Swollen, Itchy Ear Lobes, Knuckles, Itchy Groin. Connected With Drinking Cold Coffee?

Posted on Sun, 15 Jan 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 Answered on

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I had swollen itchy ear lobes and knuckles . The ear lobes itch and swelling went away but the knuckles are still swollen and itchy. Groin area is itchy too. Started drinking 2 bottles of starbucks cold coffee mixed with flaxseed oil, , wheat germ oil and wonderin if there's some sorta connection. Also noticed after running on the treadmill the symptoms subside for a breif moment.

Answered by Dr. Rohit Batra (30 minutes later)

Hello.

Thanks for your query.

The itchy skin rash and swelling are part of urticaria and a result of allergy to any foodstuff, drug, inhalant, etc.

Going by your history, it seems that the flaxseed oil might be the culprit as nothing else seems to be an offending agent.

I would advice you to kindly stop taking the cold coffee mix for a week and if the symptoms subside, then cold coffee was the culprit else we would to think about some other thing.
Meanwhile to control symptoms you can take over the counter antihistaminic like Cetrizine at night for itching.

I hope, I have answered your query. Please accept my answer in case you have no follow up queries.

Regards.

Dr.Rohit

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Jyoti Patil