just earlier today my son(4) complained of something hurting his head. I found this! he said the area felt sensitive & it hurt when brushed over. tried to google lens it & it said it was a tick so I’m totally stumped! (I’m 99% sure that’s NOT a tick😂😂😥)

touching it feels like very short hair. like partly grown out buzz-cut short hair. it's bendable but that hurts apparently. it's entirely solid.

I've had suggestions of ruptured pilar cysts and infected hair follicles but I can't find any pictures that look remotely similar. I'm worried it's a wart but I am entirely lost!!!

my son has no skin issues at the moment, he gets a bit of dandruff every now and then as most kids do. I'd say he's pretty healthy. he doesn't take any medication.

any help would be appreciated

male/height and weight unknown/19-27 Y.O

NOT:SA how to discreetly alert a doctor without tipping off my parents?

I have an eye appointment tomorrow and have some things that REALLY REALLY can’t be ignored. like imminent blindness fear kind of urgent. not sure if actual imminent blindness, but sources seems to be point that way. my last two eye appointments have had my worries glossed over or outright ignored by the doctors and i’m not 100% how to proceed to get taken seriously.

I am suffering from severe medical neglect and it makes me a bit fearful to tip off my parents. some of my symptoms have been flashing lights, static in the corner of my eyes, seeing colors or hazes, and waves of white. just as an indicator of where i’m standing. this is just the simplified version. The parent portal does not seem like an option since my parents are aware of that. they are not tech illiterate. so i’m trying to rely on some kind of visual que or hoping that there is an established “i need help” physical que or just some special discreet word that serves the same function as the pizza distress call? not to downplay the distress call but it’s the best comparison i have for what i’m seeking. i possibly thought of blinking or tapping morse code “S.O.S” but i’m not sure that doctors are trained for that.

I’m not trying to say i’m at imminent risk or am asking for a “diagnose me” answer. just asking for tips on how to approach this? i’m hoping i did not misunderstand the rules.

i’m not sure if a full list of my symptoms/problems would cause my post to be deleted so i omitted them. hopefully.

Edit: I want to thank this community immensely for the support in this. Having access to it likely saved my wife’s life both in confirming that she needed emergency treatment, but also in helping me to navigate the complexities of her alcoholism.

Update to “What’s going on with my wife?”

[Original Post:](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/s/xYSUstYTvl)

51F, 5’5”, 175lbs.

Medications: Albuterol as needed

Medical History: asthma, history of epilepsy as a child, previous smoker (quit 20 years ago), gastric bypass surgery 10 years ago, menopause, ongoing alcohol abuse for the last 4 years (1 bottle on a good night, 3-4 bottles on a bad night). She bruises really easily - just from bumping into things.

Location: USA

We got home from the hospital Friday evening. My wife is doing significantly better. In the end they decided not to remove the gallbladder since I guess the infection was well controlled by the IV antibiotics.

At the end of the day she was diagnosed with Sepsis, Anemia(don’t remember the value), severe malnutrition and vitamin deficiency (including B1), Leukopenia (WBC at 1.1), Thrombocytopenia (Platelets at 19), Alcoholic Hepatitis and Cirrhosis, and alcohol induced bone marrow damage.

They gave her Ativan to help with the withdrawal and her anxiety about doctors. She was on fluids and 2 IV antibiotics during her stay with a few days of take home antibiotics she is finishing today. They gave her a shot of some medicine they give to chemotherapy patients to stimulate WBC production.

We threw out all of the alcohol in the house and she hasn’t asked for any. I think she detoxed in the week in the hospital and I’m hoping it stays that way. We have follow ups scheduled with liver and blood specialists.

42 year old female, 5’10, 170lbs, non smoker, Depo Provera for 20 years (no periods since 2005).

I have a history of kidney issues that put me in hospital for a couple weeks in June. During a CT scan there, they discovered this cyst (??) on my ovary. I have no symptoms. Today I had a follow up scan.

Can someone please let me know if I have anything to worry about? I see my doctor next week. My mom’s best friend currently has ovarian cancer and I’m really shaken up about this.

Son 3YO male noticed some generic bug bites last week. Over the weekend they began looking sinister we tried to treat with cortisone cream, calamine lotion, Vaseline. Wore gloves and long pants to try to avoid less scratching at night.

Husband was able to get into Pediatrician this AM while I was at another appointment. Said impetigo (but not contagious? Have an infant at home.) And started with Mupirocon cream on bleeding ones. Hydrocortisone cream on unbroken spots.

