Bartonella Rash Photo

[mama2alex]

In case anyone is wondering what a Bartonella rash looks like, I came across this article and photo recently. My son's rash looks just like this and is also on his back. It didn't come out until several years into treatment, and we had a couple of rashes come out in different places right before, but they were transient and didn't have the raised skin. His friend also has a very similar rash on his back and is in the process of being diagnosed. https://www.lymedisease.org/cdc-identifies-new-species-of-bartonella/

[wisdom_seeker]

Hi Mama2Alex,

 

This is a very clear photo of full-width striae, thank you for posting it. Since your kid has such a rash, can you please describe it a bit more. You describe it as a rash. My question is: Is the red area a bit indented, as if the skin is thinner, but not flat inside -- is it like the stretch marks we got from pregnancy? Or is it what we normally think of as a rash -- composed of tiny raised bumps?

 

 

Second, I wonder what the origin of the photo itself is? Is it from the blog's author, I wonder?

 

Since my kid has striae like this on his back (though smaller) I had hoped to bring this photo to my son's pediatrician, to show that my son's striae may not be simply adolescent stretch marks. She's open-minded, but would like some proof. However this photo is not from the original article.

(https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/3/15-0269_article) And, surprisingly, the article doesn't even mention striae among the symptoms.

 

So, if anyone knows of any published photos published by MDs or appearing in journal articles, I'd be very grateful to see those!

 

WS

[mama2alex]

WS, Yes some of the rash is indented - it is not composed of tiny raised bumps. I have never seen stretch marks that look like a Bartonella rash - I don't know why so many doctors claim this. I gained 40 lbs all in my belly during pregnancy and my stretch marks weren't anywhere near this severe looking.

 

I don't know the origin of the picture in the LymeDisease.org article, but I shared it because it looks exactly like my son's, and several Lyme-literate doctors have confirmed that his is definitely a classic Bartonella rash.

 

I'm not sure how you would prove this to your pediatrician, but you might want to consider, if he/she doesn't know already, are they the best doctor to diagnose and treat Bartonella? If I were you I would go straight to an LLMD, because Bartonella is not easy to treat, so you need someone who really knows what they're doing.

[bws1565]

My daughter also had a striated rash, about 5 years prior to her diagnosis of bartonella. Hers looked like someone had written on her back and upper arms with a reddish purplish thick marker. It did not hurt, and disappeared after four weeks. Her pediatrician diagnosed it as pityriasis (sp) which, after checking online years later, it did not match at all. I learnt about these linear rashes on this forum, for which I am thankful, that it led me in the right direction.