My son has been diagnosed with EM but i dont buy it he has never had pain with it and it is present from his head to below his knees. Does anyone else suffer painfree bouts of EM. He has also gone from having 2-3 flareups a year to at least 1 a week in the space of a year. I just dont know what to believe i dont want him labled one thing and just forgotten about if he has something else. He also gets a golf ball sizes swelling at the base of his scull after every flare up that lasts for a day or so. Does anyone else suffer from this
I think there is a wide variation in pain levels. Some people with EM have very painful flares and require heavy painkillers, even morphine. Others describe little to no pain.
EM has a few basic signs and symptoms:
1. Flares are heat induced. They can be induced by hot water (like taking a warm bath or shower), hot air (like on a warm summer day or air blown directly over the skin from a heating vent), or increased internal body temperature (during or after exercise). Basically, anything that increases the skin temperature of the affected area can induce an EM flare.
2. Flares are responsive to cold temperature. That means they can be controlled or eliminated by ice application or blowing cool air over the affected area.
3. Flares are responsive to elevation. If you elevate the affected area above the level of the heart, you should see reduced or eliminated redness.
The gold ball sized swelling at the base of the skull doesn't sound like anything I've read about in relation to EM.