Also prescribed oral IC CEPHALEXIN 250 MG/5 ML

SUSP Take 8 mL by mouth every 12 hours. My son has food issues and nothing we could combine it with worked. Nurse suggested restraining him and forcing him to take it. He vomited. We asked if there was a table option we could crush and were told no. Offered another oral antibiotic.

It looks worse tonight and I’m considering ER. Doesn’t feel overtly warm. He is 36lbs.

3.5, no meds allergies or conditions, 40lbs and 3ft4.
My son has always been a fantastic eater and will eat anything you put in front of him. He’s always been a little too fast when he eats, and I personally believe he is food stuffing but my husband says he’s “just being a boy like I was” (more like patterned behaviour). For the last four weeks, he has started a new behaviour. It’s hard for me to explain without a video. Essentially he is making a fast inhale to get food into his mouth, like a slurp almost? He does it with everything regardless of the texture. You can see how concerning this can be when it’s something solid like a berry or cucumber. He’s had a few close calls where I’ve had to give him a good smack on the back. We always eat our three meals a day at the table as a family, and we have started doing the same with snacks. We have to be 100% undistracted and right beside him, god forbid we have to attempt the Heimlich. I have tried mincing and mashing his foods but he does it with them too, and his drinks. We have tried talking to him about it, ignoring it (kind of impossible to do) and I’m at a loss. This is obviously a very dangerous behaviour and feels like an emergency just waiting to happen. Does anyone have experience or advice?

30YO female.

Hi everyone. I noticed a small lump under my skin about a week ago.The photo on the left is from July 14,and the one on the right isJuly 22.went for a check up last July 18 and Doctor gave me antibiotics and cream.i haven’t gone for follow up as I plan to go ths Sat.. It has become larger and has turned reddish.I’m worried because of how much it has changed in appearance.
Any advice will be appreciated 🙏

34m- Got sliced by my cat trying to protect her from my other cat. This was her way of the thanking me. Wondering if i can get away with not having to get stitches and letting it repair naturally on its own

f19

idk my weight bit less than normal maybe

i take metamizole sometimes

hey so i did something dumb. I realized i have a septate hymen like a string or loop inside and it hurt when i tried to have sex and when i used tampons. One time i accidentally put the tampon through the wrong hole and barely got it out.

So yesterday night i was fed up with it and bc i got strong painkillers anyway i decided to just cut it with scissors. It was bleeding a lot and this morning it kinda hurt to walk. I put isopropyl on the scissors beforehand.

Am i cooked lmfao or do i just take tylenol or something or something anti inflammatory? its still bleeding this morning when i peed and a bit this afternoon but it doesn't really hurt and i feel okay just kinda tired but that might be bc i stayed up until 2am yesterday

Gynecological things are difficult where im from and im from a religion where you dont have sex before marriage and my parents dont know i tried to have sex and that ive used tampons before. And i don't want them to know. Im over 18 but still living with them and can even go to college but getting them to agree was so hard and they will take everything away when they find out. They also have my insurance card for doctors

Just hit my head will I need stitches or is fine I feel like I might be overreacting I just don’t want too big of a scar since it’s my I’m face 19 years old

Throwaway account. 30F, ADHD, MDD. Current medications are Adderall and Effexor XR.

I hate to say this and I've been trying really hard to take my medication as prescribed, but it makes my depression feel better and I end up taking a whole dose more of my Adderall every day than what's prescribed.

I'm rx'd 30mg of Adderall XR per day by my psychiatrist. I often take it first thing in the morning. Around 4 hours later, I usually open up another 30mg and take half. Then another 4 hours later I do the same thing with the other half. Sometimes I even take another half if I'm starting to feel sleepy/depressed to early in the night.

I usually run out of Adderall 2 weeks after refilling for the month and drink energy drinks and coffee the other 2 weeks, stuck in bed, severely depressed and wishing I wasn't alive.

I feel out of control with the medication now and I'm scared to tell my psychiatrist because I don't want to lose the Adderall and be labeled as a drug seeker. He's a good doctor and I've been seeing him for over half my life, but I feel like I'm going to be letting him down and that's the last thing I want to do.

I don't know what to do anymore, can someone help?

