rash

Definition

The popular term for a group of spots or red, inflamed skin that is usually a symptom of an underlying condition or disorder. Often temporary, a rash is only rarely a sign of a serious problem.

Description

A rash may occur on only one area of the skin, or it could cover almost all of the body. Also, a rash may or may not be itchy. Depending on how it looks, a rash may be described as:

• blistering (raised oval or round collections of fluid within or beneath the outer layer of skin)
• macular (flat spots)
• nodular (small, firm, knotty rounded mass)
• papular (small solid slightly raised areas)
• pustular (pus-containing skin blister)

— Carol A. Turkington

1. Characterized by or resulting from ill-considered haste or boldness. See synonyms at reckless.
2. Archaic. Quick in producing a strong or marked effect.

[Middle English rasch, active, unrestrained, perhaps from Old English -raesc (in līgræsc, lightning) or from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German rasch, fast.]

(răsh)

1. A skin eruption.
2. An outbreak of many instances within a brief period: a rash of burglaries.

[Possibly from obsolete French rache, a sore, from Old French rasche, scurf, from raschier, to scrape, scratch, from Vulgar Latin *rāsicāre, from Latin rāsus, past participle of rādere.]

A skin eruption: red spots or mottling of the skin, accompanying a variety of infectious illnesses, allergic reactions, chemical or heat irritation, or specific skin diseases. Rashes may be localized or body-wide and come in several descriptive categories; their distribution and character usually enable doctors to establish the cause.

— Stuart Judge

See skin.

adjective

Characterized by unthinking boldness and haste: brash, foolhardy, harum-scarum, hasty, headlong, hotheaded, ill-considered, impetuous, improvident, impulsive, incautious, madcap, precipitant, precipitate, reckless, slapdash, temerarious, unconsidered. See careful/careless.

noun

A sudden increase in something, as the occurrence of a disease: epidemic, outbreak, plague. See increase/decrease.

Definition: careless, impulsive
Antonyms: careful, cautious, planned, prudent, thoughtful

A temporary eruption on the skin.

• drug r. — dermatitis medicamentosa.

adj.

Insensible to the value of our advice.

    "Now lay your bet with mine, nor let
        These gamblers take your cash."
    "Nay, this child makes no bet."  "Great snakes!
        How can you be so rash?"
                                                        Bootle P. Gish

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

For other uses, see Rash (disambiguation).

Rash

A diffuse rash on the back of a white male
ICD-10	R21.
ICD-9	782.1

A rash is a change of the skin which affects its color, appearance or texture. A rash may be localized in one part of the body, or affect all the skin. Rashes may cause the skin to change color, itch, become warm, bumpy, dry, cracked or blistered, swell and may be painful. The causes, and therefore treatments for rashes, vary widely. Diagnosis must take into account such things as the appearance of the rash, other symptoms, what the patient may have been exposed to, occupation, and occurrence in family members. The diagnosis may confirm any number of conditions.

The presence of a rash may aid associated signs and symptoms are diagnostic of certain diseases. For example, the rash in measles is an erythematous, maculopapular rash that begins a few days after the fever starts. It classically starts at the head and spreads downwards.

Contents 1 Causes 2 Evaluation 3 Overview of symptoms 4 See also 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Information 6.2 Images

Causes

Common causes of rashes include:

• Anxiety.
• Allergies, for example to foods, dyes, medicines, insect stings, metals such as zinc or nickel; such rashes are often called hives.
• Skin contact with an irritant
• Bacterial or viral infection, e.g., by the viruses that cause chickenpox, smallpox, cold sores and measles
• Fungal infection, such as ringworm
• Reaction to vaccination
• Skin diseases such as eczema or acne
• Exposure to sun (sunburn) or heat
• Friction due to chafing of the skin
• Irritation such as caused by abrasives impregnated in clothing rubbing the skin. The cloth itself may be abrasive enough for some people
• Menstruation

Uncommon causes:

• Autoimmune disorders such as psoriasis
• Lead poisoning
• Pregnancy
• Scratching repeatedly a particular spot

Evaluation

The causes of a rash are extremely broad, which may make the evaluation of a rash extremely difficult. An accurate evaluation by a doctor may only be made in the context of a thorough history (What medication is the patient taking? What is the patient's occupation? Where has the patient been?) and complete physical examination.

