rubbing doesn’t make any more difference than rubbing or washing freckles would! So weird!

My first thought was petechiae. Do they fade with a glass pressed on them?

Does the pic I posted above look the same as the marks on DDs hands? They look the same to me.

This looks exactly the same!! Thank you so much! Much less stressful than my spiralling thoughts of rare skin cancers - thank you! I wonder how and where she came into contact with those if that’s what it is?!

Mumsnet at its best - thanks so much everyone for your help!!

Have you asked Chat GPT?
It was brilliant with a picture of something in my dogs ear.

Looks a bit like silver nitrate staining to me. Has she been handling any chemicals at school? Or developing photos in art? It’s also found in some wart treatments.

Surely if a pharmacist has said you should go to A&E, then you should go to A&E. They are highly trained medically.

It does look like the pictures of the Chilocoris assmuthi bug but when I googled it doesn’t seem like we get them in the UK.

I would still get them checked out, if they are this bug they will go on their own. Given you have Bupa you might as well use it.

I’m sorry but this doesn’t seem likely. Doing a bit of research, the case linked to above is classed as a ‘rare’ presentation during a monsoon on Indian skin tone. It’s in a journal because of its rarity.

There is NO other medical literature that details Cydnidae bugs causing these marks, and definitely not in the UK.

If a pharmacist has said go to A&E, then go to A&E.

I thought it was rare because they didn’t wipe away with acetone?
They are in the uk.

This suggests they can mark us here, but it’s only an AI summary.
Cydnidae marks are superficial, temporary skin stains caused by the defensive secretions of Cydnidae bugs (burrowing bugs). While Cydnidae bugs are found in rural areas globally, specific species like Geotomus punctulatus are native to the UK, particularly to sand dunes like Sennen Cove in Cornwall. These marks, often appearing as black or brownish-black spots or streaks, are harmless, typically fade on their own within 1-2 weeks, and can be removed with acetone.

I am not a doctor but I am wondering if it could be sepsis. If so, it would be a medical emergency. If it’s definitely not pen, perhaps get it checked out.

Do you live near Sennen Cove @Onelife2024

Following this with interest.

There would be rather more obvious symptoms if sepsis was on the cards.

if it was sepsis she would be feeling really poorly and would be deteriorating quite rapidly.

Looks like silver nitrate to me. We've got a silver nitrate pen that I've occasionally had to use and, if you get that on you, it looks colourless and then goes black later, once you've forgotten about it.

Oh wow - I think this might be it! I just asked her and she said she did a silver nitrate experiment in biology the lesson before her English lesson, when she noticed the first black marks! Thank you so much! It seems too much of a coincidence not to be that! 🤩

A tip - AI summaries are literally just summarising the top links they come across.

If you click on the link sign you can see what references they are using. In this case they’re referring to…..the link pasted up above. About a rare case. During Monsoon season. In India.

I cannot see ANY other reference on the internet to this being ‘a thing.’ Can you?

It's not silver nitrate. It's the wrong colour (silver nitrate - well all silver salts in solution - make a mid-brown colour in sunlight) and the pattern doesn't make a lot of sense.

EDIT: although some pics online are darker than I've ever managed to make it stain my hands, so perhaps - especially as she did a silver nitrate experiment.

EDIT 2: If it is it will go in a few days

Yes, she’s absolutely fine - no symptoms of being unwell at all. She’s quite excited and grateful about all the mums net detective work on her behalf!

Thanks so much all! I’ll update you after we see the GP tomorrow - see what they say!

I googled where Cydnidae are found, and it included UK. Particularly warmer parts.

I read that bit about the rare presentation and it was about the acetone not working. Other ‘rare presentations’ were on abdomen and back, as hands and feet are more usual. They know people can have that reaction to the bug, it’s not rare.

You poor thing, OP. You must be really worried. I hope everything is sorted happily and soon

Where were you living at the time, out of interest?

Sounds good!