so i'd normally assume it was a small staph infection or something but i've had a ton of tick bites and the red circle caught my attention. the pictures don't quite capture how clear the red circle is, it's raised and kind of itches like some kind of infection. my insurance is terrible right now so i don't want to take a trip to get some antibiotics unless i need to. i don't remember a tick bite in that specific location but i can't be sure.

6/27/2010 11:54:30 AM

the only thing i remember is that lyme disease rashes look like bulls eyes.
that doesn't, not yet at least.

id keep an eye one it...

6/27/2010 12:05:51 PM

Just looks like a regular bug bite to me but I also wouldn't want to risk lyme disease.

If your health insurance is shit, you have some options.

1) Go to student health services if you're still a student. That's as cheap as it gets.
2) Go to a CVS with a MinuteClinic and they'll check you out for about $50.
3) Go to an Urgent Care Center and use your insurance there. Back when I had cruddy insurance the co-pay for urgent care was usually $60.

6/27/2010 12:09:32 PM

looks like a normal tick bite to me with possibly the mouth still in the skin which is causing the inflammation (or you scratched it by accident). Wouldnt worry about it unless it changes form

Your body will take care of any part of the tick still in the skin...might take a week or so

[Edited on June 27, 2010 at 1:04 PM. Reason : a]

6/27/2010 1:03:28 PM

do a google image search for "erythema migrans" - you're fine

6/27/2010 1:35:58 PM

I had the same shit happen to me a month or so ago, I was freaked out, thought I had Lyme Disease, yadda yadda. It looked just like yours does now, and I'm fine. It was nothing more than a regular bug bite, it itched for a few days but the rash didnt grow too much bigger than what it was after the first day.

A few things that I learned during my google session after getting the bite that are good to keep in mind:
-The tick normally is in your body for 24+ hours before Lyme Disease is transmitted into you
-The bullseye rash grows to be really big, to the point where it is painfully obvious that you have a major problem. Its not like a mosquito bite with a red dot in the center, its like a full-blown, take up your entire thigh sorta thing

at least thats what I got from google. I'm not an expert or anything, maybe my "facts" will get shot down by someone who is. Either way, I wouldnt freak out unless the rash gets bigger and bigger over the course of a few days, and it does look like a bullseye

6/27/2010 9:10:01 PM

i got lyme disease 3 weeks ago.

day 1: small red area, .25" across, looked just like my 83 chigger bites that i got at the same time
day 2: by the end of the day it was 1" wide, a little raised
day 3: 2.5" wide, still red, but center was raised more and redder, around it was a little less red & less raised. when i walked it felt like there was a string that connected to the bite through my leg to my heel. it hurt. thought it was a spider bite
day 4: 3.75" wide, center is ANGRY, whole thing is on fire, redder ring forms on the outside, the less red area from the day before is fading. i went to the doctor on this day.
day 5+: it got wider for the next 2 days and the bull's eye was very distinct. i started the antibiotics the second i got the rx filled after leaving the doctor. went swimming in brackish (closer to salt than fresh really) about a week after i was bit, got a little sun on it, and it started to clear up some. plus the meds were working then i'm sure.

i'm on a 4 week course of antibiotics and 3 weeks later i can still see the area it covered but it's faint. my antibiotics were not expensive, $10 i think. i'm on amoxicillin b/c of my myasthenia gravis won't allow me to take the typical antibiotics they reach for first w/ lyme.

when the blood test came back they discovered i had had rocky mountain spotted fever too b/c i have the antibodies. never did get a rash although i do remember getting really sick a couple years ago with some of the same symptoms. i think because of this untreated RMSF i now have arthritis, inflammation, swelling off and on in my knees and wrists. i've had a myriad of other seemingly unconnected symptoms develop in this same time period that none of my doctors (internist, neurologist, gastroenterologist, rheumatologist) could figure out.

how long ago were you bit? for the record, i didn't remember being bit either. just from your pics it doesn't look like much to worry about but i know digital pics don't do somethings justice. is it hot? i'd wait a couple of days unless the redness starts to run like wildfire. get out your sharpie and start keeping track of where it goes.

[Edited on June 27, 2010 at 9:38 PM. Reason : ]

6/27/2010 9:35:47 PM

looks like a standard syphilis chancre.

6/27/2010 9:36:30 PM

the digital picture kinda washes it out but the small ring is very red and well defined, but like i said the only reason i would ever even consider lyme disease is because of the amount of tick bites i've had (and i can't remember one on that thigh).

Quote :

"get out your sharpie and start keeping track of where it goes."

i did, that was really why i took the pic too before i decided to post here

i think i'll just report it tomorrow so i'm covered under workers comp if anything does happen (we have a tick bite log), then see what it does over the next few days

6/27/2010 9:46:56 PM

how long ago were you bit?

6/27/2010 9:50:11 PM

haha, that's probably just some bug bite (i would guess mosquito).

Worst case it could be the beginnings of poison ivy...I've had it start out looking like a mosquito bite. Just in case, don't scratch it

..Actually, on closer inspection, you can kinda already see little red areas of irritation around that spot. Im gonna vote poison ivy.

6/27/2010 9:54:10 PM

it is definitely not poison ivy, it might not be clear from the picture but it's nothing at all like it

^^last one i noticed was about 9 days ago

6/27/2010 11:18:01 PM

if that bite is from 9 days ago, it's not lyme.

6/28/2010 8:28:33 AM

When I had lyme my bullseye wasn't puffed out at all, just a flat itchy rash about 4.5"-5" in diameter.

6/28/2010 9:49:33 AM

^^^ when did you first notice this bump exactly?

6/28/2010 2:58:34 PM

mine looked similar to that when I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever..

6/28/2010 3:01:14 PM

Just looks like staph now

6/28/2010 6:25:31 PM

I always thought the red ring was larger. Looks more like a skeeter bite. If you go in for a regular MD appt they can just do a biopsy of it and send it to a lab. That's what happened to me at my family doctor. Ask how much they charge for that before going.

Oh yeh and if you do have Lyme disease...it is not smthg you want to delay treatment of. You don't want to wake up with half your face numb like you had a stroke or smthg. If you're worried I'd go to the MD.

[Edited on June 28, 2010 at 7:41 PM. Reason : asdf]

6/28/2010 7:40:43 PM

to me it looks like a penny to me

you could probably just scrape it right off

and go buy a beer at PB's

6/28/2010 10:28:39 PM

This is one of the rare occasions where I'd say to sit tight and not to worry about it unless it gets way worse than it is.

6/28/2010 11:04:37 PM