Points to note in the examination include:

• The appearance: e.g., purpuric (typical of vasculitis and Meningococcal septicemia), fine and like sandpaper (typical of scarlet fever); umbilicated lesions are typical of molluscum contagiosum (and in the past, small pox); plaques with silver scales are typical of psoriasis.
• The distribution: e.g., the rash of scarlet fever becomes confluent and forms bright red lines in the skin creases of the neck, armpits and groins (Pastia's lines); the vesicles of chicken pox seem to follow the hollows of the body (they are more prominent along the depression of the spine on the back and in the hollows of both shoulder blades); very few rashes affect the palms of the hands and soles of the feet (secondary syphilis, rickettsia or spotted fevers,^[1] guttate psoriasis, hand, foot and mouth disease, keratoderma blenorrhagica);
• Symmetry: e.g., herpes zoster usually only affects one side of the body and does not cross the midline.

Typically, it is never a good habit for one to scratch a rash, as doing so may invigorate the rash and cause it to spread. Gently rubbing the rash may provide temporary relief, but it is more than likely better to avoid contact with the affected areas altogether.

Overview of symptoms

Skin disease	Symptoms	Usual area of body
Acne	Rosacea	Flushed appearance or Redness around cheeks, chin, forehead or nose
Boil	Painful red bump or a cluster of painful red bumps	Anywhere
Cellulitis	Red, tender and swollen areas of skin	Around a cut, scrape or skin breach
Insect bite	Red and/or itchy bumps on the skin	Anywhere and can be sprinked randomly
Allergic reaction	Irregular, raised or flat red sores that appeared after taking medicine/drugs or eating certain foods	Anywhere
Hives	Bumps formed suddenly	Anywhere but usually first noticed on face
Seborrheic dermatitis	Bumps and swelling	Near glands
Cradle Cap	Dry, scaly skin	Scalp of recently born babies
Irritant contact dermatitis	Red, itchy, scaly or oily rash	Eyebrows, nose, edge of the scalp, point of contact with jewelery, perfume or clothing.
Allergic Contact Dermatitis caused by poison ivy, oak or sumac	Red, itchy, scaly or oily rash; can also be weeping or leathery.	Anywhere that came in contact with the irritant either directly or via transfer (eg. from contaminated clothing.)
Allergic purpura	Small red dots on the skin, or larger, bruise-like spots that appeared after taking medicine	Anywhere
Pityriasis Rosea	Started with a single scaly, red and slightly itchy spot, and within a few days, did large numbers of smaller patches of the rash, some red and/or others tan	Chest and abdomen
Dermatitis herpetiformis	Intensely itchy rash with red bumps and blisters	Elbows, knees, back or buttocks
Erythema nodosum	Large red bumps that seem to bruise and are tender to touch	Anywhere
Psoriasis	White, scaly rash over red, irritated skin	Elbows and knees
Erythema multiforme	Red, blotchy rash, with "target like" hives or sores.	Anywhere
Measles	Red rash that is raised with a fever or sore throat.	Usually starts first on the forehead and face and spreads downward.
Chickenpox	Multiple blisters with a fever, cough, aches, tiredness and sore throat.	Usually starts first on the face, chest and back and spreads downward.
Shingles	Red blisters that are very painful and may crust	Anywhere
Fifth Disease	Started as a fever and then developed a bright red rash	Cheeks
Warts	Soft bumps forming that don't itch and have no other symptoms	Anywhere
Ringworm	Bald spot on the scalp or a ring of itchy red skin	Anywhere
Syphilis	Rash that is red but not itchy	Palms of hands or soles of feet
Jock itch, yeast infection or diaper rash	Red itchy rash	Groin
Tinea versicolor	Light coloured patches	Anywhere
Impetigo	Crusted, tan-colored sores	Near nose or lip
Scabies	Bite-like sores that itch and spread intensely	Usually start on hands or feet and spread everywhere
Rocky Mountain spotted fever	A fine rash with a fever and headache	Usually start on arms and legs including the hands and feet
Lupus erythematosus	A butterfly rash with achy joints	Forehead and cheeks
Jaundice or sign of hepatitis	Yellowish	Skin, whites of eyes and mouth
Bruise	Blue or black area after being hit	Anywhere
Actinic keratoses	Scaly, pink, gray or tan patches or bumps	Face, scalp or on the backs or the hands
Keloid or hypertrophic scar	Scar that has grown larger than expected	Anywhere
Lipoma	Soft or rubbery growth	Anywhere
Milia	Lots of white spots	On the face of a baby
Molluscum or contagiosum	Small, firm, round bumps with pits in the center that may sit on tiny stalks	Anywhere
Sebaceous cyst	Bump with a white dome under the skin	Scalp, nape of the neck or upper back
Skin tag	Soft, fleshy growth, lump or bump	Face, neck, armpits or groin
Xanthelasma	Yellow area under the skin	Under eyelids
Melanoma	Dark bump that may have started within a mole or blemish, or, a spot or mole that has changed in color, size, shape or is painful or itchy	Anywhere
Basal cell carcinoma	Fleshy, growing mass	Areas exposed to the sun
Squamous cell carcinoma	Unusual growth that is red, scaly or crusted	Face, lip or chin
Kaposi's sarcoma	Dark or black raised spots on the skin that keep growing or have appeared recently	Anywhere
Erythema annulare centrifugum (EAC)	Pink-red ring or bullseye marks	Anywhere

