Red or pink spots on the skin can be hives or acne. But they can also indicate a medical condition, such as an infection or autoimmune disease.
The health and appearance of your skin is constantly changing depending on your environment, lifestyle, and other factors such as your health.
Sometimes skin problems have a specific cause, such as sunburn or mosquito bites. But in other cases, rashes or spots appear on the skin, which are difficult to identify.
Petechiae are red, purple, or brown spots on the skin that are generally painless and non-itchy. These spots are formed when the smallest blood vessels, called capillaries, burst and leak blood under the skin. This blood collects under the surface and causes stains.
Petechiae is not considered an independent disorder. They are often a sign of another health problem, such as an infection, allergic reaction, or autoimmune disease.
In this article, we’ll explore the common causes of petechiae, the symptoms to look out for, and when to see a doctor.
Reasons
You can develop petechiae for a variety of reasons, including trauma and infection. In many of these cases, petechiae are a symptom of an underlying medical problem.
See here for an overview of common causes of petechiae.
Drug treatment
Allergic reactions to certain medications can cause clusters of red dots on your skin. It can be petechiae or urticaria. Hives are usually itchy, raised nodules that are usually larger than the petechiae. Drugs that rarely cause petechiae include:
antiplatelet drugs
aspirin
steroids
Infection
Viral and bacterial infections can cause red spots or other rashes on your skin. Common infections associated with petechiae include:
enterovirus infection
parvovirus B19 infection
dengue virus infection
meningococcal infection (meningitis)
scarlet fever
infective endocarditis
Rocky Mountain spotted fever
sepsis/sepsis
congenital TORCH syndrome (co-infection with Toxoplasma gondii, other causative agents, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus)
Blood disorders
These include leukemia, chronic diseases, and congenital disorders related to blood.
thrombocytopenia
leukemia
types of anemia
platelet dysfunction
blood clotting disorders
vascular disease
Bernard-Soulier syndrome
Glanzman thrombosis
Other chronic diseases
Petechiae can appear as a result of chronic disease or illness. These include autoimmune disorders, congenital and some connective tissue disorders. For example:
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)
Lupus
chronic liver disease
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
Acute trauma, allergic reactions, and vitamin K deficiency are associated with petechiae.
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