Some time ago a patient came to us complaining of bright red palms. Her problem occurred only in the summer and faded each autumn. She had seen several physicians who could not explain her mysterious complaint. Her health was good, and tests for a liver or endocrine disorder were negative.

When we asked her what she thought was the cause of her red palms, the reply was, “I won't tell you because you will laugh at me, like the other doctors did.” After convincing her we viewed her as our best detective, she finally said, “Watermelons.”

Up until her visit to us she had been so ridiculed that she never put her theory to test. She felt that she must have an esoteric disease, which only a physician could fathom.

We simply had her stop eating watermelons and the rash promptly faded, even as it had in the last three autumns. A challenge was followed by a prompt reappearance of the redness.

Moral

1. Doctors – Believe what your patient tells you.

2. Patients – Trust your observations.

This is a case book of detective stories about patients who came to us with puzzling problems with their skin. Our practice has always specialized in helping the orphan patient. We mother over the patients with the rarest diseases. We welcome the patient who falls outside the family of ordinary patients with ordinary disease. We devote time and thought to the patient whose problem cannot be solved in ordinary office visits.