See also

• List of cutaneous conditions
• Dermatology

References

1. ^ Boyd MA, Menon P, Graves S, Gordon DL (March 2007). "A febrile illness with generalized papular rash involving the palms and soles". Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 44 (5): 704, 755–6. doi:10.1086/511637. PMID 17278064. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/511637?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dncbi.nlm.nih.gov.  ^{Scholar search}

External links

Look up rash in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Information

• Rash definition, types, symptoms, causes, and other details
• Scabies
• Self help guide (NHS Direct)
• Skin rash (rashes) guide

Images

• Guide to rashes on Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia - includes photographs
• Links to pictures of skin rashes (Hardin MD/Univ of Iowa)

v • d • e Symptoms and signs: skin and subcutaneous tissue (R20-R23, 782) Disturbances of skin sensation/ somatosensory disorder Hypoesthesia · Paresthesia (Formication) · Hyperesthesia Hypoalgesia · Hyperalgesia Circulation Cyanosis · Pallor · Flushing · Petechia Edema Peripheral edema · Anasarca Other Rash · Desquamation · Induration · Diaphoresis integument, SF, LCT navs: anat/physio, noncongen/congen/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous, proc skin appendage navs: anat, noncongen/congen/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous, proc

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
1.
adj. - uoverlagt, uovervejet, for hurtig

2.
n. - udslæt, eksem

idioms:

• a rash of    udbrud, epidemi (når en række ensartede begivenheder indtræffer næsten samtidig), række

Nederlands (Dutch)
huiduitslag, overhaast

Français (French)
1.
adj. - irréfléchi, imprudent, téméraire

2.
n. - rougeurs, (fig) vague (de)

idioms:

• a rash of    une vague de

Deutsch (German)
1.
adj. - überstürzt, voreilig

2.
n. - Hautausschlag

idioms:

• a rash of    eine Serie von

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (παθολ.) εξάνθημα, (μτφ.) ξέσπασμα, επιδημία
adj. - ορμητικός, παράτολμος, απερίσκεπτος, αβασάνιστος

idioms:

• a rash of    εξάπλωση φαινομένου (συνήθως δυσάρεστου)

Italiano (Italian)
esantema, eruzione cutanea, irritazione, valanga, mucchio, fioritura, avventato, precipitoso, prematuro

idioms:

• a rash of    un'ondata di, un mucchio di

Português (Portuguese)
n. - erupção (f), exantema (m) (Med.)
adj. - ousado

idioms:

• a rash of    grande quantidade

Русский (Russian)
сыпь, поспешный, опрометчивый

idioms:

• a rash of    куча, поток

Español (Spanish)
1.
adj. - imprudente, atropellado, precipitado, irreflexivo

2.
n. - erupción cutánea, sarpullido

idioms:

• a rash of    una serie de, un salpullido de

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - eksem
adj. - överilad, dumdristig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 草率从事的, 轻率的, 急躁的, 鲁莽的

idioms:

• a rash of    爆发的一连串...

2. 疹, 疹子, 一下子爆发的一连串

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
adj. - 草率從事的, 輕率的, 急躁的, 魯莽的

idioms:

• a rash of    爆發的一連串...

2.
n. - 疹, 疹子, 一下子爆發的一連串

한국어 (Korean)
1.
adj. - 무분별한, 경솔한, 성급한

2.
n. - 발진, 뾰루지

idioms:

• a rash of    가는 곳마다 베풀어지는

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - むこうみずの, 無分別な, 軽率な
n. - 発疹, 突然の多発, 多発

idioms:

• a rash of    多発, 頻発

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سلسله متلاحقه من الأحداث (صفه) متهور, طائش‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮נמהר, פזיז, לא שקול‬
n. - ‮פריחה אדומה (בעור), הופעה פתאומית, הצפה, בצבוץ‬

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