Dermatographism and Mast Cells

by Chris
(Colorado)

I developed dermatographism shortly after receiving my flu shot last fall. From the stories I have read, my case is realtively mild; however, it is embarassing when my symptoms flare and my face turns blotchy and red. My doctor called it a “non-problem, problem”, meaning that it sucks because your face turns red and you itch, but there’s nothing that can be done to fix it. After doing some research on the topic, I think that Bre’s doctor is right – the issue has to do with the mast cell.

Originally, I convinced myself that I was simply making a correlation between the timing of my flu shot last fall and the symptoms of dermatographism. Now that I understand the role of the mast cell in dermatographism and that mast cells are part of the immune system, it makes more sense to me that my flu shot could have been the cause of my dermatographism.