Why is my skin red and itchy?

Symptoms: You’re a keen gardener and you’ve been potting up your primulas, you’ve noticed a red, itchy rash on your forearms and face, excluding your hands.

You’ve been stressed at work, anxious and losing sleep. Two weeks ago you developed red, itchy patches all over your skin just under an inch wide.

You’ve developed a very itchy rash between the clefts of your fingers and you can see grey marks in the skin ending with a black dot.

It could be: Contact dermatitis, in your case an allergy to primulas. It’s quite common and is not on your hands because you wore gardening gloves.

Eczema. Your skin is reacting as part of your anxiety and tension and it won’t get better until you, and it, calm down.

Scabies, an infection with a mite which burrows through the skin and lays eggs at the end of the burrow. It’s highly contagious and can run right through a family.

Stop it: Don’t go anywhere near primulas again. See your doctor for antihistamines and a steroid cream for your skin. Apply a thin smear three times a day.

Speak to HR at work to see if you can lighten your load. See your doctor to confirm the diagnosis and get some antiinflammatory cream to soothe your skin. Learn relaxation exercises, take up yoga.

See your doctor to confirm the diagnosis and use an insecticide treatment which will involve treating the whole of the skin of everyone in the family for a week or more.