by Anonymous
I am a 53 year old female, of average weight and height. In 2008 or 2009 I started getting colorless lumps or bumps on one of my eyelids. I happened to have a steroid cream that my doctor had prescribed for something else, so I used it on the lumps and they did go away, but later they came back. Then I started to get them on my forehead. When they first appear, there is the tiniest itch, but the itch then goes away and the bumps neither itch nor cause me any pain after that. In fact, I would not know they were even there if I could not actually feel them or see them in the mirror.
I also noticed that the inside of my left forearm had small lumps under the skin (almost all of the time), and occasionally larger ones that are obvious. They don't itch or cause pain either.
Most of the lumps are not huge, although I have had a few that were about the size of a half pea. At first they would come and go quickly and I would only have them maybe for a week out of the month, but gradually the length of time I have them has increased so that at the present time I am almost constantly afflicted with these things. I have been to four dermatologists and have tried several medications and treatments, (antibiotics, Rosacea medications, acne creams, something for hives, etc.). I have even had a biopsy done which did not show anything abnormal, other than swollen tissue. Everything seems to work but nothing actually works. These things come and go on their own, so it's hard to tell whether the medications are working or not. Antibiotics evidently keep them under control because when I do not take them, they really are terrible. If I try to pick at one it will cause a sore that takes forever to heal. When these bumps do start to subside the skin where they were starts to peel and is flaky. If I attempt to smooth the area with a skin buffer or exfoliator the bumps become red and inflamed and last even longer than they would have if left alone.
I have been trying to find a diagnosis for this condition for three or four years and I do not think I have made any headway whatsoever.