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

Not an accident. Not an emergency.
so no A& E

Looks like OP has her answer but this is such an irresponsible thing to post on anonymous forums, you don’t know whether or not an unexplained symptom is an emergency.

A friend's daughter had a rash like this. Was caused by contact with a black walnut tree so could be a plant that caused it.

looks Like silver nitrate to me.

I always think ‘not an accident, not an emergency’ sounds so dense. Firstly the person saying it is usually clueless about what constitutes a medical emergency and the accident bit is so irrelevant. They just sound like they think they’re so clever parroting something they saw someone else say here when it’s glaringly quite the opposite.

Good old Mumsnet!

It does sound like mystery solved! 🤞

Could it be petechiae if they don’t blanch? My son always gets it with bacterial tonsillitis or chest infections. They normally dark purple or red but can appear black.

When he first got it (mostly on his hands and arms but also some on trunk), he didn’t seem unwell at all but was told by GP to take him to A&E if more appeared which they did. They did a blood test which showed infection so did a chest x ray as he had a very slight cough and he had a chest infection and needed antibiotics. He’s had 4 blood tests since for it in the last 6 months. Once they kept him in for IV antibiotics with it as he had a high temperature.

Most times he’s had it I’ve been sent to A&E. Sometimes they’re very faint and other times appear large like your daughters. He currently has tonsillitis and has a few scattered around.

I was told any in clusters or if it spreads it needs to be evaluated, especially if it’s below nipple level. I’d be inclined to call 111. You can probably wait until tomorrow if she doesn’t show any other signs of illness.

These are silver nitrate dots. I teach science.

Use some sort of exfoliating hand wash. It can take a week to get some of them off.

Please don't waste a GP appointment on this!

Helpful

this is not an a&e matter. Literally the only symptom is staining to her hands.

its a seek gp advice, which will probably be safety netting, watch and wait, come back if worsens or doesn’t go away and a dermatology referral in line with whatever local guidelines are in place. As a parent I’d be asking if any gp clinics locally that can do a skin scraping or small biopsy to send for testing to avoid a long derm. wait or if rapidly or far spreading asking for urgent referral

if the patient was systemically unwell with appearing and spreading rash. Then a&e but right now - no

Respectfully, you’re a science teacher not a medical professional.

Yes they could be silver nitrate dots but they could also be petechiae or pupura especially given they've gradually spread.

I guarantee GP will be googling it 😆

My son had it mostly on his hands and I was told to take him to A&E. No other symptoms apart from a very mild cough. Blood test and chest X-ray confirmed a chest infection.

Fascinating thread

Wouldn't AgNO3 dots all appear immediately after being splattered? That's inconsistent with what OP says here:
"Yes - it’s spread from a few dots on one hand to both hands over the past couple of days"

Zero point going to see a doctor about this given that the daughter is well and there is an obvious cause - silver nitrate.
a science teacher who has seen this happen frequently is in a better position to identify it than a GP who has never seen it.

But unlikely to be an immune type rash if not itchy.

Another excellent episode

Silver nitrate dots don't show up days after the exposure.

Not necessarily. It's a reaction so the black dots can appear over time.

The OPs daughter should have washed her hands ASAP after getting chemicals on them.

Completely harmless but it just takes ages to get them off.

If no more dots have appeared over night then I would be confident it is from the silver nitrate and not bug bites.

This is like stop the cheque.

Please don’t definitively assert someone (a child) doesn’t need to go to A&E when they’ve been told they should. She might indeed not need it but how would you feel if she indeed did and something was very wrong. Being a keyboard diagnoser isn’t helpful. And is indeed harmful

Thanks so much everyone!! Mumsnet detectives are the best!! It’s definitely silver nitrate staining! Really appreciate all your kind help and my daughter is super grateful too! 😊😊😊

We don't have poison ivy in the UK

Stop the cheque