Mystery Diagnosis?!

Mystery Diagnosis?

one morning,4 years ago,i woke up to a numbing throb in my upper legs ,hips,lower back....going soak in tub i found a huge football shaped bruise or blood blister surrounding the middle of my spinal cord,about 12 inches long.since then the bruise has come and gone,right along with pain.so,up to now this has happened about 9 times or so.i donot have insurance,i have been to all hospitals in my area.the doctors look as confused as i do,ive taken all kinds blood test...xrays.etc.i still do not know what it is,and the doctors dont either.this is not an injury!!!!they always say what did you do? i sleep ,it just appears on my back ,i didnt run in to the wall,like one doctor said,its not a weird sex thing ,like 2 doctors said...2 male doctors...i need help,has anyone ever heard of anything like this?i will print out the question and answers and bring it with me next time...i really would love any help or info you have

3 days ago
same place everytime sometimes darker or lighter, very red in color,sometimes getting almost real dark maroon?but the skin is smooth..its not a blister,i just dont know what to call it,i used to call it a bruise,but it doesnt really look like one

3 days ago
center of my back,surrounding my spine.its oval shaped arround my spine,the inside of the oval ,normal coloring,but on the outside its discolored

3 days ago
yes it does come and go.its on my back now,and i believe the last time was around april of 2006,my child noticed it when i got out the tub the first time..she just ask me what it was and thats when i looked and saw it,very slight change in sizeits more of the color that changes,from light to dark,...the pain feels like a toothache with a sting to it right below it.my upper legs feel like pulled muscles,if i sit down it hurts sometimes,it kinda feels like im smashing somethin in there.or jamming it in a way. i have pulled muscles before,but when i get up in the morning,i know right away if the bruise is there or will be there soon just from the feeling it has,in others words i know before i check in the mirror.i am about 30 pounds overweight.i am 31 years old 3 children,tubes tied,stay at home mom i do smoke about 2 packs a day,severe insomnia,my period starts 3 times a month with or without the bruise,always tired,it has only appeared on my back,no discoloration anywhere else

You are talking about an area of discolouration ? ( a blister implies a swelling full of fluid , you can imagine my horror when I added that definition to your measurement of 12 inches !!)

If its an area of bruising ,it's an ecchymoses you are talking about .

Ecchymoses is simply bleeding into the skin . There are 2 kinds of problems that result in this :
1- Local : like your doctor suggested , bruising from sport injury , fall , accident etc . A local problem is (usually) suspected when the lesion appears only at one place in a case of recuuring skin lesion . Generaly a local problem is considered less dangerous .

2- Systemic : When there is an abnormality in the blood clotting , or in the blood vessels bleeding into the skin occurs at many places on the body , sometimes bleeing occurs into tissue inside the body or into body CAVITIES .
Such a condition is to be expected when there is :
Widespread bruising , vomiting blood , blood in stools , blood filled joints , anemia , blood in urine .

Once such a systemic problem is suspected , tests should be done looking at the clotting functions of the blood , presence of a disease affecting the integrity of blood vessels etc

Are you sure this "bruise" has never appeared anywhere else on your body ?

Edit

You say it is sometimes red , brown etc .

Does it ever go away completely ?

Does it change in size ?

Is there pain over it ? Or numbness ? Or burning or itching ?

If there had been ANY changes in it , did you ever notice something that makes it get better or worse ?

What about the pain or sensation in your legs you felt at the beginning , what about that ? Is it still there ? Have you ever had those symptoms in your legs before ?

Do you have ANY kind of increase in pigmentation ANYWHERE in your body ? (lips , genitalia , armpits , skin folds , scars )


Do you have any CHRONIC ILLNESSES ? ( diabetes , hypertension , morbid obesity , etc)

What JOB do you do ?

What is a 'numbing throb' ? Please describe the associated pain more .

How did you discover the lesion on your back ? Did you look for it in a mirror , had it pointed out to you by a partner etc ?

This should have been asked at the beginning , age , weight , height , what kind of environment you live in (urban vs rural , for example) , smoking and drinking habits .


Edit

You know , part of the Doctor's job actually depends on you . You must strive to deliver every bit of information , try to make him / her ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE YOUR CONDITION .

When you have an episode of this pain + spot on the back , do you feel ANYTHING else at all ? Tired , dizzy , do you go to work as usual or stay in ? Fever ?

Edit

Strangely the details do not fit into anything I ever heard about . Because , you say the pain in your legs and the spot on your back occur simultaneously . The only reason any problem in the back would be felt in the legs is if the SPINAL CORD is affected . Even if a certain pathology of the spin or of the surrounding vertebral column could give a discolouration of the overlying skin , there is no reason for it to go and come back in episodes over such long periods of time .

Your condition can be more easily explained by recurrent pressure trauma to part of the back , from a particular sitting or sleeping posture , possibly related to an underlying deformity of the spine + obesity ( for example Kyphosis )

Given
1. No explanation for your symptoms could be found yet .
2. You reported neurological symptoms .
3. The problem might recurr in the future .

In my opinion , it is very important to obtain a magnetic resonance image (MRI) of your lower thoracic and lumbar spine . If no abnormality is revealed (MRI shows even soft tissue problems) , I do not think you need to be concerned about the condition , because you would have ruled out any disease of the most important component of the body in that area (the spine) .

You might want to show the lesion (next time it appears) to a dermatologist , who can definitely tell the nature of the lesion (bruise or ecchymosis vs. pigmentation) .