Painful skin lesions

Painful skin lesions have a limited differential diagnosis.

Micrograph of a painful skin lesion (glomus tumour).

Many are vascular (e.g. glomus tumour) or have a prominent vascular component (e.g. spiradenoma); think "throbbing blood vessels".

Several of are or neural origin; think "tweaked nerves".

A common memory device

Blue ANGEL:

• Blue rubber bleb nevus.
• Angiolipoma.
• Neurofibroma or neuroma.
• Glomus tumour.
• Eccrine spiradenoma.
• Leiomyoma.

An alternate memory device

LEND AN EGG:

• Leiomyoma.
• Eccrine spiradenoma.
• Neuroma.
• Dermatofibroma.
• Angiolipoma.
• Neurilemmoma.
• Endometrioma.
• Glomus tumour.
• Granular cell tumour.

See also

• Dermatopathology.
• Non-malignant skin disease.
• Dermatologic cancer.