Odd circular wounds on limbs - bites??

[Xiaoxiong]

DS2 is 9 and somewhat accident prone so I am no stranger to bumps, scrapes and grazes.

But over the last 2 months he has been getting strange circular...I don't know how else to describe it other than "gouges". It looks like a little scoop of skin has been taken off, in a neat circle. He's had one on his shin for a while, it has taken ages to scab over. Now he has new ones on his forearm and the top of his thigh (other leg from the one on his shin.

I first noticed it when he woke up one morning with his sheets covered in blood - the one on his shin had scabbed and must have knocked off, and it bled so much it was in actual rivulets down his leg and ankle. That one is now mostly healed but he now has new ones as mentioned. One bled so much it actually dripped on the floor.

He says they mildly itch, but I can't tell if that's because they are scabbing over and pulling the skin. They are about 5mm across, so the size of the end of a pencil. Too big to be fleas or bedbugs, definitely not a mosquito. No swelling, no bulls eye rash. Skin a little red but nothing significant.

I didn't worry when he got the first one but now he has two more with no apparent explanation, I'm starting to worry! Skin cancer runs in the family and I am used to checking moles, but these are not on or near moles.

Anyone ever seen anything like this before?!

to me it looks like they were ‘normal’ bites which he’s scratched the top off

Any idea what kind of bite could be that big? And where he doesn't notice the bite itself, the first he notices is when suddenly there is a river of blood and an open wound. I guess I should be fumigating in case of some beastie.

It apparently happened in a lesson today, he said he was working and suddenly there was blood on his paper and he swears he had no idea there was even a bite there let alone a scab until he saw the blood.

Also none of the rest of us are being bitten. Yet he has had three of these bites over the last 2 months.

I've scratched bites that then look like that, although can't remember really noticing any blood. Horsefly bites I think but can't guarantee it and out of my family I'm the only one that ever gets bitten.

I used to get big bites like that from mosquitoes - also for some reason I was bitten to death but nobody else in the family was. I think some people have tastier blood or something 😂

And now the leg one is bleeding again from the centre, and I KNOW he hasn't scratched it.

It appears to have multiple small circular dots in the middle of it that are all bleeding.

It's so weird!??

Yes I also get horrible huge welts from mosquitoes, that go hard and are unbearably itchy. This is like the opposite of a mosquito bite - a neat circular divot taken out of the skin that he is apparently unaware of until the blood appears.

I'm still operating under the idea of a bite but if so I'd love to know what it is so I can protect him. It's like nothing I've seen before.

The multiple small dots that are bleeding are broken capillaries. This is an ordinary insect bite (mosquito/midge/horsefly) that has got inflamed and then been scratched or unconsciously rubbed against sheets or clothing.

Are you sure he's not picking at his skin? The first one looks very similar to one on my 9yr old arm which I watched him pick at the other day... he's a stress ball at the moment and his skin seems to be taking the bront of it. It used to be his forehead so at least rhe arm is better... they start bleeding because the scab isn't that stable and one small scratch brings it off - often done without knowing he is doing it from what I've seen

I haven't noticed it but I will keep an eagle eye out for picking!

I'd be covering those with a plaster actually, to keep them clean. I'd be concerned that he was p Oicking them, maybe not even being aware that he's doing it. Or that it's stress-related picking.

Could be bites could be he is a picker to one of my brothers used to pick constantly and never even realised unless pointed out he grew out of it

Hi @Xiaoxiong did you get to the bottom of this in the end? I have posted on a couple of other threads and made a new post titled ‘spontaneous blisters’ with what we are going through with our 6 year old girl. Searching high and low for experiences similar to ours and not finding much. Yours looks a little similar but not quite the same other than it being a mystery. Just wondering if you got any answers? Your boy’s didn’t start off as blisters by the sounds of it? Did they clear up?

Hi! The same thing is happening to me now and I’m not sure what it is.. if you figure it out please let me know I’ll put a picture up too!

They do look like bites that have been scratched, could he be unconsciously scratching them then noticing the blood?
A pharmacist might be able to help

@adugg82 and @ByNavyBiscuit I never got to the bottom of it!! They just stopped and he hasn't had one in a few months which makes me wonder if he was unconsciously picking. He is prone to keratosis pilaris so it could be that he was picking away at some bumpy skin.

I can see I first posted this last June...and I feel like they cleared up when he went back to school in September and was back to wearing school uniform ie. long trousers and long sleeved shirts.

i don’t think I’ve been inching it but I very well could be, I’m glad your son got better and thank you for the help!

Look into lymphomatoid papulosis. It's rare, but that's what the lesions look like. They last a couple weeks to a few months and leave a dark spot.

It's an autoimmune reaction. I had the same 2years ago and it went away after I sorted out my iron with an infusion.