No previous medical history other than asthma. Played chicken in the pool a couple weeks ago and now have some bad back pain. Went to get an xray today and the doc told me that the vertebrae have rotated to the right, left, then right. Was told to go see a chiropractor. I saw the images and didn’t ask at the time but now think she may have missed a grayish line on this vertebrae. What do yall think? Am I crazy or is something there?

I am a 22 year old female who is 23 weeks pregnant with my first baby and today is day 7 of a migraine that has honestly been one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with.

I have never had a history of migraines or headaches before pregnancy and was not taking any medications before this started.

I ended up being admitted to the hospital for several days because the pain became severe (10/10) and wasn’t responding to treatment.

While I was there they:
Had the neurology team evaluate me.
Had ophthalmology evaluate me, and they found no papilledema.
Did CTA/CTV scans of my head and CTA scan of my neck with IV contrast/dye (all normal).
Performed two occipital nerve block injections in the back of my head.
Gave me multiple migraine treatments including Compazine, Reglan, Zofran, Tylenol, Benadryl, magnesium sulfate, sumatriptan, oxycodone, and butalbital-acetaminophen-caffeine (ESGIC).
Monitored me for several days.

Despite all of this, the migraine has barely improved. The nerve blocks did not give me noticeable relief either.
After several days, my pain became slightly more tolerable, so the neurology team and hospital felt comfortable discharging me.

They prescribed me ESGIC/ESGIV (butalbital/acetaminophen/caffeine), Benadryl, and Ativan as needed. The problem is the medication does not seem to take the pain away completely. I’m still waking up every couple of hours because of the headache.

The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that the headache is very positional:
The pain is mostly in the front of my head/temple area with some occipital pain.
It feels like a squeezing pressure with throbbing/pulsing.
I have light and sound sensitivity.
When I stand up or sit down, I get a sudden intense throbbing, pulsing, and sharp pain sensation that feels significantly worse for about 20 seconds before settling back down.

Changing positions (standing, sitting, or lying down) seems to trigger the worst spikes of pain.
Some background: this is my first pregnancy, and I am considered higher risk for preeclampsia because during my anatomy scan they found left uterine artery notching, so my OB is monitoring me more closely.

During my hospital stay, my labs were also checked:
CBC showed normal white blood cells (9.5) and normal platelets (283), with mild anemia (hemoglobin 11.5).
Metabolic panel was mostly normal, including sodium (140), potassium (4.0), kidney function (eGFR >100), AST (23), and ALT (15).
Blood pressure remained normal/low during admission (around 92–121/52–76).

My neurological exams were normal (normal strength, sensation, reflexes, and mental status), and my imaging was normal, which is reassuring. But I’m honestly getting anxious because it has been a full week and the migraine has barely improved.

Has anyone experienced a migraine lasting this long, especially during pregnancy? Has anyone had a migraine that required hospitalization and multiple treatments before it finally broke?
What finally helped you get relief?
I do plan on following up with my doctors because my home medications aren’t providing enough relief, but I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar because right now it feels like this is never going to end.

22F - I take Gedarel 20/150 and fexofenadine hydrochloride 180mg (5 years of hayfever) daily.

5 weeks ago I started randomly getting hives all over my body - originally my legs but then it started moving all over the place.

I haven’t been able to figure out the cause but realised today I’ve also been taking Olopatadine 1mg/ml eye drops for 7 weeks and not following the 2x a day - maybe once every other morning instead. Can this be causing them? On the information sheet it’s not listed as a symptom but it is for other brands online.

Appreciate I may be looking for a needle in a haystack!

Hi everyone I’m 19F and I’m going to be a summer camp counselor tomorrow and I would like this purple spot gone by tomorrow, I accidentally burned myself with a hair tool, makeup is not working. I’ve tried everything.

I absolutely NEED it gone by tomorrow, it’s very important that it’s GONE or else I will get in a lot of trouble so can anyone please tell me a remedy????? Tyyyyyy!!!🙏🙏😢

Posting on behalf of my sister with her consent.

31F, 5’3, 245 lb, on Adderall, Ambien, Zepbound, Wellbutrin, Prozac, Topomax, Requip, Vitamin D2, Atarax (Hydroxyzine), Ubrelvy

Skin condition that popped up after a course of Amoxicilin. She has taken many many courses of penicillin drugs with no reactions.

It turns from the red rash shown, to the white bumps/blisters, peels like a sunburn, and comes back. She’s done two full courses of prednisone, has been on Benadryl.

