Discolored arms?

Hope this isn't beating up disproportionately on small_ruminant, because I've seen lots of other examples, but I gotta say that this use of AskMe is a little disturbing. "(I / friend / neighbor / family member) has this weird medical symptom that concerns me, what is it?" Now, no doctor worth a hill of beans would try to diagnose someone solely by a textual description of symptoms, especially one written by a third party. There's probably an ethical prohibition on doing so, at least I hope there is. As for all the medical laymen here, if a doctor won't make a remote diagnosis, what on earth chance do we have? To say nothing of undermining a diagnosis made by a (presumably) qualified series of doctors. What really do you hope to gain here? Some "oh those lousy doctors, they're all in it together" commiseration? an acknowledgement that the HMO system might provide incentives to be too cursory in examinations? A suggestion for cosmetic products to cover up the symptoms? It seems like any real, functional end would be much better accomplished by consulting a local physician, or a directory of physicians if you don't trust the one you've seen so far (and I'm not trying to scoff at distrust in doctors -- it's important to have a trusting relationship with your medical professional). But... AskMe is not a clinic! It's nowhere near competent to that end! I know healthcare sucks in this country, but... is this really what it's come to?

What really do you hope to gain here? my guess is that someone might say "whoa, you know what, that sounds like [totally obscure thing my friend/neighbor/family member had], it's called [blah], you might want to do some research on it and then talk to your doctor. I like Kaiser, and while I've never had a problem with any of the doctors there, my experiences and those of the people I know seem to show that the Kaiser philosophy isn't huge on preventive care. If you think something's up, you often need to do the legwork. Hell, I went into Kaiser three times saying "look, I think I have a gall bladder problem, and it needs to be dealt with quickly" and it wasn't until I came in JAUNDICED that they listened to me. So you know, there's that to consider too. sadly i don't know anything that may be of use to the poster.

Sorry to continue ff's sidebar.. It is indeed sad that people need to look beyond their doctor(s) for quality answers -- but I do believe a majority of docs don't get input from the full gamut of patients with condition x,y,z. Internet communities, especially high quality examples like amefi, are imho a fantastic place to gather more information. It might not be so, if *everyone* reported *everything* to their doc about the drug for x,y,z -- but since that is obviously not the case, there is great value in posts like this. Significant portions of treatment result information comes from far too small a sample base -- much like reviews of cars, electronics, games, etc. Many people simply don't go to their doc about things, but rather simply quit taking a pill or deal with the side effects. My impression, from substantial deja-google-dig-fu'ing, is that far too much information is missed by, or simply not delivered to the people who can do the most with it.

I like Kaiser.... Hell, I went into Kaiser three times saying "look, I think I have a gall bladder problem, and it needs to be dealt with quickly" and it wasn't until I came in JAUNDICED that they listened to me. How come you still like Kaiser? I was with them as a patient some years ago, and I could tell you stories. Kaiser is hell.

Your dad should consult a dermatologist; the GPs at Kaiser are not skin specialists, and they're probably overworked. (And if I had to go to a doctor three times before they acknowledged something I knew was going on with my body, I would throw a shit fit, not "like" them. But to each his own.)

Peacay and rkent, I'm guessing you haven't been initiated into the Kaiser method of practicing medicine. You have to tell them what you want and then insist on it. Just yesterday a Kaiser doctor tried to insist I take antibiotics for my ganglion cyst. These are reoccuring and I seem to know more about them than the doctor, despite the fact that they're common. This is typical. Another typically Kaiser situation I went through: Kaiser insisted that everyone with any foot problem go to a plantar faciitis class. The teacher of the class then had to write referrals up for anyone who shouldn't have been there- like the folks with broken bones, ski injuries etc. fishfucker: that's exactly what I was hoping for. God help Kaiser patients who can't do their own research.

Well, the simple tearing, his age and the steroids suggest he's got vulnerable skin. I hear what you're saying about the service, but large port-wine stains would likely be as they have told you. IANAD though. It's just that a skin lesion particularly, is a very difficult thing to have much of a handle on in the e-nvironment. My mother has them (not huge), my father had them. Many older people get skin anomalies and remember, there was nothing much known or publicized about skin protection when your dad was growing up. So I would still think: dermatologist & Vit E cream - although I seem to recall my father using some sort of fish based gel -- these are at best ameliorating emolients of course.

You folks who commented are all nuts, for various reasons. Post a picture, we'll figure out what it is. I doubt it's a port-wine stain (nevus flammeus), since those are present since birth and not acquired. Maybe it's acanthosis nigricans, in which case metastatic cancer is a possibility. Picture is worth 10^3 words! Now, no doctor worth a hill of beans would try to diagnose someone solely by a textual description of symptoms, especially one written by a third party. You've never been to medical school, have you? That's all we do for the first couple years. I enjoy reading about these weird cases that come up here on MeFi from time to time. Then again, I am a neurologist, and we are charged with making rare and difficult diagnoses promptly and accurately. It's fun.

Thanks, ikkyu2. I'll repost this in a week when I've got a pic. I don't figure it's nevus flammeus for the reasons you gave, but beyond that I'm without a clue.