And there was nothing that worked very well to control it.'Īfter a consultation with a dermatology specialist who suspected Raffer might be having an allergic reaction to some substance, Raffer went through a series of tests that disproved that theory. It also started getting very thick plaques, with lesions all over my back, my abdomen and my arms. 'I have never in my life imagined what it would be like to have your whole body constantly itching,' Raffer said. The most troubling symptom, however, was the itching. The rash changed over time, ultimately finding its way to every part of his body. The rash would get better, but then it would come back, worse than before. For several months, he was treated with steroids.

He is a neurologist, not a skin doctor, but he had practiced long enough to know that a rash is a very common symptom in medicine. When the rash first appeared in 2008, Paul Raffer, MD, thought it was most likely something quite benign.

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