Docs so far have said they don’t think it’s a medication allergic reaction, don’t think it’s poison oak/ivy, etc. We have seen primary care, the ER (the night her breathing was iffy), and Derm. We are set to see an allergist in a week but she is miserable and in pain.

Any ideas? 💡 anything we haven’t tried? any specialist recommendations? We appreciate anything you guys would know.

Thank you so much for your consideration and your time.

25 Male. No meds. Allergies to cats.
6’3 190 pounds. No smoking no drinking.
Left a haircut from a new barber around an hour ago. Didn’t notice the red spots. During my shower my neck and side of head had a strong burning sensation. Once done I started noticing that the area was very itchy. Next thing I see generalized spots all around. Pretty much looks like this all over.
I applied Bactine antiseptic spray all over.
I’m assuming this is from a dirty clipper. What’s the move from here? Is this something I should just wait out and keep observing? Or does this warrant a consult with my family doctor? Anything I should be doing other than avoid itching the area?
Any advice / recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks to all the professionals for their time.
Ps: paid 65 freaking Canadian dollars for this and I absolutely hate the cut :)

My dad - 79 year old with mild / moderate dementia, 5’10, 180 lb, non smoker, on heart medication including plavix

About 7 hours ago (10pm now) he fell getting off of the toilet and hit his head on the bathtub. According to my mom, she heard it immediately and he did not lose consciousness. He has not had any symptoms beyond his “typical” dementia forgetfulness (today is actually a decent day for him). He said it hurts when he touches it but not beyond that.

My mom didn’t think about an internal brain bleed. She didn’t call me - but she did take him to her heart doctor appointment, and the physician ordered him a CT in the building, but it was too late for him to get the results today.

My mom just told me about this, and I am deciding whether we should take him to the ER now tonight .

He will get the CT results first thing and happens to have a neurologist appointment in the morning too. He gets bad hospital delirium, and seems to get worse every time we go to the hospital, so I’d like to avoid the hospital if possible / if we can monitor at home until we get the CT results at this point and see the neurologist in the morning. But if these few hours can make a big difference for his condition / if the brain bleed wouldn’t be obvious at this point and could be dangerous, then the call should be to go.

Thanks for any advice.

27f 120lbs 5’3
daily medications - seroquel, wellbutrin, gabapentin, stool softener, tylenol, & ibuprofen. zofran as needed

i have chronic pain from a surgery a few years ago, which i’ve been prescribed gabapentin for. it was pretty difficult to get my pain management doctor to prescribe that (it’s a controlled substance in my state) and it helps a small amount which is better than nothing.

so i take Tylenol & ibuprofen daily. i know i am taking too much but i feel like i have no other choice. my doctors know this and i’ve been told to “not take too much” but i’m not sure what else i should do.

i take a minimum of 5,500 mg of Tylenol a day & 1,800 mg of ibuprofen. sometimes more if i’m having a flair up & i honestly don’t know if it’s helping but i’m too scared to cut back or stop taking it.

i have chronic nausea & take zofran but of course i don’t know if it’s from the pain or the meds or what.

how bad is this? i get conflicting answers on google. i have crappy marketplace insurance so going to the doctor is really expensive but i do have a primary care, GI, & pain management doctor.

30, Female, 65kg, 5”7, England. 30mg fluoxetine, 20mg Elvanse. Depression, ADHD, OCD, CPTSD, query ASD. GP increased my dose of fluoxetine 3 weeks ago from 20mg to 30mg. Have had hallucinations in the past, starting 2 years ago. Previously on Quetiapine which made them stop, ceased that in Jan and have had occasional hallucinations since. Able to tell they are hallucinations by disproving them, eg I saw a man walk past my bedroom but on searching my apartment there was no man. Going through period of increased stress, have had more occurrence. Yesterday saw huge spider on my face which disappeared. Scared the crap out of me. Seeing flies everywhere. Feel crawling on my skin when nothing is there. Other stuff too….

I am aware these things aren’t real, even though they do give me a fright in the moment & it takes a bit of time to accept. Is it absolutely imperative that I tell a doctor? I have a psychologist & a GP. I want to avoid telling anyone if possible, I don’t want to make a drama & rly don’t want my meds to be stopped. Thank you & sorry if this is a stupid question.

Hi I’m 20 years old and AFAB. I have depression and anxiety that are/were stable due to being medicated with Abilify and Luvox and loestrin (also for mood because my periods make my depression worse). I’ve been taking Abilify and Luvox together for 2 years. I’ve been taking loestrin for two months.

