here's an article that says morgellons is real i'm gonna post it here and in the main article i don't get why it's not there seems like wikipedia really effed the heck up clinical cosmetic and investigational dermatology ccid dove press morgellons disease analysis of a population with clinically confirmed microscopic subcutaneous fibers of unknown etiology virginia r savely and raphael b stricker additional article information abstract background morgellons disease is a controversial illness in which patients complain of stinging burning and biting sensations under the skin unusual subcutaneous fibers are the unique objective finding the etiology of morgellons disease is unknown and diagnostic criteria have yet to be established our goal was to identify prevalent symptoms in patients with clinically confirmed subcutaneous fibers in order to develop a case definition for morgellons disease methods patients with subcutaneous fibers observed on physical examination designated as the fiber group were evaluated using a data extraction tool that measured clinical and demographic characteristics the prevalence of symptoms common to the fiber group was then compared with the prevalence of these symptoms in patients with lyme disease and no complaints of skin fibers results the fiber group consisted of patients significant findings in this group were an association with tick borne diseases and hypothyroidism high numbers from two states texas and california high prevalence in middle aged caucasian women and an increased prevalence of smoking and substance abuse although depression was noted in of the fiber patients pre existing delusional disease was not reported after adjusting for nonspecific symptoms the most common symptoms reported in the fiber group were crawling sensations under the skin spontaneously appearing slow healing lesions hyperpigmented scars when lesions heal intense pruritus seed like objects black specks or fuzz balls in lesions or on intact skin fine thread like fibers of varying colors in lesions and intact skin lesions containing thick tough translucent fibers that are highly resistant to extraction and a sensation of something trying to penetrate the skin from the inside out conclusions this study of the largest clinical cohort reported to date provides the basis for an accurate and clinically useful case definition for morgellons disease keywords morgellons subcutaneous fibers pruritus delusions of parasitosis lyme disease skin lesions introduction morgellons disease is a poorly understood multisystem illness characterized by stinging biting and crawling sensations under the skin according to the morgellons research foundation mrf website more than families are reportedly affected by this emerging disease considerable suffering occurs as thread like fibers work their way out of the victim s skin causing pain itching and open disfiguring lesions figures and and unfortunately patients are often dismissed as delusional by clinicians who are unfamiliar with the signs and symptoms of morgellons disease there is a scarcity of literature on morgellons disease due to its relatively recent description in the modern medical literature the reluctance on the part of the medical community to recognize it as anything other than psychopathology and the lack of knowledge about its etiology and transmission tab figure morgellons patient s lower legs similar lesions covered her trunk and arms there were no excoriations or secondary infections photo courtesy of cindy casey charles e holman foundation austin texas reproduced with permission tab figure morgellons patient s back note that lesions and scars occur in areas that could not have been reached by the patient photo courtesy of cindy casey charles e holman foundation austin texas reproduced with permission the distinctive feature of morgellons disease is the presence of microscopic subcutaneous fibers figures and and observation of the skin with a lighted hand held to magnifier enables visualization of these red blue black and white fibers that have the appearance of either straight hollow tubes or wiry tangled threads at times the fibers are seen above the dermis as loosely clumped fuzz balls or as black specks the size of coffee grains examination of the black specks by electron microscopy reveals that they consist of a tightly woven ball of black fibers tab figure close up of a leg lesion showing a twisted fiber just under the epidermis magnification photo courtesy of cindy casey charles e holman foundation austin texas reproduced with permission tabn