So, last year I was on vacation on the Riviera (near Nice) and got these really bad insect bites that itched like crazy and spread from a tiny bite to huge map-like deep red marks on my skin. Yellow gooey stuff oozed from them and my foot swelled up.
The apartment I had back then had some morons above me who fed the pigeons, so with a ton of pigeons there, I thought it was bird fleas or some such since I've never had such a reaction to any mosquito bites or other insects. (FTR, I have a mosquito bite on my arm atm, and, while a bit itchy, it's hardly visible and nowhere near these other things in look or feel.)
Anyway, fast forward to southern Spain this year, and I've started getting these again. Just two this time and they don't itch as bad and aren't quite as bothersome (at least not yet) but I suspect that's because there are only two (one on each leg) so far.
So, in my hour of need, I obv turn to BBV4L for expert medical advice. I'd really like to know what manner of monstrosity causes these and find a way to avoid them.
Picture of damage:
I cleverly included a usb-plug for size measurement.
Facts:
- They only seem to appear on my feet, below the knees (lol samplesize though)
- They seem to spread randomly from the bite mark - in the picture, you can see the bitemark quite far up with just a little bit to one side and above it, while a lot below and to the other side.
- They burn a lot in the sun and almost seem like burn marks - I'm not sure if the sun actually makes them worse but the area is definitely a lot more sensitive to the warmth of the sun than the rest of my leg.
- They itch a lot - last time I woke at least once a night and spent about an hour scratching. And not just the bite mark or the spread of the red area, but quite a lot around there also.
Positive identification will be rewarded, though I'm not sure if I'm allowed to promise $10 on stars? Americans will be rewarded with my gratitude and $5 on Carbon if we can make that happen.
And yes, I'm pretty sure it's not teh aids.