About a month ago, started experiencing extreme fatigue unlike any sleepiness I’d experienced before. I had been sleeping and still am sleeping for about 14 hours a day. I wasn’t more depressed, just tired. I asked my psychiatrist if there’s anything I can try for it and he suggested provigil.

2 weeks ago, I went to the emergency room because I got gradual muscle weakness that made me unable to stand up or bare weight on my legs. That was my second day of taking provigil. I regained full strength in my legs after 24 hours. I stopped taking the provigil obviously after that. All my labs at the ER were NORMAL, but they had limited tests. The tests they ran were CBC, Basic Metabolic panel, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Folate, B12, LDH, thyroid, hemoglobin, Vitamin D, and even had two MRIs on my lower and mid spine but it all came back normal. I got discharged once I could fully walk.

1 week ago, my legs collapsed again, so I go back to the ER. They gave me fluids and say I need to ask my primary care for tests to run. This time it only takes 3 hours for my legs to recover full strength.

So I went to my primary care a couple days ago and I asked for zinc and copper blood labs because a friend in the medical field suggested so. Zinc comes back normal. Copper comes back at 196 mcg/dL as of today.

Full symptom list (because I don’t know the exact time all of them started, but they were within the last month time frame):
- Elevated anxiety (i mean i’m usually anxious but feeling on the verge of a panic attack constantly isn’t normal for me)
- Random sleep attacks not due to strong emotions
- gradual leg collapsing/going slack and recovery
- Extreme fatigue / sleeping 14 hours a day
- Abdominal pain
- Trouble walking
- Tachycardia when standing up (heart shoots up to 140 but usually stays at 105 just standing)
- mild chest pain (probably anxiety)
-horizontal nail ridges on all toes
-Whitening of the the entire toenail beds
-laughing fits like I’m high
-blurrier vision
-nausea

Other stuff
- There are no current life stressors at the moment. I don’t drink or smoke. I’m not being mistreated by anyone. I have really stable friendships. I’m currently living at home before going back to college and my whole family is healthy except for me, so I don’t think the water has copper in it. I dunno if y’all need any other information but yeah.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

F21, 54kgs, lesbian

I got into an accident on ninth of June 2026, after which I developed a condition called kyphosis of cervical spine where in my cervical spine, which is supposed to be into a c shape has turned in the opposite direction. Some of the symptoms that I have felt our dizziness, loss of balance, complete blackouts, tinnitus and occasional loss of hearing in my ear, increased sensitivity in my teeth and continued pain in my spine and nape of neck as well as pain In my left hand. I have been on bed rest ever since. Recently, My muscles have started to loosen up a bit due to which my physician suggested that I can continue with my normal life and I have started going back to my university again.

The real point of concern happened today when after almost 2 months, I had sex with my partner.

Usually, when I orgasm and have sex after a very long time, I start tearing up while almost fainting during the sex, although I recover within a few minutes and want to go for another round pretty quickly.
Today, after I had already orgasmed once my partner decided to use the strap on me. Almost about 10 minutes in, I told them that I can’t feel my hands. We had taken all the measures to safeguard the recovery of my neck. About five minutes later, my hands went completely numb and I could no longer feel them which put both me and my partner in a very awkward position where my hands were frozen in a very concerning state. My fingers went stiff, and it was difficult to move them like I naturally can. My hands were so stiff that even if I tried to change their position into a normal state, I could not. I was sweating profusely, and my partner was really scared.
When my hands finally started getting sensation and was in a resting position. My partner noticed that my fingers are twitching a lot, which has never happened with me before in such extremity.

I cannot tell this to my Doctor who is treating me because I go there with my parents and I live in a very homophobic country.
I will try to attach a picture of how my hands looked like when they went stiff.

I think it was something related to me orgasming while my nervous system could not process it considering my spinal cord is compressed with the unnaturally opposite curve of my neck due to the impact of the accident which led to the unnatural stiffness. Has this happened w anybody else before? Does anyone know if this is a point of genuine concern something i should bring up w my doctor? If so, then how without outing myself?

P.S.: getting medical advise on this is really really difficult for me atp, i am okay now, that scare lasted for almost 10-15 minutes.

Hello, does anyone knows what is this around my neck? As of this moment its a lil bit itchy.

Age: 24

W: 52

Gender: Female