Dry/scaly patches on my arms?

[littlekoala]

I have these weird patches on my arms, more so on my left arm, which are sorta dry and scaly... I don't think scaly is really the right word really! They're sorta tiny raised dry bumps, raised from the hair follicle really. They never used to bother me, only when I got out the bath when I was a bit hot, but now they seem to irritate me all the time! Especially since we're having a mini-heatwave in the UK! They're so itchy! When I'm fresh out the bath/shower they are BRIGHT RED! And when I get hot they come out more, and I've now noticed that it seems to be spreading. I've been to the doctors about it and its definitely not eczema, but she said that its something to do with my hair follicles, and that I should just exfoliate and moisturise (which I do). I told her that I was applying hydrocortisone (HC45) cream to them orginally which another doctor advised which first of all did something then they came back, then I started using a betnovate cream which is a steroid cream often used for people with eczema, and she told me I shouldn't use it unless I really do have eczema because it thins your skin and can change the pigmentation in your skin so If I burn/tan I will end up with white blotches!

Has anyone else experienced this/is experiencing this? If so what did you do/what are you using? I don't really want to waste a doctors appointment just for asking about it because she just told me last time to exfoliate and moisturise!

I really need some help and advice because I'm really fed up of them! They didn't neccessarily bother me in winter/autumn because I wasn't wearing t-shirts/strapless tops but now that its arm baring time I feel so aware of them and feel like everyone will think I'm a skank or something haha.

Thank you ladies

 

[bigwhitesky]

Ack! I can't help you. I used to have those scaly dry patches on my arms too (mostly upper arm) but they disappeared once I started moisturizing every night. I noticed they got worse with heat/friction too (shower, hot bath, overheated room or hot blankets, tight sleeves) I never go bare-armed. Could it be sun allergy / humidity sensitive or something similar? I know my friend got a lot of dry scaly rash-like spots all along her arm if she went bare-armed b/c of the sun & sweat