I know they start with a P and are broken blood vess. caused by internal bleeding somewhere in the body (right?)... I have a question pertaining to them...

When they arise, are they clustered together or sparse and spread out randomly all over the body? Are they bright red and sort of the same color as strawberry birthmarks? Just curious because I have these lone red marks on my body, some on my legs, stomach, hip, one on my wrist, even breasts. I figured they were related to pregnancy and all the weight I was adding up.

I just want to make sure it isn't something I should bring up to my surgeon when I go to the next appt. in July. I was under the impression it was a "rash".

I know they start with a P and are broken blood vess. caused by internal bleeding somewhere in the body (right?)... I have a question pertaining to them...

When they arise, are they clustered together or sparse and spread out randomly all over the body? Are they bright red and sort of the same color as strawberry birthmarks? Just curious because I have these lone red marks on my body, some on my legs, stomach, hip, one on my wrist, even breasts. I figured they were related to pregnancy and all the weight I was adding up.

I just want to make sure it isn't something I should bring up to my surgeon when I go to the next appt. in July. I was under the impression it was a "rash".
What you are referring to is Petechae. They are little tiny dots that if enough of them appear in one spot it looks like a rash. They are caused by the skin capillaries bursting. This can also happen other ways such as a rope burn etc. When it is caused by a blood problem it is usually anemia. Anemia is easy to get when you are pregnant which is why doctors prescribe iron. Also as the baby grows and the female body changes, the expanding body can cause these minute vessels to break. It is usually nothing to worry about but running this question by your doctor is a good thing since you are pregnant.

Thank you. Although, I am not pregnant now but I was 6 months ago. I have swollen lymph nodes around my breasts that they think are "nothing to get too excited about", but I am going back in July to have them looked over again. I will show them to the surgeon. Thank you for telling me more about them.

Hi HallowsEye,

I think you're asking in the wrong forum. I don't think your question has anything to do with the topic of this forum, so you might as well refer any further questions to the Skin forum...


Marimac did give you the probable answer to your question, the correct spelling is "Petechiae" or "Petechia". As far as I read they are common and are no reason for concern unless you appear to have other present illnesses. Visit a search engine and search with the above terms